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Air Force Museum For The Visually Impaired

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Welcome back to this week’s series on the National Museum of the United States Air Force. I had a lovely visit there last Saturday and one blog story didn’t do justice to all the interesting things that I wanted to share. I have a few stories planned for this week and today’s topic is something truly unexpected.

I was delighted to see that there are some resources for the visually impaired that seem quite new. There is a ton of signage in this museum but some of the aircraft now have signs with the narrative told in braille. Each sign has a textured image of the plane and a 3D printed model of the plane. 

This museum is so interactive and engaging for those of us who are fortunate to have our eyesight but I imagine it would be terribly dull for visually impaired visitors unless you had a truly great friend or guide to assist. Imagine the quality of life improvements that would be possible if there were more accommodations like this. 

Long ago, I was the fair housing officer for my community. This experience gave me a different perspective on this world of ours because I see the value of providing accommodations that give equal access to housing, learning, employment and the other parts of life that contribute to independent living. Providing equal access is such an easy thing to do and it makes a tremendous difference for those who need it. 

Museums are absolutely part of that and I was proud of whoever decided to make this a better place to visit. Come back tomorrow. I have a story about a survivor you’ll want to know.

US Air Force Museum: Women In The Air Force

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If you were here yesterday, you read about the Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. I promised a deeper dive into a few specific topics from this place so here we go.

I have always liked how they tell the story of America through aviation. Starting with Civil War era military reconnaissance balloons and airplanes through all the wars, the evolution of the presidential aircraft and up to the space age, the stories are plentiful.

I noticed Saturday that an effort has been made to talk about individuals and groups whose stories haven’t been told well in museums and history books until recent years. Some of you might refer to it as a term that has been in the news a lot lately called Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity. 

Personally, I call it the honest and fair telling of our nation’s history. 

The last time I was there, I complained that the bulk of the stories told at this museum were about white men when we know well and good that plenty of people of color and women have served bravely and with distinction. You can tell that someone with more pull than yours truly complained as well. There’s now an area that celebrates women and the extensive contributions women have made in many ways. 

They highlight Blanche Stuart Scott, the first American woman to solo in an airplane. She did it in 1910. They highlight Bessie Coleman, the first black licensed pilot in the world. She had to go to Europe to get her pilot’s license because no American flying school would allow her entrance due to her race and gender. That was in 1921. Incidentally, women had just won the right to vote a couple of years before that. 

Then there’s the Women Airforce Service Pilots program (WASP) which gave us 1,830 women who enthusiastically signed up to ferry planes from factories to air force bases. Of them, Ann Baumgartner Carl was the first woman to fly a jet aircraft, fighting the stigma that women aren’t capable of handling such a plane. 

Then there was Ola Rexroat, the only Native American to join the WASP. She was an Ogla Sioux who transported cargo and personnel and was one of the many women to tow aerial gunnery targets. That’s right. She towed targets for soldiers who we hoped had good aim when they fired in her direction. Tell me a woman like that doesn’t deserve a spot in this museum. 

In more recent history, you’ll find Captain Kim “Killer Chick” Campbell who received the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor for her heroism during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She went on to be Colonel Campbell. 

Throughout the museum, there are nods to the heroic women who were pioneers as Korean War flight nurses, who lost their lives in Operation Babylift, and who flew higher as astronauts. While there’s not much detail about any of them, there’s enough to inspire little girls and middle aged women to think that dreaming sky high is still something we should all do.

It means a lot to see someone who is like you represented in a place like this. Especially when you know that there are many others like them out there just waiting to have their stories told. And of course, this is no knock against men but it’s a good reminder that women make up half the world and that they are doing their fair share to hold up their part.

Learn His Name

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Do you know the name William H. Pitsenbarger? He’s the young guy pictured above, the good looking kid who looks like he’s barely old enough to vote. If you don’t know about him you should because his is an inspiring story of selflessness and heroism.

He was a US Air Force Pararescueman who flew on more than 250 missions during the Vietnam War, helping scores of downed soldiers and pilots.

On one of his best known missions, he hung from an HH-43 Huskie helicopter’s cable to rescue a wounded South Vietnamese soldier from a burning minefield. This action earned him the Airman’s Medal and the Republic of Vietnam’s Medal of Military Merit and Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm.

On April 11, 1966, he was sent into a battle near Cam My to extract wounded Army members. He attended to wounded on the ground and helped six men be lifted into two helicopters by cable. Those choppers flew wounded men to a nearby aid station but took on small arms fire when they returned for a second load. One damaged chopper sent a basket down for Pitsenbarger but he waved them off, instead choosing to stay and help the wounded Charlie Company, gather ammunition from the dead, and improvise splints and stretchers from vines and trees to help the wounded.

And when necessary, he picked up a rifle, helping to hold off the Viet Cong. He died by sniper fire that night. When his body was recovered the following day, he was still clutching a medic kit and a rifle.

While the 21 year old did not live to see the sun rise over a new day, the military says that sixty others did because of his courageous actions.

One of the reasons places like the National Museum of the US Air Force means so much to me is that they help keep alive stories that would otherwise be lost to time.

The museum tells his story with photos, a short video, the written word and some of the young Airman’s possessions and they do it beautifully. It was meaningful enough to me that I wanted to tell you about him.

Anyone who would wave off a chopper to safety in favor of staying with a unit that was pinned down and in grave danger doesn’t do that sort of thing to have their picture in a museum. But having a display dedicated to his actions is a reminder of the brave sacrifices made by countless young men in Vietnam. It’s a poignant reminder that life isn’t fair and that young men, even the brave and strong, too often don’t come home from war.

It’s also a subtle reminder of those who did make it home but who brought with them emotional baggage far heavier than the weapons and ammo they carried through the jungles of that place so far away.

This story, if told in a school text book would have a picture of a guy in uniform next to a story that basically says “there was a battle and people got hurt and this guy went in to save them. He died. The end.”

There was so much more to Airman Pitsenbarger. He was an only child who wanted to be a Green Beret when he was a high school junior. His parents wouldn’t give permission for their underaged son to join the Army. His pals called him Pits. His birthday was July 8, 1944.

Airman First Class Pitsenbarger was from Piqua, Ohio and he volunteered for the very dangerous pararescue work. He volunteered to go to Vietnam. He volunteered to stay when he knew his odds of survival were slim.

Had he lived, Pits would be 76 years old today. He might’ve had grandkids sitting on his knee at this very moment. Instead, he was posthumously promoted to Staff Sargent and awarded the Air Force Cross even though his superiors put in for the Medal Of Honor. It took another 35 years before his family and other Airmen looked on as that original award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

A movie was made about him and released in January. Perhaps you’ve seen it? I have not. It’s called “The Last Full Measure.”

His story is still taught to Air Force trainees and I hope that never changes. If you go to the Air Force Museum, look him up and watch his video. Look at his things and say his name as you hope that someday young people can stop dying in wars.