Several years ago, after getting a photographic kit together for the quality of photos he likes to obtain, Joe decided to visit aviation displays systematically and as frequently as he could manage. He made good use of Google Earth, Wikipedia, airliners.net and Google’s search engine. Joe researches using these tools and also uses Google Earth to record whatever he found in a KMZ file.  He is passionate for his subject as he enjoys seeing remarkable aircraft and pondering their history. He travels for aircraft viewing, photographing and sheer pleasure. As he says: "Travel allows me to experience how things are done by other peoples; try coffees, teas, beers, wines and food; see historic aircraft; visit museums; wonder at geology and geography; as well as to just get lost for a while."

Joe visited the NASFL Museum on June and Allan walked him around on a tour. You can read about his interview with Allan and see the photographs he took, on his travel blog: Travel for Aircraft

Thank you to Mr. David Epstein member of NASFL Museum for providing us with this information:

How To Fly the United States Flag
Ten Guidelines

1. The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
2. The flag is never allowed to touch the ground or the floor.
3. When hung over a sidewalk on a rope extending from a building to a pole, the union stars are always away from the building.
4. When vertically hung over the center of the street, the flag always has the union stars to the north in an east/west street, and to the east in a north/south street.
5. The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of states or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.
6. The flag should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds but always allowed to fall free.
   
7. The flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day and then raised to the top of the staff.
8. Never fly the flag upside down except as a signal of distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
9. The flag is never flown in inclement weather except when using an all weather flag.
   
10. The flag can be flown every day from sunrise to sunset and at night if illuminated properly.
    
    

Caring for the Flag

• If soiled, the flag may be washed or dry cleaned.
• When torn or frayed but not faded, the flag may be mended.
• A worn or faded flag should be retired with respect. Fold the flag and place it on a fire. The ashes should then be buried.
• Some Veterans of Foreign Wars Posts and other community groups collect worn flags and conduct retirement ceremonies. Check in your community for who conducts the ceremony
  
  FLAG DISPLAY DAYS
  New Year's Day - January 1
  Martin Luther King Day - Third Monday in January
  Inauguration Day - January 20
  Lincoln's Birthday - February 12
  Washington's Birthday (President's Day) - Third Monday in February
  Easter Sunday (variable)
  Mother's Day - Second Sunday in May
  Peace Officers Memorial Day (half-staff) - May 15
  Armed Forces Day - Third Saturday in May
  Memorial Day (half-staff until noon) - Last Monday in May
  Flag Day - June 14
  Father's Day - Third Sunday in June
  Independence Day - July 4
  Korean War Veterans Day (half-staff) - July 27
  Labor Day -- First Monday in September
  Patriot Day - (half-staff) September 11
  POW/MIA Recognition Day - 3rd Friday in September
  Constitution Day (Citizenship Day) - September 17
  Columbus Day - Second Monday in October
  Navy Day - October 27
  Veterans Day - November 11
  Thanksgiving Day - Fourth Thursday in November
  National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (half-staff) - December 7
  Christmas Day - December 25
  
  and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States; the birthdays of states (date of admission; and on state holidays. The information outlined above is part of the Federal Flag Code or enacted by Federal legislation. For more information regarding flag history, Federal Flag Code, or how to properly display the U.S. flag:
  
  Flag Education
  From the Veterans of Foreign Wars Headquarters
  

We received several e-mails and a great visit to the Museum, from NASFL Communications Officer William J. Hopwood. It was an honor and a pleasure to see him again and to learn more about life at NASFL during WWII. The following are passages of his e-mails to Allan McElhiney, President of the NASFL Museum:

Monday, June 27:
"I am a long time member of the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association and was Communications Officer at NAS Fort Lauderdale when it opened in 1942, and until 1944. I was at one of the NASFLHA lunches on Jan 5, 1996 when I delivered a short speech about what the NAS was like in those wartime years and brought some official Navy photographs I had acquired, at least one of which I remember was on display at the luncheon.  It was a photo of Captain Pratt holding an early AM inspection of NAS officers and this photo was of a small group of us from the administrative staff and I was one of them in the photo.  I don't remember all the names but think I may have written some of them on the back of the photo.  As one of those who was at NASFL during the war, I know I speak for all of us who were there then to say how much we appreciate what Al McElhiney and all of you great volunteers have done to preserve the history of NAS Fort Lauderdale. It played a very active part in our national heritage and thanks to you folks it will not be forgotten. Many thanks, William J. (Bill) Hopwood, CDR USNR (Ret.)"

