To make
reservations, call the hotel direct at (937) 278-4871 and use the booking
code BOM.
The room rate is
$75 per night plus tax for one King or two Queen size beds.
A limited number
of handicap rooms are available at no extra charge based on availability.
461st Bombardment
Group (H)
2008 Reunion
Dear Liberaiders,
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the 2008
Reunion Committee, I would like to cordially invite you, your spouse and family
members to the Annual Reunion of the 461st Bombardment Group (H). The
reunion this year will be held in Dayton, Ohio, chosen because of it’s central
location making travel as easy as possible from all parts of the country.
The reunion committee is working to ensure that
this year’s reunion will be most enjoyable for you. Below is some information
concerning dates, lodging and activities.
WHEN: Thursday - Sunday, October 9 - 12, 2008
WHERE: Holiday Inn Dayton North located at the
intersection of I-75 & Wagner Ford Road. To make reservations, call the
hotel direct at (937) 278-4871 and give them the booking code BOM. A
limited number of handicap accessible rooms are available on a first-come,
first-served basis. These rates are good for three days prior to and three
days after the reunion dates. The hotel offers a free shuttle service to and
from nearby Dayton International Airport.
These are definitely much better accommodations
than we found at Torretta Field!
ACTIVITIES:
Thursday, October 9th, the registration
table will be open all day with plenty of time to arrive and visit with
others in the Hospitality Room. A welcome and information meeting (or
you might call it a mission briefing) will be held that evening.
Friday we will visit the fabulous Air Force
Museum. The Veterans will be able to actually get into the B-24 while
family members can watch and take pictures. We will also be able to see
the 461st plaque in the Memorial Garden at the museum.
Transportation back to the hotel will be available during the day so you
can spend as much or as little time at the museum as you wish. That
evening we will hold our traditional Squadron Banquet at the hotel.
Saturday we will visit the Wright-Dunbar
Interpretive Center and Wright Cycle Company complex, followed by lunch
and shopping on your own at the Webster/Second Street Public Markets
followed by a visit to the Huffman Prairie Interpretive
center and then the Esther
Price Candy Company. Transportation back to the hotel will be available
at different times during the day should you decide to call it quits. In
the evening we will have the traditional Group Banquet at the hotel.
Sunday morning we will continue the
tradition of the Memorial Breakfast which will mark the close of our
reunion at approximately 11:00 a.m.
In addition, the Hospitality Room will be open all
day each day and will feature snacks, beverages, memorabilia displays (Why not
bring your own memorabilia to display?) and a great slide show and videos that
461st members will find interesting.
There will be a registration form in the June issue
of The Liberaider.or the
form will soon be available to print out from the internet website,
www.461st.org, so please make plans to attend
this great time of visiting with old friends and making new ones. It’s also a
great family get-together time! I’ll look forward to seeing you then.
Sincerely,
Al St. Yves
President
461st Bomb Group (H) Association
Itinerary for Scheduled Events
Thursday, October 9 - Sunday, October 12, 2008
Thursday, October 9
Thursday, October 9th, the registration table will be open all day with
plenty of time to arrive and visit with others in the Hospitality Room. A
welcome and information meeting (or you might call it a mission briefing)
will be held that evening.
Friday, October 10
Friday we will visit the fabulous Air Force
Museum. The Veterans will be able to actually get into the B-24 while family
members can watch and take pictures. We will also be able to see the 461st
plaque in the Memorial Garden at the museum. Transportation back to the
hotel will be available during the day so you can spend as much or as little
time at the museum as you wish. That evening we will hold our traditional
Squadron Banquet at the hotel.
Saturday, October 11
Saturday we will visit the Wright-Dunbar
Interpretive Center and Wright Cycle Company complex, followed by lunch and
shopping on your own at the Webster/Second Street Public Markets followed by
a visit to the Huffman Prairie Interpretive
center and then the Esther
Price Candy Company. Transportation back to the hotel will be available at
different times during the day should you decide to call it quits. In the
evening we will have the traditional Group Banquet at the hotel.
Sunday, October 12
Sunday morning we will continue the tradition
of the Memorial Breakfast which will mark the close of our reunion at
approximately 11:00 a.m.
Some Thoughts Regarding Touring The
National Museum of the United States
Air Force
As you know our group will
tour the Air Force Museum on Friday, October 10th. Our scheduled tour
will begin at 8:00 a.m. that morning with the opening of the B-24 “Strawberry
Bitch” for the veterans to climb through. Family members may attend and take
pictures but unfortunately will not be able to board the aircraft.
Transportation to the museum will also be available a little later in the
morning for those who are not interested in such an early start. The museum
closes at 5:00 p.m. that day. Transportation back to the hotel will be offered
at various times during the afternoon.
This museum is large to say
the least. Those who wish to really scour the museum and see everything there is
to see will find it time-consuming and physically demanding to walk all through
the facility. A number of wheelchairs and motorized scooters are available on a
first-come, first-served basis. In addition to the main museum building, there
are two very good tours available that involve boarding an Air Force bus and
going onto the active part of Wright-Patterson AFB. For either of these tours
you must sign up at a registration desk in advance. Each of the two tours is
nearly two hours long including time spent getting checked in and riding back
and forth. A photo ID is required. One tour is to the Restoration Hanger where
the original Memphis Belle is currently undergoing a complete restoration. There
are many other aircraft to see there in various stages of the restoration
process. The other tour is to the Presidential Hanger where some of the first
Air Force One aircraft are on display and can be boarded including the very
first Air Force One, a C-54 that FDR used.
For those of you who want to
see the entire museum in detail and take the tours mentioned, scheduling some
extra time is advisable. It is recommended that you plan an extra day either
before or after the reunion to allow adequate time for the museum. Our discount
rates at the hotel are good for three days prior to and three days following the
reunion and the hotel can help with transportation to and from the museum with
their shuttle bus at no cost. If you need additional information you can call
the museum at (937) 255-3286 or you can visit their web site at:
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil.
