Monthly Photo Contest for May: National Military Appreciation Month

[AshleyC]

Wasn't expecting to be handed an assignment! May happens to be National Military Appreciation Month in America, which culminates in Memorial Day on May 30. Naturally this theme applies to anyone outside of America too. Historic sites, anything veteran related...this can be widely interpreted.

Just going on what is established already, then entries by May 20th, with five days of voting.

 

[Saxonbowman]

Anyone have anything for this excellent theme?

 

[AshleyC]

I'll have something Wednesday.

 

[AshleyC]

Spent much of today walking around the USAF National Museum at Wright-Patterson. This is my entry.

That Mig-15bis has forever been my favorite aircraft in the museum. Whenever I visit, which is every 4 years or so, I spend the most time with this one. Not because it is beautiful--it isn't--but because this particular plane represents the indomitable human desire for freedom.

That man realized he wasn't on the right team and decided to land his plane on an American base in South Korea and defect. He wasn't aware we were offering $100,000 to any pilot who would bring us a Mig. He also learned that his mother was safely evacuated to the South, and they were reunited.

He immigrated to America, got an engineering degree, changed his name to Kenneth Rowe, and lived the American dream. So my first pick is to appreciate a member of the military of an adversary country who became a great citizen of ours.

That would've been my second choice. Again, not because the Curtiss P-36 Hawk was a great plane. It wasn't. But this depicts Philip Rasmussen during the Pearl Harbor attack preparing to take off in his pajamas. Another pilot, Kenneth Taylor, took off in his P-40 wearing tuxedo pants. That was a display of proper "sense of urgency".

My 3rd runner up would've been Memphis Belle. What more needs to be said about that?

And a few more of my favorites...

The good thing about 4 year intervals between visiting the museum is they always add stuff you didn't expect to see, like this two-seat Sukhoi SU-27 two seater, formerly of the Ukrainian Air Force. This is a huge fighter.

And the P-40E, my favorite American fighter of WW2.

This month's theme, chosen by me, is actually harder for lots of people to participate in, now that I think about it. Visual reminders of military service, beyond a memorial or statue downtown, or an area of a cemetery are not readily encountered in day to day life. It is not something I considered at first.

 

[Saxonbowman]

Spent much of today walking around the USAF National Museum at Wright-Patterson. This is my entry.
View attachment 1842864
That Mig-15bis has forever been my favorite aircraft in the museum. Whenever I visit, which is every 4 years or so, I spend the most time with this one. Not because it is beautiful--it isn't--but because this particular plane represents the indomitable human desire for freedom.
View attachment 1842871
That man realized he wasn't on the right team and decided to land his plane on an American base in South Korea and defect. He wasn't aware we were offering $100,000 to any pilot who would bring us a Mig. He also learned that his mother was safely evacuated to the South, and they were reunited.

He immigrated to America, got an engineering degree, changed his name to Kenneth Rowe, and lived the American dream. So my first pick is to appreciate a member of the military of an adversary country who became a great citizen of ours.
View attachment 1842875
That would've been my second choice. Again, not because the Curtiss P-36 Hawk was a great plane. It wasn't. But this depicts Philip Rasmussen during the Pearl Harbor attack preparing to take off in his pajamas. Another pilot, Kenneth Taylor, took off in his P-40 wearing tuxedo pants. That was a display of proper "sense of urgency".
View attachment 1842881
My 3rd runner up would've been Memphis Belle. What more needs to be said about that?

And a few more of my favorites...
View attachment 1842882
The good thing about 4 year intervals between visiting the museum is they always add stuff you didn't expect to see, like this two-seat Sukhoi SU-27 two seater, formerly of the Ukrainian Air Force. This is a huge fighter.
View attachment 1842883
And the P-40E, my favorite American fighter of WW2.

This month's theme, chosen by me, is actually harder for lots of people to participate in, now that I think about it. Visual reminders of military service, beyond a memorial or statue downtown, or an area of a cemetery are not readily encountered in day to day life. It is not something I considered at first.

Great stories behind those planes!

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Spent much of today walking around the USAF National Museum at Wright-Patterson. This is my entry.
View attachment 1842864
That Mig-15bis has forever been my favorite aircraft in the museum. Whenever I visit, which is every 4 years or so, I spend the most time with this one. Not because it is beautiful--it isn't--but because this particular plane represents the indomitable human desire for freedom.
View attachment 1842871
That man realized he wasn't on the right team and decided to land his plane on an American base in South Korea and defect. He wasn't aware we were offering $100,000 to any pilot who would bring us a Mig. He also learned that his mother was safely evacuated to the South, and they were reunited.

He immigrated to America, got an engineering degree, changed his name to Kenneth Rowe, and lived the American dream. So my first pick is to appreciate a member of the military of an adversary country who became a great citizen of ours.
View attachment 1842875
That would've been my second choice. Again, not because the Curtiss P-36 Hawk was a great plane. It wasn't. But this depicts Philip Rasmussen during the Pearl Harbor attack preparing to take off in his pajamas. Another pilot, Kenneth Taylor, took off in his P-40 wearing tuxedo pants. That was a display of proper "sense of urgency".
View attachment 1842881
My 3rd runner up would've been Memphis Belle. What more needs to be said about that?

