Vintage planes will fly over Destrehan
WWII pilots from both America and Germany will invade the East Regional Library in Destrehan on April 21 to give residents a first-hand look at the air war over Europe.
Included in the event will be an exhibition of Nazi propaganda art and artifacts, a showing of home movies taken by WWII pilots, a panel discussion with fighter pilots and war experts, and even a flyover by WWII aircraft.
The 357th Fighter Group Commemorative Day was spearheaded by Joey Maddox, a Des Allemands resident who has written two extensive histories of the acclaimed fighter group. Maddox said that the highlight of the event is a panel discussion about the air war over Europe that will include surviving pilots from both the Luftwaffe and the American Air Force. They will be joined by Tom Gibbs, who serves as the National WWII Museum’s Special Projects historian. Gibbs has traveled around the country interviewing members of “Our Greatest Generation” who served in the second World War.
“We have an all-star cast of panelists for our air war over Europe panel discussion and some of them have even appeared on “Dogfights” on the History Channel,” Maddox said. “The group of men has generated a lot of excitement among museum people and aviation history buffs all over the region.”
Maddox said that one of the main topics of discussion will be the Sonderkommando “Elbe” attacks on American bombers on April 7, 1945.
“On that day, the Luftwaffe executed its plan to ram the bombers with stripped down Me-109 fighter planes, which was suppose to unnerve the American bomber crews and make them quit flying daylight raids,” Maddox said. “Even though quite a few of our bombers were rammed, the plan failed and was never tried by the Germans again.”
Maddox added that one of the panelists will be a 357th Fighter Group pilot who flew that day and was assigned to escort a group of B-17s that were attacked by the “Elbe” squadron. One panelist was actually flying one of the B-17s that was rammed.
Another big draw will be the home movies taken by members of the 357th Fighter Group, which was the first P-51 Mustang outfit in the 8th Air Force. They were considered one of the best fighter groups ever produced by the United States. Known as the “Yoxford Boys,” a name given to them the day they arrived at their new base by German propagandist Lord Haw Haw in his daily radio address, the group would produce more aces than any other fighter group in the Air Force during World War II.
“357th Fighter Group pilot Mark Stepelton and others have converted these movies into digital formats so that they can be readily available to the public on the Internet,” Maddox said. “The movies also have been edited and include narration and music soundtracks.”
Maddox said there will also be an area featuring 357th Fighter Group art, which has been autographed by two of the unit’s top members – Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson. Artifacts, such as pieces of P-51 Mustangs taken from crash sites, uniforms of the Yoxford Boys and medals will also be on display.
Additional memorabilia includes Nazi propaganda art and artifacts from collector Robert Vitter, a classic Mustang car show and generations of military equipment that will be on display outside the library.
The opening ceremony begins at 10 a.m. and the event ends at 2 p.m.
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