5th of April, 2025
This Saturday, April 5, 2025, is an event Saturday you won’t want to miss. We’ve got an exciting “Hangar Talk” scheduled and we’re flying one of the rarest aircraft from the Second World War era.
Doors to the Museum will open at 9:00am. Regular admission prices are in effect and Museum Members always get in free!
Special Edition – Looking Back 80 Years Ago this month – “The Battle of Okinawa”
We’re turning our attention to final battle of World War II – the Battle of Okinawa. Eighty years ago this month, forces of the United States Army, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy clashed with forces of the Empire of Japan on a small island situated at the doorstep of the Japanese homeland. It would prove to be the deadliest battle of World War II.
The island of Okinawa was an important strategic foothold for both the Empire of Japan and the United States. One side wanted to secure it as a staging area for future battles, the other wanted to fight to the death. Various members of the Museum’s Education team will be joined by members of the Historical Unit of Southern California (HUSC) to examine this battle in detail.
We’ll close with a look back at the significance of what the Battle of Okinawa ultimately meant to the final stage of the Second World War.
Here’s what’s in store . . .
We’ll approach the Battle of Okinawa with a look at the strategies of both the allied and the Japanese sides. Unlike most military combat engagements where both sides strive to achieve victory, Okinawa pitted two armies against each other with completely differing goals – one to conquer territory, the other to kill as many of the enemy as possible before they died. What would follow was nearly three months of gruesome fighting. The Museum’s Brian Finnegan will be joined by the Historical Unit of Southern California’s Daniel Bermudez to help us gain new insight into this pivotal final battle of WWII.
The Museum’s Jim Llano will tell us about the fighting that occurred in the air and on the sea during the Okinawa conflict. With their goal of destroying as many Allied ships as possible, the Japanese launched wave upon wave of aerial attacks against the fleet supporting the troops on shore. Thousands of aircraft, many of them on suicidal Kamikaze missions, inflicted great damage and loss of life on the U.S. Navy. Okinawa was also the debut of the Yokosuka MXY-7 “Ohka” a rocket-powered flying bomb. The Museum has one of these rare aircraft, captured at Okinawa, in its collection.
Many of us saw the film “Hacksaw Ridge” which tells the story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who became a hero during the Battle of Okinawa. Now the Museum’s Ken Saltgaver digs even deeper to tell us this story of this remarkable man. Doss fought a different kind of war – one designed to save rather than destroy. Ken will show us how Doss used his valor to first gain the respect of his fellow soldiers, and then to rescue and treat an incredible number in the face of horrific battle – a true story of inspiration and courage.
The War Correspondent was how most Americans on the home-front came to understand the trials and horrors of war. Through the eyes of these brave men and women, newspapers, radio, and even film newsreels brought home the conflict to a nation yearning to understand. As the Museum’s Ted Mount will explain, no one did this better than Ernie Pyle.
From the fighting in North Africa to the march up the Italian peninsula, to D-Day and finally in the Pacific, Pyle used a homespun style that gave the average soldier, sailor, airmen and Marine a voice heard and understood throughout the nation by this remarkable little man.
At 12:15pm, we present a great “Flying Demo” of the very rare North American P-51A “Mustang” – the only flying original P-51A in the world. This is an early version of the “Mustang,” designed in the early stages of World War II to fight at lower altitudes. It bears only a faint resemblance to its more famous later model Mustangs.
The Museum’s Jim Llano will conduct a brief presentation outside on our hot ramp about the history of the Museum’s rare P-51A Mustang. Then we’ll fire up 1,100 horsepower Allison engine directly in front of the crowd. The “Mustang” will then put on an aerial display over the Museum for twenty minutes. Upon the aircraft’s return, guests can meet and ask questions of the pilot, Rob Patterson,to find out what flying this historical wonder is really like.
In addition to all of the above, we’ll have food trucks on hand, our Museum Guides will tell you the stories of the Museum and its world-renowned collection, they’ll be fun for the kids, and our B-17 will be open for visitors to tour the inside. A great way to spend the day at Planes of Fame!
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