Commander Kelly: Palm Springs Air Museum

Palm Springs Air Museum
Palm Springs, CA

The Palm Springs Air Museum (www.palmspringsairmuseum.org) is an awesome place to explore American military aviation history. A visit to this excellent institution is a reminder of America's proud military tradition in the air and of our superpower status.

Curtis P-40 Warhawk
Palm Springs Air Museum, CA

The collection is particularly strong in terms of its selection of World War II aircraft. You will find
P-40s with Flying Tiger markings.

"Angela" B-17
Palm Springs Air Museum

You will find a beautiful B-17 bomber which, for a small donation, can be explored inside and out. The B-17 was the iconic American bomber of the war. It saw extensive use in the European and Pacific theaters. In our book America Invades (www.americainvades.com) we (authors Kelly / Laycock) noted the crucial role that these planes played over Nazi-occupied Norway in World War II...

"We conducted assorted air operations over occupied Norway. For example, we were part of the campaign to prevent a Nazi atomic bomb. The Germans were attempting to make heavy water for their nascent nuclear program and using a hydroelectric plant in Vermork, Norway, to do so. In 1943, this plant was hit by a 143-plane raid of USAAF B-17s that did extensive damage."

The thought of Hitler, armed with atomic weapons, is truly terrifying. But this nightmare could have been a reality had it not been for the work of the US Army Air Corps.

"Mitch the Witch II" (B-25 Mitchell)
Palm Springs Air Museum

Air crews were at liberty to decorate their aircraft with some amazing nose art. Here are few examples you can find at the Palm Spring Air Museum.

Pretty Polly
Palm Springs Air Museum, CA

King of the Cats
Palm Springs Air Museum

In the Solomon Islands chapter of America Invades (www.americainvades.com) we touched on Lieutenant John F. Kennedy's experience with PT-109. We wrote...

Lieutenant John F. Kennedy
Palm Springs Air Museum

"In August 1943, JFK’s motor torpedo boat, PT-109, was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer, and members of the crew had to hide on assorted islands in the Solomons until they could be saved in an epic rescue with the help of brave Solomon Islanders. Part of PT-109 was finally located in the waters of the Solomon Islands in 2002." (Source: www.americainvades.com)

In the Alabama chapter of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil we noted this in the Alabama chapter...

Tuskegee Airmen Mural
Palm Springs Air Museum, CA

"The training of African-American airmen at Tuskegee is also a noteworthy feature of Alabama’s war effort during World War II. In March of 1941, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a passenger in a plane own by an African-American pilot over Alabama." (Source: www.americainvaded.com)

Visitors to the Palm Springs Air Museum (www.palmspringsairmuseum.org) will discover or be reminded that we Americans have so much to be proud of.