State Aviation Hall of Honor Induction October 23

The Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor will salute five Oregon aviators on Sunday, October 23, at the Evergreen Aviation Museum (The Captain Michael King Smith Educational Institute) in McMinnville, OR.

The Third Annual induction ceremony will take place from 1 PM to 3 PM at the Museum; admission is $15 for members and $20 for non-members.
(Higher levels of sponsorship are available to those of a philanthropic bent). Desserts and beverages will be served.

The Museum is best known as the resting place of the incredible Hughes
HK-1 Hercules flying boat, and it's only fitting that the keynote speaker should have a connection to Howard Hughes. Tony Blackman, Chief Test Pilot at Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Woodford Airfield, is a pilot that flew with Hughes. In fact, he's the last pilot to fly with the reclusive aviator.

The honorees are:

• Col. Terry Bernhardt
  A decorated Vietnam veteran, with two Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bernhardt later commanded the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron before his retirement in 1996.
• Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ray Costello
  Costello's military career saw him participate in World War II, the Berlin Airlift, Korea, and the Vietnam War, but he then served the Oregon Department of Aviation, and then again served AOPA for years -- earning the nickname Mr Oregon General Aviation.

  

• Rev. Jake DeShazer
  DeShazer was a B-25 bombardier in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japan.
  He endured privation and torture as a prisoner, and his prison memoir led to the Christian conversion of Mitsuo Fuchida, leader of the Pearl Harbor Raid. DeShazer and Fuchida both became ministers and lifelong friends.
• Maj. Dean Johnson (posthumous honoree)
  Johnson is another warrior who is being honored for his peaceful pursuits. After serving in WWII as a Marine dive-bomber pilot, he became an early exponent of the helicopter, telling disbelieving people in 1950 that one day helicopters would -- well, all the things that helicopters do.
• Lt. Tom Maloney
  Maloney is a World War Two naval aviator whose decorations include two Navy Crosses (very unusual) and the DFC; he survived almost 100 strikes on the enemy in 1943 to 1945, and a ditching off Okinawa.

Previous honorees include the world-famous, such as Marine Medal of Honor recipient Brigadier General Marion Carl, the should-be-world-famous, like Tuskeegee Airman Major Robert Deitz, and the locally famous, like flight instructor Norman "Swede" Ralston. The five new inductees will bring the number of honorees to 19.

To be honored by inclusion in this august company, one should be a native of Oregon or someone associated strongly with the state who has made extraordinary contributions of some kind either to, or through, aviation, in war or in peace.

The event is co-sponsored by the Oregon Department of Aviation and the Museum, and the Museum has designated Michael Burrill, Sr, a Contributing Sponsor.

If any of our Pacific Northwest readers plans to attend, please note that they want an RSVP by Tuesday, Oct. 18, to (503) 434-4185 or email to lyndell.baker@sprucegoose.org .

Tell 'em Aero-News sent you.

FMI: www.sprucegoose.orgegov.oregon.gov/Aviation