THE PUNCHBOWL December 15, 2006 - Korean War Veterans ...

Air Force Launches Memorial
by Matt McFarland
Pentagram staff writer
On a near perfect Saturday
October after noon government
leaders, Airmen and
civilians gathered for the dedication
of the Air Force
Memorial.
“A Soldier can walk the battlefields
where he once fought,
a Marine can walk the beaches
he once stormed. The Airman
can never visit the patch of sky
he raced across on a mission to
defend freedom,” said
President George W. Bush.
A few hundred VIPs in suits
and uniforms, seated below the
memorial’s spires, listened to
speakers.
“We meet very close to the
spot where it all began. A lot of
us don’t realize this, but 98
years ago last month the quiet
of this very area was broken by
the sounds of a single engine
soaring through the air,” said
CBS News Anchor Bob
Schieffer, referencing the first
military flight, which lifted off
from Fort Myer’s Summerall
Field.
The bulk of the 30,000 estimated
guests watched on massive
TV screens in the
Pentagon’s South parking lot
where an open house was held.
The monument’s stainless
steel spires repli cate a bomb
burst. A color guard of four
bronze Airmen faces the North.
They were designed by sculptor
Zenos Frudakis as the photo
opportunity for tourists…. The
other bronze airmen are composites
of several
airmen….[The Air Force]
Guard Drill Team…performed….
The project began
eight years ago.
“The process [for the sculpture]
was a lot of posing. They
took a lot of photos.“
From the location overlooking
the Pentagon and landmarks
of downtown
Washington, commercial airlines
can be seen sliding across
the horizon towards Ronald
Reagan Washington National
Airport.
Halfway through the ceremony
a procession of evolving
planes flew over the memorial
as a narrative was read, summarizing
the Air Force’s history.
Chief of Staff of Air Force
Gen. T. Michael Moseley
called the day a “great
moment” for the United States
and shared stories of brave
Airmen and women who have
sacrificed their lives. The
Airmen in the front rows exemplified
his tales, a collection of
former Air Force chiefs of staff
and Medal of Honor winners.
“For many of the bombardier
squadrons the survival
rate was zero. The air crews
knew that if they flew 25 missions
they would not be com -
ing home, yet they continued to
get in those air planes everyday,”
Chairman of the Air
Force Memorial Foundation
Ross Perot Jr. noted.
Secretary of Defense
Continued
The Graybeards January – February 2007