OSHKOSH, WI (WHBL/KFIZ) - Pearl Harbor’s “Day of Infamy” will be commemorated at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this July.
EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski says they wanted to pay tribute to the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, which is coming up in December. He says they will feature aircraft from that era, and historians and veterans will talk about what it was like before and after December 7th of 1941. “December 7, 1941 was certainly an event that changed American history, changed our culture as we know it, and certainly looking strictly at aviation changed aviation history as well.”
Both American and Japanese aircraft of the era will be featured in the “Tora! Tora! Tora!” air show performances. “And they will be featured not only in the afternoon air shows, the Warbird shows that are very popular among the crowd, but we also have a special to kick off the night show on July 27th,” says Knapinski.
Knapinski says one aircraft people will want to see is a restored Interstate Cadet that was in the air over the Island of Oahu when the Japanese air force flew by on their way to Pearl Harbor. “This airplane was actually being flown by a flight instructor and somebody taking a flight lesson that morning in 1941 when they show the air forces of the Japanese Navy fly by them on their way to Pearl Harbor.”
The evening program on Wednesday, July 27th, will highlight the events of December 1941.