Loyal Scaiaholics will recall two central themes of #ScaiaBlog:
1.) I enjoy pictures of myself interviewing mascots and/or famous military figures.
2.) I often find myself in the same place as America’s armed forces.
These two worlds collided this week with the Wings Over Dallas Airshow.
I’ve covered the air show before. That’s where I scored that interview with General Patton. This year, though, to mark the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Commemorative Air Force is recreating the attack right over Dallas!
That may seem like a strange decision. In fact, a World War II vet couldn’t help but notice some similarities during an interview while they were setting up.
As a man of the people, I wanted to talk to some folks further down the chain from Patton. Private Buck Sloan explained they gave him a choice which branch of the service he’d enter when they hauled him from Lufkin into Dallas.
He was shipped to Europe, where his actions led to the capture of 31 Germans. But the Army only gave him credit for one. He explains he was pinned down by gunfire. When a smoke screen was released, he says he surprised a German lieutenant.
“I’ve got his gun,” Sloan explains, magnanimously, near the end of that clip. “If I could see him, I’d give him his gun back.”
Sloan mentioned his own BAR, which is his rifle. The BAR came up several times.
Sloan sat next to Marine Colonel Joe McPhail. McPhail turned 100 earlier this month. His unit is credited with shooting down 124 Japanese planes. He flew a total of 240 combat missions: 140 in World War Two and 100 in Korea.
His first victory after joining a Corsair squadron came during his first flight from Okinawa.
The air show has an “Aviation Discovery Zone” where kids can learn about different careers in aviation. McPhail says he’s glad to talk with kids. While Kids Today argue about pronouns, he was actually risking his life to protect the freedom of people he’d never met.
That work for freedom never ends. Back to Sloan: He was still waiting to hold his BAR so he could show the reporter.
The guys from CAF said maybe Saturday.
