Latest news with #EddieRickenbacker
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Central Ohio village building memorial wall for former air force base
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — The Village of Lockbourne is working on a new memorial, the Lockbourne/Rickenbacker Air Force Base Memorial Wall. A sign with a rendering of the memorial wall is posted at the community's Veterans Park. The village is right next to Rickenbacker International Airport, formerly an Air Force base. 'Rickenbacker actually was named Lockbourne Air Force base originally. And so the village residents kind of feel like it's our base, it's kind of our home,' Mayor Christie Ward said. National Veterans Memorial Museum hosts ceremony During the community's Memorial Day parade, an early design of the wall was on the village's float. 'We're really very supportive of the military, and it's really telling our history as well. The base kids they went to Hamilton Township so many of us went to school with the base kids,' Ward said. Before Rickenbacker International Airport was the airport, it was Rickenbacker Air Force Base for Eddie Rickenbacker, Medal of Honor recipient. Before that, it was the Lockbourne Air Force Base. It was a training airfield for the Women Airforce Service Pilots, and the Tuskegee Airmen were stationed there after World War II. 'It just has a magnificent contribution not just to central Ohio history, Ohio history but American history as well,' Robert Stroup, a local author, said. See which golfers are playing at 2025 Memorial Tournament in Dublin The idea for the memorial wall began with Stroup, who wrote a book about the base. He said along with displaying facts and stories about the base, it will be a tribute to those from the base who made the ultimate sacrifice. 'I think it's going to be just a beautiful sight that will commemorate those who have served here,' he said. 'Who have made the ultimate sacrifice. And we're certainly looking to honor all in that capacity.' The memorial is being publicly and privately funded. About $300,000 of the $525,000 needed for the project has been raised, according to Ward. She said a groundbreaking will take place in August and the memorial is expected to be completed in 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trolley departs former Spaghetti Warehouse property for future journey to historical site
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Incredible images of the historic trolley from the old Spaghetti Warehouse building show it being transported through Downtown. The photos and videos were sent to NBC4 by Rickenbacker Woods Foundation Executive Director Michael Aaron. After being extracted from the structure in Franklinton on Monday, the trolley was moved to a secure facility on Wednesday. It will eventually sit on a site near the boyhood home of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War I fighter pilot, where it will be featured in an exhibit honoring African American inventor Granville T. Woods. Historian and RWF board member Doreen Uhas Sauer shared more about Woods in an email to NBC4. Joann plans to close all but one central Ohio store amid bankruptcy 'The prolific inventor was born in Columbus, lived part of his life on Livingston Avenue … worked in the early decades of the fast-moving Industrial Revolution in Ohio on electrical patents which made railroad (and trolley) systems possible and, most importantly, safer,' wrote Sauer. 'The trolley connects Livingston Avenue neighborhoods — known as the Trolley District for the early appearance of them in the city — and links a unique system of transportation which brought citizens and visitors out to Driving Park to watch Eddie Rickenbacker, inventor and mechanic extraordinaire, race an auto against an airplane.' The foundation is seeking $20,000 in an online fundraiser to cover moving and storing the trolley until it can be permanently fastened to a platform on the grounds at 1334 E. Livingston Ave. RWF previously secured $500,000 of federal funding through the city through a Community Development Block Grant to build a park that will house the trolley, creating an educational space highlighting Woods' contributions to transportation and communication technology. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
