30 Seconds Over Elgin

We took a morning during our vacation to visit Elgin Air Force base. This was the base where the Doolittle Raider's trained in 1942, and we had just finished reading a biography of Jacob Deshazer, one of the Raiders who returned to Japan after the war and spent his life teaching reconciliation and forgiveness.

Of course, honoring a missionary by visiting an armaments museum seemed a little strange, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity since we were so close. This picture shows the kids standing beneath a Mitchell B-25 bomber, the kind of plane flown by the Doolittle Raiders.

Art showed the kids some cool planes and missiles, while I took pictures and hung around in the WWII sections. This is, apparently, an SR-71 Blackbird. It does look pretty cool, I have to admit.

Mim and Zay both enjoyed pushing lots of buttons and pretending to fly planes as well, because who wouldn't? I'm just thankful to whoever disconnected the eject switches, because they messed with every button and lever they could find.

I don't know if they'll remember the trip in the future, but I'd like to think that at least some of Deshazer's amazing story will stick in their minds a little better, now that they've walked in a few of his footsteps.