"REUNION MUSTS"

Blast-Off Entertainment Night

The entertainment for Wednesday night’s “Blast Off” will be unique. Lefty will again regale us with his great comedy routine that we all look forward to, wondering what he will think of next.

Following Lefty, we will have an exceptional group consisting of senior citizens and many veterans, including a World War ll veteran. The Mount Vernon Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society is a men’s choral group of some 60 members. Many of us feel that barbershop singing is as American as Old Glory and apple pie. Under the direction of Bob Wachter these singers have made over 400 appear- ances in the past 16 years including the White House, National Constitution Day in Washington and the Honor Flights that we are familiar with---the list goes on and on.

A sample show package might include; Top of the World; Fun in Just One Lifetime; I Believe; Old Bones; Somebody Done Me Wrong Song; Roll Out the Barrel; Amazing Grace; Old Man Time; God Bless the USA; Take me Home Country Roads and Thanks For the Memories. For us we can expect to have included a bevy of military and patriotic songs. In researching some of their client comments we received accolades such as “Best program ever”; “Truly enjoyable”; Loved your performance, very pro- fessional” and “Holy Cow those old guys can really sing.” Get ready for a fun evening.

MEN’S LUNCHES

The Men’s lunches are organized by groups for the 73rd; 497, 498, 499 and 500th. The 58th BW Group and the 315th BW Group will also each have a separate luncheon room. Other service groups are encouraged to join any of these groups. Please be sure to indicate on the blue registration sheet which luncheon group you plan to attend.

Each group meets over lunch and enjoys their comrades, reminiscing and catching up. A group photo will be taken for the next edition of the Superfort. This time has been considered a ‘mini reunion’ by some. If other members of your crew weren’t able to make the reunion this is a good opportunity to make some new friends. It is also an excellent occasion for those who are trying to find someone who might have known a relative or friend of theirs. The lunches are at 12:30PM Saturday afternoon and always have a great lunch as well as the solidarity of one another. The cost is $20 per person for the lunch if you sign up on the registration form.

LADIES LUNCHEON

The Ladies Luncheon is an enjoy-able time for all of the ladies. Doris Palmer and Dennise Marsh will be our charming hostesses, welcoming us to the Capitol City. We will have entertainment and door prizes. Please sign up on the blue registration sheet for the luncheon. We offer a warm welcome to the ladies joining our reunion from the 58th and 315th Bomb Wings as well as the ladies of the 73rd Bomb Wing. The cost is $20 per person.

 

TOUR TWO FRIDAY

 

Friday’s tour will leave the ho-tel at 9:30 am on Friday, May 25, 2012. The tour will begin with a roundabout tour of the downtown Washington DC historical and government sites including the Washington Monument, which is the most prominent structure in Washington, D.C. and one of the city's earliest attractions. It was built in honor of George Washington, who led the country to independence and then became its first President. The Monument is shaped like an Egyptian obelisk, stands 555' 5 1/8" tall, and offers views in excess of thirty miles. It was finished on December 6, 1884.

Another sight along the window tour is the FBI Headquarters, which has been at this location since the mid-1970s. The executives, special agents, and professional staff who work at the national headquarters in Washington direct, organize, and coordinate FBI activities around the world.

Another sight is Ford's Theatre, a historic theater in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, the fatally wounded president was car

After being shot, Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning. The theatre was later used as a warehouse and office building. It was renovated and re-opened as a theater in 1968. During the 2000s it was renovated again, opening on February 12, 2009, in commemoration of Lincoln's bicentennial. The Petersen House and the theatre are preserved together as Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives. NARA is of- ficially responsible for maintaining and publishing the legally authentic and authoritative copies of acts of Congress, presidential proclamations and executive orders, and federal regulations.

The Newseum is an interactive museum of news and journalism located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. The seven-level, 250,000-square-foot museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany. The Today's Front Pages Gallery presents daily front pages from more than 80 international newspapers. In five years, the original Newseum attracted more than 2.25 million visitors. The Newseum's operations are funded by the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to "free press, free speech and free spirit for all people". The new Newseum has become one of Washington's most popular destinations, and its high definition television studios hosts news broadcasts including ABC's This Week.

The Smithsonian museums are the most widely visible part of the United States' Smithsonian In- stitution and consist of nineteen museums and galleries as well as the National Zoological Park. Seven- teen of these collections are located in Washington D.C., with eleven of those located on the National Mall. The remaining ones are in New York City and Chantilly, Virginia.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third President of the United States. The neo-classical building was designed by John Russell Pope and was built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain. Construction began in 1939, the building was completed in 1943, and the bronze statue of Jefferson was added in 1947.

