thedrifter
01-24-09, 07:41 AM
Historic flights raise money to search for missing WWII soldiers
A group searching for missing WWII soldiers is raising money with rides in vintage planes
BY ILEANA MORALES
imorales@MiamiHerald.com
The single-engine plane with a red nose and tail growls before takeoff and then roars as it lifts off the runway at Kendall-Tamiami Airport.
Climbing to 1,500 feet, the plane swoops into a forward dive before turning right side up again only to dive again at 160 miles per hour in a vertical twist.
This plane, a T-6 Texan with camouflage patterns and stripes, along with the Stearman Biplane, was used to train World War II combat pilots. These days, the aircraft is on a different kind of mission.
History Flight, a nonprofit group based in Marathon, is giving people a chance to ride the vintage war planes to raise money to fund search efforts for soldiers missing in action during World War II, including the Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Ocean.
More than 78,000 WWII soldiers and civilians are still recorded as missing, according to History Flight Director Mark Noah, an airline pilot based in Miami.
He expects to raise thousands from this year's Barnstormer Tour. Through his nonprofit organization, he raised $90,000 for the first two missions to uncover remains of soldiers in Tarawa.
The tour stops at the Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport on Saturday and Sunday and returns the following weekend, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
''It's patriotism, you know; it's a matter of American history that's never been resolved,'' said Noah.
In 2008, he contributed $30,000 to help fund the mission. With gas prices down, a shrunken advertising budget and a workforce replaced mostly with volunteers, Noah said this year he expects to raise $100,000 to $150,000.
''It's fascinating, but it's not easy,'' he said. ``It's not easy getting people interested in looking for 65-year-old dead people.''
In November, the group's researchers found the remains of 139 fallen U.S. Marines at the site of a World War II battle in the Tarawa Atoll. The U.S. Defense Department has not confirmed the group's findings.
Noah said his team has archival research, interviews with Tarawa residents and data from ground-penetrating radar as proof.
After the government acknowledges the discovery, Noah is planning a third Tarawa search mission for 2009. He wants to find as many possible of the remaining 541 Marines and Navy personnel left behind in Tarawa, a group of coral reef islets in the Pacific Ocean.
The Battle of Tarawa was a major battle in 1943 in which U.S. Marines defeated the occupying Japanese troops.
Noah suspects there are about 140 more fallen soldiers in the sandy graves of Tarawa. When those are found, he'll continue the fundraising flights for research in other islands of the Pacific region.
''For me, this whole gamut is much about honoring the people who participated in it,'' Noah said. ``It's an ability to kind of reach out and touch the past.'''
The flights will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, 12800 S.W. 145th Ave., Miami, 33186.
Flights start at $245 and are tax-deductible donations. More flights will be available at the same airport on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. For more information, visit www.historyflight.com. Or call 1-888-743-3311.
Video
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/870105.html
Ellie
A group searching for missing WWII soldiers is raising money with rides in vintage planes
BY ILEANA MORALES
imorales@MiamiHerald.com
The single-engine plane with a red nose and tail growls before takeoff and then roars as it lifts off the runway at Kendall-Tamiami Airport.
Climbing to 1,500 feet, the plane swoops into a forward dive before turning right side up again only to dive again at 160 miles per hour in a vertical twist.
This plane, a T-6 Texan with camouflage patterns and stripes, along with the Stearman Biplane, was used to train World War II combat pilots. These days, the aircraft is on a different kind of mission.
History Flight, a nonprofit group based in Marathon, is giving people a chance to ride the vintage war planes to raise money to fund search efforts for soldiers missing in action during World War II, including the Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Ocean.
More than 78,000 WWII soldiers and civilians are still recorded as missing, according to History Flight Director Mark Noah, an airline pilot based in Miami.
He expects to raise thousands from this year's Barnstormer Tour. Through his nonprofit organization, he raised $90,000 for the first two missions to uncover remains of soldiers in Tarawa.
The tour stops at the Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport on Saturday and Sunday and returns the following weekend, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
''It's patriotism, you know; it's a matter of American history that's never been resolved,'' said Noah.
In 2008, he contributed $30,000 to help fund the mission. With gas prices down, a shrunken advertising budget and a workforce replaced mostly with volunteers, Noah said this year he expects to raise $100,000 to $150,000.
''It's fascinating, but it's not easy,'' he said. ``It's not easy getting people interested in looking for 65-year-old dead people.''
In November, the group's researchers found the remains of 139 fallen U.S. Marines at the site of a World War II battle in the Tarawa Atoll. The U.S. Defense Department has not confirmed the group's findings.
Noah said his team has archival research, interviews with Tarawa residents and data from ground-penetrating radar as proof.
After the government acknowledges the discovery, Noah is planning a third Tarawa search mission for 2009. He wants to find as many possible of the remaining 541 Marines and Navy personnel left behind in Tarawa, a group of coral reef islets in the Pacific Ocean.
The Battle of Tarawa was a major battle in 1943 in which U.S. Marines defeated the occupying Japanese troops.
Noah suspects there are about 140 more fallen soldiers in the sandy graves of Tarawa. When those are found, he'll continue the fundraising flights for research in other islands of the Pacific region.
''For me, this whole gamut is much about honoring the people who participated in it,'' Noah said. ``It's an ability to kind of reach out and touch the past.'''
The flights will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, 12800 S.W. 145th Ave., Miami, 33186.
Flights start at $245 and are tax-deductible donations. More flights will be available at the same airport on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. For more information, visit www.historyflight.com. Or call 1-888-743-3311.
Video
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/870105.html
Ellie