Saturday, October 31, 2009

Our Oldest Living Member




Happy birthday to Tuskegee "Redtail" Johnny Suggs, a long time member of SWOW.

Colonel Suggs was born October 8th 1911. We all miss his late wife Alice, who was also a regular attendee at our meetings.

This photo was taken by Nour shortly after the commemoration of the 9-11 memorial at Arlington National Cemetery . It lists the names of all those who perished there that day and contains the small, unidentifiable remains of those victims.

When he was active with SWOW, Nour, John and I often drove through Arlington following our luncheons at Spates Hall. He now resides at Knollwood, the beautiful Army retirement facility located at the North end of Rock Creek Park in N.W. Washington, DC.

World War Two Aircraft Visit Warrenton, Va. Airport





Two American Bombers that served during World War Two visited Warrenton Airport (W66) last week.

Once they numbered in the thousands, but today, only a handful of B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators still exist that can fly ... but fly they do. Their crews are made up of the sons and grandsons and daughters of the World War Two Veterans who originally manned these planes. And to see them in action, to hear their massive radial engines roar, can still excite those lucky enough to share the experience.

SWOW's David Fields persuaded the non-profit Collins Foundation to bring the two rare flying antiques to the Warrenton Airport West of Dulles to share the sights and sounds of yesteryear with scores of local residents who drove out to see the planes and meet at least two dozen WWII vets who actually crewed aboard these bombers in combat.

For a modest donation to the Foundation, visitors were permitted to take guided tours through the flying museum pieces. a few flights were also arranged ... for hefty donations.

Dave Fields knows how to stage an event, so when a good rain shut down operations at the Midland, VA airport twice, but no one seemed to mind, they just sat down for lunch in a heated hangar and listened to stories told by the vets. Jim Davis and Scotty Cameron were among the Silver Wingers who helped Fields with the event.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

HUMOR - from the Editor's Desk

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What is the secret to our success? It is a trade secret that goes back to the time-honored tradition established by our founder, Captain Johnny "Sky-Rocket" Morgan whose last words were, "When I die, I want to die peacefully ... in my sleep ... not screaming like my passengers in the back of the plane."

Call 1-800-cool-n-calm today.

-Ed