Tuesday, June 28:
Commander Hopwood remembers:

• "The first C.O. was Commander (later Captain) Donald E. Wilcox who was transferred out around late 1943.  At the time I arrived in October of 1942, the Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ) were not ready and they put us up in a small Hotel on Andrews Ave. which was owned by a man and wife who were Free French refugees.  We used to sit around the lobby at night and listen to the Free French short wave broadcasts from Radio Brazzavile in French Equatorial Africa.
  
  
• Commander Wilcox was relieved as C.O by Captain Pratt. Commander Joe Taylor was, I believe, the first Operations Officer and he was in charge of flight training. Lt. Marshall Myler started the first station newspaper, The Avenger, and after the war I knew him in Miami where he ran an advertising/public relations business.  Joe Stiret was Personnel Officer. Major Prine (USMC) was in charge of the Marine Detachment. Lt Burton Wheeler (I forget his title) ran the Payroll department. More of the names come back to me when I think hard enough. Those were busy days. 
  
  
• The student aviators came and went, so I didn't know many of them but I got to know a number of the flight instructors, some of whom had just come from the early days of the Pacific war and had had first-hand combat experience. CDR Joe Taylor was one who later went back to the Pacific and was, I believe, one of those who was on the carrier Franklin when she was set on fire and badly damaged by the Japanese late in the war. I think I was still there when former President George H.W. Bush went through training and I may have seen or met him but he was just another student then and nobody would have dreamed they were talking with someone who would later be President of the U.S.
  
  
• NAS Fort Lauderdale Central Office Xmas Party - 1943 Photograph: I can remember a few names of those in the (group) photo and will try to identify those I remember, by location as best I can."
  
  Sitting, front row:
  2nd from left, Lt. John Rogers, aide to C.O.
  3rd from left, Capt. J.L. Pratt, C.O.
  6th from left, Dolores Frame, clerical dept.
  Kneeling, second row:
  Far right, Mary Bond, clerical and teletype operator, Communications Dept.
  Standing, 3rd row:
  2nd from left, Joe Steiert, Personnel Officer
  3rd from left, Lt. Stoddard (with black tie).
  Standing, 4th row:
  With head framed in middle doorway, Lt(jg) Edward Talbott, Communications.
  Tall man with head touching hanging decoration, Lt. CDR Mac Tharp, Executive Ofcr.
  Next to Lt. CDR Tharp (cheek to cheek) Ens. Knolyn Hatch and Lt. William Hopwood, Communications.
  

Sunday, July 10:
"Hi Allan:  Thanks so much for your nice message. I want to thank you and your team for welcoming me and my friends last Saturday. We had a wonderful time. Seeing the museum really made my day, my month, my year. You folks have done such  a great job. I really marvel at how you and your team of volunteers have managed to do  everything you have to keep the history of NAS alive. I guess you and I can both say that  WWII was the high point of our lives, and to visit the Museum and see all that you folks have  accomplished made me feel young again.  I hope many more who served at NAS during the war will have the same opportunity to visit as I did. I'm sure they will feel the same. 

I want to particularly thank Dr. Bloom for showing me around as thoroughly as he did. And thanks also to the Commander who was there (Karl Bork, naval aviator who served in Vietnam), for their time and for encouraging the young man who was with me to pursue his dream of  being a Naval Aviator. In doing so he was also helping the lady who drove me up from Miami (the young man's mother) to feel more at ease about the possibility of her son having a military flying  career. Allan, it was wonderful to see you again after 15 years, and also to meet your daughter. And I want  to express especial appreciation to you for giving me the copy of that fine book Dr. and Mrs. Bloom wrote about how you started the historical association and over the years have created what has  become such a tribute to everybody who had anything to do with NAS Fort Lauderdale in WWII.

Without your efforts I believe NAS would probably have long-ago been relegated to the dust-bin of history. But the accomplishments of you and your team has not let that happen.  Now the museum will be a major part of the history of South Florida for the foreseeable future. That's really good  news. Thanks again for a wonderful visit."

Bill Hopwood

We want to share these photographs that show some of the servicemen at the NAS Fort Lauderdale base during WWII. They were sent to us by Jennifer, grand-daughter of Seymour Baumgartner, who was stationed at this naval base working as an aircraft mechanic. He was at NASFL for two years from 1944 to 1945. Thanks for sharing your memories Jennifer and Seymour and also thanks to Mary  (Seymour's daughter), for helping us with the image captions! We are proud to honor your service, as it is important for our generation and the ones following-- that we do not forget. We hope you can visit someday! We are sure your grandfather will enjoy himself reminiscing about that period in his life, as we have lots of WWII memorabilia for display at the Museum.

