CULLMAN – Cullman’s Veterans Day celebration is shaping up to be something spectacular this year, and it’s all going down this Saturday, Nov. 5 at Sportsman Lake Park and Cullman Regional Airport. Alabama Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey will join Cullman Mayor Max A. Townson and Cullman County Commission Chairman Kenneth Walker for the opening ceremony at 10 a.m. at Sportsman Lake. Events at the Cullman Regional Airport will begin at 11 a.m.
Excitement has been building over the past couple of months, as organizers hosted a series of press conferences, teasing special guests, exhibits and various activities.
“It’s going to be a total immersion World War II experience,” said retired Air Force Col. Ken Brown.
The events at the airport will focus on viewing and riding in period planes and vehicles and entertainment by the Wallace State Jazz Band and other groups that will perform World War II era music, along with skydivers and other thrills. The events at Sportsman Lake Park will be more formal, including, but not limited to, the Alabama Vietnam Memorial Wall, a Civil War history camp and booths manned by various veterans’ groups.
There will be several flights on decommissioned war aircraft for those who have previously purchased seats. Some seats are still available. See here for details.
One such aircraft will be the North American P-51 Mustang, flown by the Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing, based in Peachtree City, Georgia. The P-51 aircraft will also be on display at Cullman Regional Airport on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 5. The other will be the B-17 bomber, the aircraft escorted by the P-51 over Nazi-controlled Europe during World War II.
There will also be a room at the airport that will be set up as a WWII Air Force mission briefing room for visitors to tour.
“We are going fully immersive this year,” said Brown. “Participants will have the opportunity to watch a 40-minute film about a mission, and then ride in the plane and ‘conduct’ that mission.”
This year’s event will debut a new competition, a Rosie the Riveter competition, as well as a Rosie the Riveter Forum, which will feature any female residents of Cullman County who worked in some capacity to support the war effort during World War II. Fran Carter, the founder of the National Rosie the Riveter Association, has been invited to attend the forum. The competition will be held after the forum, and the winner will receive a $250 prize.
Four of the many groups that will take part in this weekend’s festivities are the Thomas Jefferson Denney Camp 1442 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SVC), Cullman Aeromodelers, C & R Pawn & Gun Shop and the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Cullman Chapter.
West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo said of the SVC, “We’re a historical preservation society. We’re here for the community.”
On Saturday, members of the group from Cullman, as well as Marshall and St. Clair Counties, will be at Sportsman Lake Park as the SCV Mechanized Calvary, set up in a living history camp, complete with cannons and mortar and a historical flag display.
The Cullman Aeromodelers will have six to eight model warbirds out at the Cullman Regional Airport on display. All other model planes will be at Sportsman Lake.
These are not the toys one might think of when hearing the term ‘model airplane.’ One will be the B-25 Mitchell WWII bomber, which member Richard Witt says took about six months to create and is worth about $1,500-$1,800. The plane is about 5-6 feet long with a wingspan of approximately 5 feet. Witt says the plane can fly “higher than you are able to see.”
From C & R Pawn & Gun Shop, there will be an impressive display of WWII weapons, from the giant M-2 .50 caliber to rifles, small handguns and grenades. The group will be set up at the airport on Saturday.
A group you surely don’t want to miss is the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. At one of the press events for Saturday, Hal Thornton and Emory “Smokey” Ferguson were at the VFW, representing the SAR. Both were dressed in full American Revolution Era gear, with each wearing the uniform of his ancestors.
Thornton was a “typical woodsman in a militia-type uniform” from 1783. “My ancestor Josiah Thornton was a militiaman with the South Carolina militia,” he said.
Ferguson was in a full dress uniform, representative of his ancestors who were members of the North Carolina militia.
Both stressed the values of the SAR, which, they say, are heredity (finding and preserving the graves of patriots), patriotism and education. The men, along with other members of their organization, will be at the airport on Saturday.
In addition to the Wallace State Jazz Band, the Andrews Sisters will also be performing WWII era music. A special guest will be the widow of the pilot of the Memphis Belle.
“One of our major objectives each Veterans Day is to teach our young people about our veterans and what they’ve done to serve our nation,” said Brown at the last press event, as he introduced the Wallace State World War II reenactors who will be performing this year at the Cullman Airport.
The reenactors are Austin Groons, Kirsten Wolfe, Paul Knetter and Wallace State history instructor Leigh Ann Courington, who says the group strives to “live and breathe history.”
Townson stresses the importance of emphasizing patriotism with kids.
“We need to teach patriotism,” he said. “I think we need to continue to teach patriotism and respect.” The mayor attributed much of his success and accomplishments to his experience in the military.
Organizers of Saturday’s event say that the local business community and citizens have donated funding and personal items to make the Cullman’s Veterans Day celebration possible. Donations are helping to fund transportation for the planes and vehicles. State Farm, in particular, was recognized as a major sponsor of the festivities.
Individual recognition was given to Tim Tanksley of Hartselle, for the donation of his 1936 Panther 120 motorcycle; Johnny Buckalew, of Cullman, for the donation of his red 1939 Ford Deluxe to show what the common solider may have had during the time; Ronny Scott, of Cullman, for the donation of his 1943 Ford Willys Jeep to showcase what was commonly used in the Army at that time for transportation; and Rodger Miller, a combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, who will be flying his drone at Sportsman Lake Park.
The Cullman Veterans Day celebration is presented by Cullman Elks Lodge No. 1609.
Full schedule of events:
2016 Veterans Day Celebration Schedule by cullmansense on Scribd
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