DALLAS — Vintage and modern aircraft will soar over Tyler and Cedar Creek Lake at the end of this month and the start of the next. And, as people gather to watch the aerobatic displays, organizers hope you will help them keep several important veterans organizations aloft as well.
The Cedar Creek Veterans Foundation presents the Rose City Airfest at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in Tyler on June 30 and the Thunder Over Cedar Creek Lake Airshow on July 1. The show over the reservoir, just off the shores of the Pinnacle Club, is free. Donations, however, help support CampV Tyler, Fisher House and the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
And to help with that effort, a hero will also be making an appearance.
"Well I'm not a hero. I like to fly and that's all that counts," said Marine Col. Joe McPhail, whose long list of military accomplishments date back to World War II. He is the recipient of two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 11 air medals and completed 240 combat missions and scored two air-to-air victories flying the Chance Vought Corsair and the Grumman Wildcat.
We met in front of a Wildcat at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison. The Colonel is now 101 years old.
"Yes sir, he said. "I'm nearly 102. On October the 10th I'll be 102."
'Well you've got better DNA than I do, I'll tell you that," I told him.
"Yep," he said as he laughed.
Unfortunately, McPhail said he had to give up flying a couple of decades ago. His aging knees can't squeeze into a Corsair cockpit anymore. But Randy Ball, in a Russian MIG, will be in the air. He is a jet aerobatic pilot and founder of the Cedar Creek Veterans Foundation and the Thunder Over Cedar Creek Lake Air Show.
"It's an honor beyond words," he said to have McPhail attending the air show events. "To get to meet these kind of guys and spend time with them, that's what's really cool."
But the coolest part of this, they will tell you, is that these air shows with vintage and modern aircraft help raise money for the veterans of today by funneling donations to CampV, Fisher House, and the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
"We've been really blessed. We've donated almost $600,000 to military charities," said Ball.
This will also be the first vintage aircraft show here since the Wings Over Dallas mid air collision this past November.
"Everyone involved in that incident was a personal friend of mine," Randy Ball said. "Every one of them would want the show to go on, 100 percent. Because what we do is we bring history to life. It's the greatest generation from World War II that gave up everything for our freedom. And this is a living piece of history. How can you not go on with that kind of work?"
And if that isn't enough of a draw for you to consider donating to this cause, there is always the "celebrity" McPhail.
"Well, I'm really not a celebrity," he said. "But I appreciate them coming to see us fly."