The Blair House has stood facing the White House for more than 180 years, witness to events of extraordinary importance for the nation and her people. For decades, the rooms of this stately home have played an even more active role, serving United States foreign policy as a gracious residence, meeting place and sanctuary for visiting heads of state.

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) is the building that houses a majority of offices for White House staff. It is located just next to the White House on 17th Street, NW, between Penn- sylvania Avenue and New York Avenue. It was originally built for the State, War and Navy Departments and housed these three branches mostly dealing with foreign policy in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century (when US emerged as an international power). For a long time it was known as Old Executive Office Building (OEOB).

Capitol Hill is home of the United States Capitol and Grounds, Senate, House of Representatives, Su- preme Court, Library of Congress and Botanic Garden. Visitors can find a wide-range of activities and seasonal events across Capitol Hill. Admission to all public areas is free, advance tickets are required to visit the areas of the Capitol building beyond the Capitol Visitor Center.

The Lincoln Memorial stands at the west end of the National Mall as a neoclassical monument to the 16th President. The memorial, designed by Henry Bacon, after ancient Greek temples, stands 190 feet long, 119 feet wide, and almost 100 feet high. It is surrounded by a peristyle of 38 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the thirty-six states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death, and two col- umns in antis at the entrance behind the colonnade. The north and south side chambers contain carved inscriptions of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and his Gettysburg Address. Lying between the north and south chambers is the central hall containing the solitary figure of Lincoln sitting in contemplation. The Piccirilli brothers under the supervision of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, carved the statue in four years. The statue of Lincoln is 19 feet high and weighs 175 tons. Construction began in 1914, and the memorial was opened to the public in 1922. The Memorial is visited by millions of visitors each year and is the site of many large public gatherings and protests. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to a crowd by the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.'s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It commemorates those who served in the Korean War.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/SouthEast Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for (Missing In Action) during the War. Its construction and related issues have been the source of controversies, some of which have resulted in additions to the memorial complex. The memorial currently consists of three separate parts: the Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which is the best-known part of the memorial.

We will stop for lunch and a special ceremony at the United States Air Force Memorial, which honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its predecessors. The memorial is located at the east end of Columbia Pike, on the grounds of Fort Myer just south of Arlington National Cemetery. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed (known for the design of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

USAF Memorial

After lunch, we will take a driving tour of Embassy Row as we head back to the hotel. Embassy Row is the informal name for a street or area of a city in which embassies or other diplomatic installations are concentrated. Washington, D.C.'s Embassy Row lies along Massachusetts Avenue, NW, and its cross streets between Thomas Circle and Ward Circle, although the vast majority of embassies are found between Scott Circle and Wisconsin Avenue.

The first embassy on Embassy Row, and still one of the most prominent, was the British Embassy, directly adjacent to the United States Naval Observatory. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to combine the offices and the residence of the ambassador, resembling an English country house in the Queen Anne style of architecture.

Bomb Wings From all Three Marianna Islands Form Partnership

We are about to embark on a new and exciting chapter in the life of the 73rd Bomb Wing Association. Rather than contracting we are expanding thanks to our fellow B-29ers from the 315th Bomb Wing which flew out of Guam and the 58th Bomb Wing that at wars end was flying from Tinian.

Overtures to our comrades in arms paid off handsomely as they agreed to join our expedition into the future. We all look forward to this collective relationship that will give us additional years to renew old acquaintances and make new and lasting friendships.

For the benefit of our new members who were not privy to their welcome in the last issue of our Superfort, we described the most gracious offer from Marshall Berdan, 315th reunion manager to attend their gathering in New Orleans. The attendees provided a most welcome reception to Lefty that was matched with his invitation to join the 73rd. After conferring with their membership we got the affirmative response that we were hoping to get. We also, through Mike Speciale of the New England Air Museum invited the 58th Bomb Wing to join us and we were pleased when they accepted our offer.
It is especially noteworthy to have bomb wings from all three of the Marianna Islands form a partnership after the war that is reflective of our tremendous success and teamwork during the war. In Navy parlance “welcome aboard” and thank you for enabling us to carry on in our effort to hold memo- rable reunions and continue to tell the story, to all who will listen, of the B- 29ers.

Click below for PDF files for Transportation

Click below for Registration form