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Rebecca Jones shares with us her new book: My Father's Fight of Honor - From the diary of William G. Griffin, who served in the U.S. Army during WWII in the years 1943 to 1946.

"My father, William (Bill) Glenn Griffin, served in the United States Army in World War II. Growing up he kept photographs, medals, pins, and other memorabilia in a cedar chest in my parents' bedroom. I asked him several times about it, but he would never say much about the war. He would mention England, Germany, Belgium, Philippines or Scotland - the land and the peoples, but not anything about the actual war. Imagine my surprise when I was cleaning out the house after both of my parents' death when I found tucked away in a white pillowcase a diary. I sat on the floor and began to read of a scared young man going into the Army in 1943 and continued walking with him through the days, weeks, months and years to 1946 when the war ended and the soldiers all came home.

The diary is 68 years old and is falling apart. I first started typing the diary to preserve my family’s history since the diary is disintegrating and we will no longer have such a treasure. Once I began, I knew I had to put this in a book to share with others. This book contains the actual diary of my father who enlisted into World War II in 1943 and continued to 1946 when he returned home. It is a day to day 'journey' from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Europe, to the Pacific and back again. He mentions lots of names of other soldiers. My hope is that this book will offer some insight and history to other families who were not as fortunate as we of having a living history book."

You can purchase this book from Amazon

Book Details:

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (June 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN #: 978-1463548278
• Price: $14.95

Rebecca Jones was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC where she still resides with her husband, George Carl Jones, Jr. They have two children and two grandchildren. Writing has always been a passion for Rebecca, as she has two other books listed at Amazon. She currently works at the Wake Forest University in the Information Systems Department. Rebecca also has a publishing business, and helps writers who want to write and get published without all the hassels of trying to get a traditional publisher.

Visit Rebecca Jones' Book Publishing and Writing blog at: www.rgjbooks.blogspot.com

Naval Air Station Sanford had seen much action in it's 25 years of existence. It played a major role in WWII, the Korean War, the Cuban Crisis, and the Vietnam conflict.
 
In May of 1942 the Navy felt the need for additional naval air training facilities. It selected a site in Sanford, Florida as a base for the Naval Air Operational Training Command. A municipal field was already in existence west of the town. Sanford deeded 865 acres to the Navy, who then purchased an additional 615 acres to complete the project. The base was commissioned on November 3, 1942 while still under construction. The base was to be used to train two bomber squadrons. Only one squardon was actually established.
 
OTU VB2 #1 was the first unit to report to the base. It had been formed a short time earlier in Jacksonville. The unit was responsible for pilot checkout in the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura. The unit operated 34 PV-1s, 4 Lockheed PBO Hudsons, one PV-3 and 21 SNBs. In late 1943 VB2 #1 transferred to NAS Beaufort, S.C. OTU VF #6 replaced them and began training pilots in the General Motors FM-1 Wildcat. By April 1944 221 Widcats were stationed at Sanford. They were soon replaced by the new improved version of the Wildcat, the FM-2.By the end of the war training of pilots for the Grumman F6F Hellcat had begun. NAS Sanford trained approximately 50% of all the Navy's carrier based bomber and fighter pilots.
 
After the war, in 1946 the base was decommissioned. The City of Sanford acquired the base and renamed the facilty Sanford Airport. As the Sanford Airport it accommodated several tenants at the field. Between 1946 and 1950 these tenants included the New York Giants American Baseball Training Camp, a retirement home, a hospital and a clothing company. After the Korean War began in 1951 the Navy once again acquired the airport as an auxilliary air station to provide a training facility for the Navy's carrier based pilots. In June 0f 1955 the base became home to Reconnaissance Attack Wing One. January 1957 saw the arrival of the first A3D Skywarriors, the Navy's largest carrier based bombers. They were followed in 1960 by the North American A-3J know as the Vigilante. The first RA-5C Vigilante arrived in Sanford in December of 1963. This aircraft was designed as a nuclear bomber but was later converted to a reconnaissance aircraft and played a major role in the Vietnam conflict.
 
NAS Sanford eventually became home to ten Vigilante squadrons and their families. In 1968 congress once again closed the base and relocated the squadrons to NAS Albany, Georgia. The base was returned to the City of Sanford and now operates as the Orlando-Sanford International Airport.

Visit their Website Naval Air Station Sanford Memorial

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