And a few more of my favorites...
View attachment 1842882
The good thing about 4 year intervals between visiting the museum is they always add stuff you didn't expect to see, like this two-seat Sukhoi SU-27 two seater, formerly of the Ukrainian Air Force. This is a huge fighter.
View attachment 1842883
And the P-40E, my favorite American fighter of WW2.

This month's theme, chosen by me, is actually harder for lots of people to participate in, now that I think about it. Visual reminders of military service, beyond a memorial or statue downtown, or an area of a cemetery are not readily encountered in day to day life. It is not something I considered at first.

Ashley;
See any A-10 Warthogs?

"[Brrrrrrrrrrtttt:] For close-in air support...call in the
'Warthogs of the Sand'". CBJ

 

[Jim in NZ]

My son sent me this pic of his office.

 

[Wombat ESQ]

I respectfully post this here. [but the picture was taken over 40 years ago]

 

[SinCityAg]

Southern Nevada’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery where my father is buried.

 

[AshleyC]

Ashley;
See any A-10 Warthogs?

View attachment 1842995 "[Brrrrrrrrrrtttt:] For close-in air support...call in the
'Warthogs of the Sand'". CBJ

They have two Warthogs. One outside the building and a really nice one inside the Cold War display area.

Back in the 90s there would often be AFNG A-10s doing strafing runs on Camp Atterbury's small impact area. I am quite familiar with that sound!

 

[Ankerwycke]

English Civil War, Battle of Naseby Obelisk, and a view over Edgehill Battlefield.
The obelisk overlooks the battlefield at Naseby and was the muster point for the Parliamentary Army.
The house on the edge of the battlefield was the birthplace of Elizabeth Lyte, an ancestor of George Washington, in around 1547.
In the early 1900s Colonel Douglas Haig, later Field Marshall Earl Haig, lived there.

 

[AshleyC]

English Civil War, Battle of Naseby Obelisk, and a view over Edgehill Battlefield.
The obelisk overlooks the battlefield at Naseby and was the muster point for the Parliamentary Army.
The house on the edge of the battlefield was the birthplace of Elizabeth Lyte, an ancestor of George Washington, in around 1547.
In the early 1900s Colonel Douglas Haig, later Field Marshall Earl Haig, lived there.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!

I can't help but wonder if there are British people today who "pick" a historical side in that war, between Cavaliers and Roundheads, as Americans will sometimes still do for our Civil War.

 

[Shaun asleep]

I took this picture two years ago on Hill 60 at the town of Zillebeke. The Hill was conquered by the Germans from French soldiers in december 1914. British engineers started digging tunnels underneath the German fortified Hill. After two months of digging the Brits detonated explosive charges, destroying the German fortifications above. The British managed to take the hill on april 17th. Three weeks later the Germans launched a massive counter attack which lead to over 3000 British casualties. The area was heavily contested for the remainder of the war, tunnels were dug from both sides to manage a break through. On the 7th of June 1917 (2 years later!) the British managed to recapture the strategic Hill, only to lose control over the vantage point one year later. The Germans held their ground until september 1918, when they were finally and definitively pushed back.

This area is an untouched and freely accessible WW1 attraction pole. If anyone was ever to visit Ypres, they should really visit this place as well.

There are markers on the path to show how little the front line shifted those years. Gives me the chills knowing how many brave men died for such small gains in terrain.

Eternally greatful to all those who fought for our freedom, both domestic and foreign.

The "stir up" in Ukraine and the threats from the invading country towards NATO and the rest of Europe often makes me think about men volounteering to fight in foreign lands to defend something they believe in, to try and right a wrong themselves. The bravery of these men is unimaginable.

 

[Ankerwycke]

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!

I can't help but wonder if there are British people today who "pick" a historical side in that war, between Cavaliers and Roundheads, as Americans will sometimes still do for our Civil War.

I’m guessing that ‘Old Ironside’ could still get a good debate going.

 

[malocchio]

 

[malocchio]

 

[Ankerwycke]

The War Memorial in Great Rissington Parish Church, Gloucestershire.
Great Rissington was the home village of the five Souls Brothers named on the memorial.
The Souls were one of six English families that I know of that lost five sons in the 1914 - 18 War.

 

[amateur]

There is a park in my city that was opened in honor of the Soviet Union's victory over Germany in 1945. I'm showing you some photos taken in this park.

 

[amateur]

I live in the city of Samara, which was called Kuibyshev until 1991. During the Great Patriotic War, many industrial enterprises from the west of the Soviet Union were evacuated here. In addition, embassies were taken here from Moscow.Today, memorial plaques can be seen on the buildings where embassies were once located. Here are some of them.

 

[MarkM10431]

The last year the BAs flew the first gen Hornets before transitioning to the Super Hornets