Latest news with #MillionAir
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Memorials to honor the fallen Monday in the Basin
May 23—COLUMBIA BASIN — Among the barbecues, festivities and relaxation of the three-day weekend, many Basin communities will take a solemn moment to recognize the reason for Memorial Day weekend. The Moses Lake Spring Fest, a tradition for more than 40 years, is adding a little patriotic remembrance into its Grand Parade at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, said Spring Fest Committee member Lori Valdez. "(This year) we ordered a very, very large flag that is going to encompass the street, and we have people who have volunteered to carry the flag. It will bring a tear to your eye if you've had a loved one serve." Pioneer Gardens in Moses Lake will hold a ceremony Monday morning at 11 a.m., and American Legion Post 51 will hold one at the Ritzville Cemetery, also at 11 a.m. The Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. as well, at Bess Hampton Cemetery in Othello. The American Legion and other volunteers will place flags and crosses on the graves at the Ephrata cemetery Friday night, according to Legion Auxiliary spokesperson Jane Montaney. The Beezley Hills Community Flag Association will put out the Aisle of Flags at the Ephrata cemetery on Monday morning starting about 7 a.m., Montaney said. "We have casket flags ... and they have the name of the deceased on the banding of the flag," she said. "And as we're putting them up or taking them down, we're looking at that name and offering up a prayer for that veteran and his or her family." The Legion will hold ceremonies at the cemeteries in Soap Lake, Ephrata and Quincy on Monday, with the honor guard from Art Semro Post 28 in Ephrata participating in all three. The Soap Lake ceremony will be at 10 a.m., Ephrata at 11 a.m. and Quincy at 12:30 p.m. At 11 a.m., the Forgotten Heroes Memorial at the Grant County International Airport will commemorate the 87 servicemen who died when their transport plane crashed at what was then Larson Air Force Base in 1952. That memorial was established by Million Air owner Larry Godden, who passed away earlier this year, and Million Air General Manager Mark Bonaudi has taken it over, Bonaudi said. Pastor Mike Swartz of Lake Valley Baptist Church, a retired army chaplain, will deliver the invocation, and Buck Naff will sing the National Anthem. "I'll have (Port of Moses Lake) Commissioner Darren Jackson speak briefly, and then I'll read about the event," Bonaudi said. "We will call off every single name of the 87 service members who lost their lives that day, and upon the name being read, a bell will ring. Then we have 100 long-stemmed roses for the people who are attending to bring up and lay against the memorial." The ceremony will close with taps and a benediction, also by Swartz. "This is very important to the community," Bonaudi said. "I want to make sure that we keep it going, that the 87 forgotten don't get forgotten." Memorial Day, May 26 Moses Lake: 11 a.m. at Pioneer Memorial Gardens, 14403 Road 2 NE, Moses Lake. Soap Lake: 10 a.m., Valley View Memorial Park, 20174 Road A NE. Ephrata: 11 a.m., 333 E Street SW. Othello: 11 a.m. at Bess Hampton Cemetery, 1915 E. Cemetery St. Ritzville: 11 a.m. at Ritzville Memorial Cemetery, five miles west of Ritzville on Rosenoff Road. Quincy: 12:30 p.m. at Quincy City Cemetery, Seventh Avenue and F Street Southwest.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Douglas A-26 Invader flies to Birmingham ahead of Bay of Pigs invasion commemoration
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — A bit of history flew into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport on Monday afternoon. A rare Douglas A-26 Invader landed at the airport ahead of Tuesday's commemoration of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. 'They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but an experience is worth a thousand pictures,' Million Air CEO Roger Woolsey said. Sixty-four years ago, four airmen from the Alabama Air National Guard died in the failed operation on the coast of Cuba in a mission known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Ron Fogleman was a part of the flight on the A-26. He said people must honor those who came before to keep the 'warrior spirit' in today's force. 'You see a grandparent bringing a grandchild out, talking about the airplane and this sort of thing,' Fogleman said. 'It's that intergenerational thing that really makes it work. That's the beauty of this airplane. It's like a magnet.' The company that flew the A-26 in, Million Air, said it loves to honor the past and bring it to the present. 'We have freedoms today because of people like that who were selfless, sacrificed and a lot of time are forgotten and, in this case, the Bay of Pigs,' Woolsey said. 'They had to be silent for what, 17,19 years? Couldn't even tell their families what had happened to them. They thought they were in an accident in the Caribbean.' Immigration judge requests information from US, attorneys before ruling on bond for Alabama student Alireza Doroudi Janet Ray is one of those families. Her dad, Pete Ray, was one of the four airmen from the Alabama Air National Guard killed in the Bay of Pigs. After finding out how he actually died, Janet Ray said she learned then-Cuba President Fidel Castro was keeping her father's body on display. She started her fight with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. government to bring her father's body home. 'When I got him out of Cuba in 1979 after 18 years in a morgue on display, the CIA said, 'We can bury him in Arlington,'' Janet Ray said. 'I said 'No, he's a Southern boy. He's going home to Alabama.' He's buried at Forest Hill, and he overlooks the airport, the air guard and the hill that went to his house in Tarrant. He's home.' A commemoration ceremony will be held honoring the lives of Leo Baker, Wade Gray, Pete Ray and Riley Shamburger on Tuesday. The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at Pete Ray's grave. The A-26 will perform a flyover as part of the ceremony. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
