D-Day Commemoration Weekend

[BeagleOne]

Hello,

I just got the email about the commemoration next weekend. Could you please provide a bit more detail on what will be included in the Friday evening presentation?

Thanks!

[Zack Baughman]

On Friday June 6 at 7pm in the EAA AirVenture Museum's Eagle Hangar, WWII veteran Eugene Schulz will be giving a presentation about his wartime experiences. He was a typist in the G-3 Department and his duties included the typing of battle orders developed by the officers at the XX Corps Headquarters. The XX Corps sailed to England in February 1944 on the Queen Mary. After final training in England, the XX Corps landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on D+46. His unit was attached to General Patton’s Third Army and spearheaded the drive across France, through Germany and into Austria where they met the Russian Army on V-E Day. They were one of the first units to discover the concentration camps. Schulz was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He served in the Army of Occupation in Germany, then returned to the States and was discharged on December 1, 1945.

Mr. Schulz will have copies of his memoir, The Ghost in General Patton’s Third Army, on hand for purchase. Although I have not yet seen the presentation myself, EAA Warbirds Executive Director Bill Fischer has, and Bill says it is excellent! We hope you can make it!

[BeagleOne]

Zack, thank you so much for the information! It sounds like a great talk and I am planning to attend! Thanks again!

[rwanttaja]

On the subject of D-Day, check out this web page:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2014/jun/01/d-day-landings-scenes-in-1944-and-now-interactive

Interactive "Then and Now" photos...hold your mouse button down and slide the mouse left and right.

Ron Wanttaja

[TedK]

Let's give D-Day a full commemoration, but there should also be time in our hearts to remember the Miracle at Midway on 4 June where the tide turned in the Pacific War. Midway was primarily a win due to air power.

God Bless those gallant souls such as Torpedo Squadron Eight, who road into the maw of the Japanese Fleet.

[BeagleOne]

Excellent point, TedK. I was lucky enough to go to Midway in 2007 for the 65th anniversary commemoration, and met a vet from the Hornet. He was one of the mechanics for Torpedo Eight and he still got teary talking about those men. He was on board for the Doolittle Raid, too. "A Dawn Like Thunder" is an excellent account of Torpedo Eight.

I also saw George Gay's life jacket and signal mirror at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum. It was literally a jaw-dropping moment for me as I had no idea those items were there. They also have a restored Dauntless there that actually flew at Midway. It ended up in the bottom of Lake Michigan after a training accident.

Zack, is there going to be a video of Mr. Schultz' presentation available online?