Jammed ten pounds in a five-pound bag…and still had more to share. But I sure had fun telling the Veterans Air Express story at NJ Aviation Hall of Fame last November. I was delighted (and pleasantly stunned) by Executive Director Shea Oakley’s introduction. There’s a YouTube in this post that captures the evening…Dad’s concept, the WWII vets who joined him, a historic UNRRA flight, some conjectures why the airline folded…and more. Give it a look-see.
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Our Dads would have loved the role they played in friendships that have developed between their “kids.” Just three weeks ago today, Ellen Stettner and I met for a second time and had dinner. Like sisters, we talked and talked. So lovely. Her dad, Veterans Air pilot Jack Stettner, helped my Dad found the airline.
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One thing to read about a man you never met. Another thing to hear first-hand stories about him from his son. I spent precious time this week in Texas with Will Frome, son of Michael Frome who navigated the Veterans Air DC-4’s to Prague and Warsaw in 1946. Very special. Come meet Will.
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Join our dinner party in Texas hosted by John Noll’s daughter, Buffy, and her husband, Jack. Another guest is Will Frome, son of Michael Frome. My good fortune found this daughter and son of two Veteran Air essential crew members, a pilot/founder and a navigator/journalist, living within miles of each other.
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My Dad’s 1945 airline won a war-relief contract with the UNRRA. His crews flew five DC-4 trips, each loaded with 5 tons of hatching eggs to Prague and Warsaw. Seventy years later, to commemorate the Veterans Air Express Prague flight in May 1946, I am going to Prague.
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A new treasure…a photo of Robert C. Chambers standing with our first DC-3 in 1945 while she still looked like the government surplus Army C-47 she had been. And breaking news…Chambers was the DC-3 Chief Pilot with Veterans! Bet you didn’t know that! I didn’t before today. Come see.
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Veterans Air Express Navigator Edward Martz regaled me with stories I have not heard before. In our face-to-face meeting last month in New Jersey, Ed Martz shared vivid memories from his 1946 flights behind the Iron Curtain. You don’t want to miss the full story!
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(POST UPDATE 9/19/2016: Constantine J. Keloss (Kaless) just identified in 1946 Veterans Air photo.) On 10 November 2015, I launched my second-ever “road trip” to meet crew members. The result? Face-to-face meetings and first-hand details from 1946 Veterans Air Express crew: flight engineer Thomas Cowart and navigator Ed Martz. Plus I received grand old photos taken by VAE pilot Richard Broughton. Come see.
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Look who I found!! Two sons, Craig & Robert, of 1945 1st Officer Richard Broughton. And two original crew members, Edward Martz, navigator, living in NJ and Thomas Cowart, flight engineer, living in SC. They ALL flew multiple trips for the Veterans Air Express United Nations war relief contract to Prague, Warsaw and Athens. It’s intriguing! And I am psyched!
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An “experimental” DC-4. A high-energy group of hardworking ex-servicemen. A Veterans Air Express UNRRA contract for cargo flights behind the iron curtain. And Newark/Miami winter passenger flights. By mid-1946, the all-veterans organization was becoming recognized and starting to thrive.
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