WALNUT RIDGE — For 18 years, the Walnut Ridge Wings of Honor Museum has hosted a reunion for World War II airmen and former employees of the city’s airfield, but starting this year, the event will include a festival for the whole community, too.
The Wings of Honor Festival will take place from 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Wings of Honor Museum, 70 S. Beacon Road, located at the Walnut Ridge Regional Airport.
Harold Johnson, museum board president, said the World War II generation is growing older and has lost many of its members. That’s why this year, the museum decided to partner with the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce to create an event during which people of all ages can pay tribute to airmen and participate in other activities.
“People just don’t realize the sacrifices that were made and the patriotism and the commitment that folks made,” he said. “They just do not realize what America went through during that time.”
The airfield, which is at the airport and was used by the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps during the period of the war, was also staffed by civilians who acted as secretaries and mechanics, Johnson said.
The reunion will begin Friday with history presentations at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., along with a World War II remembrance at 1 p.m., and a reception for airfield personnel and veterans at 2:45 p.m. A reunion dinner will take place from 6-8 p.m. and is free for veterans and costs $15 for nonveterans.
Saturday, the reunion will continue with a breakfast for pilots beginning at 7 a.m., and auctions, drawings and tributes throughout the day.
The free Wings of Honor festival will kick off at 9:45 a.m. with an opening ceremony and will continue with the Studio H Dance Co. at 10 a.m., singer Lauren Richmond at 11 a.m., the Gateway Cloggers at noon, the ATF Martial Arts Academy at 2:15 p.m., Main Street Dance at 3 p.m., musician Mike McLeod at 4 p.m., and singers Ben Brand and Lori Dial at 5 p.m.
Children will have an opportunity to play in a bounce house and have their faces painted. Free food and drinks will be available beginning at 3 p.m., Johnson said.
“It’s going to be a busy time,” he said
At 1:15 p.m. Saturday, a salute to veterans will take place.
“We’ll recognize the veterans and recognize the airfield tenants that are utilizing that property,” he said.
As the festival continues, drawings will be held for free airplane rides, door prizes and a chance to win an AR-15 rifle.
While inside the museum, festival attendees can view airfield artifacts and displays, giving them a chance to witness the kind of patriotism that helped Walnut Ridge bounce back after the Great Depression, Johnson said.
“I think they will just be in awe of what went on here during the war and how quickly this place was built and what it did for the country,” he said. “This airfield probably trained close to 4 percent of the pilots that were trained in World War II. That number of pilots that it trained probably shortened the war by several weeks.”
The airfield is also celebrating its 74th anniversary this year, and a prize will be awarded to the 74th airplane that lands Saturday morning, Johnson said.
“If the weather is bad, we’ll still go on with all that we can,” he said. “We conduct a lot of the activities inside the museum, so if it’s raining, we’ll go on with the show. If the weather is really bad, we probably won’t have the free airplane rides.”
Johnson said he expects several hundred people to show up for the inaugural festival.
“I think it’s just really important that we remember War World II, and we remember the greatest generation and what they did for our country,” Johnson said. “That’s why we have these activities — to honor them, to remember them and to remember the war.”
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.