CAF RISE ABOVE® Inspiring young people to RISE ABOVE adversity using the lessons and stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). I think all of us are happy to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror and we have high hopes that 2021 will bring us back to whatever the new normal in our lives will be. But no New Year celebration is complete without some look back at the last. By any measure, 2020 was tough. Nearly everyone has lost a friend or acquaintance to this terrible virus. But like the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASP, it is adversity that makes us stronger and we at the RISE ABOVE Squadron took that same approach. It was our hope that 2020 would be the full-scale launch of the addition of the WASP Photo courtesy Max Haynes program to our traveling exhibit, but just as our tour was starting, it ended. That doesn’t In This Issue - January 2021 mean that we have been idle. • Leaders View With the pandemic interrupting normal school and business operations, several • Tour schedule at a glance organizations came together to create and offer an inspirational back-to-school toolkit • Greetings from the Ambassador for educators with accompanying health and wellness resources. It is called the “Commemorative Air Force® RISE ABOVE® Back-to-School Campaign”. It is a fantastic team collection of resources that provide educators with resources that use the examples of • Our mission in action the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP stories to help children deal with the stresses caused by • Shop with a purpose & Join the isolation and the insecurity of the current environment. Top Flight Club • Educational resources Sadly, many children have not been able to return to a normal school setting, but these programs were created in a way to be used in remote learning as well. Response has • Tuskegee Airmen: Did you know been great and we look forward to continuing with this exciting program long after this • Blue Skies Theodore Lumpkin, Jr. crisis has passed. • Tuskegee Airman: quote of the month Also, we are proud to announce that we have teamed up with Carol Cain, former • Tuskegee Airmen Profiles: Ivan Associate Director of the WASP museum in Sweetwater, Texas, to develop stories and other content for the WASP online content that matches the Tuskegee Airmen resources. McRae • And then there where women! These online resources have and will continue to be the “go to” resources for young The Many Faces of Rosie the people who want to learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen and now the WASP. Riveter We also need to take a moment to recognize some of our volunteers who work quietly • Tuskegee Airmen: Virtual behind the scenes to build these valuable resources: Elaine Webb, Education officer of Museum artifact spotlight the CAF DFW Wing and CAF WASP Squadron Historian, Dr. Daniel Haulman, retired • Tuskegee Airmen: Archive photos Chief of the USAF Organization History at the USAF Historical Research Agency, Craig • WASP Profile: Ola Mildred Huntly, Tuskegee Airmen Subject Matter Expert, and finally Deidre McGee who edits Rexoat this newsletter. • WASP: quote of the month None of this would be possible without the support of many of you who, in this time of • WASP: Did you know adversity. Without that we would not be able to continue this rewarding work. • WASP: Archive photos • Thank you supporters Whatever 2021 holds for the RISE ABOVE Squadron you can know that the volunteers • For more information and staff of our organization will work tirelessly to keep these stories relevant and in the forefront of young people all across America in the year ahead. Tail Winds, Doug Rozendaal CAF RISE ABOVE Leader RISE ABOVE tour schedule at a glance We have numerous events that are still in the planning stages, closely monitoring local Covid cases and restrictions to finalize details, so please check our event calendar often for updates. To book RISE ABOVE for your event contact Kristi Younkin, Logistics Coordinator, at [email protected] or call (479) 228-4520 DATE EVENT LOCATION February 2-6 Rise Above Tallahassee Tallahassee, FL RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang April 7-18 National Multicultural Heritage Museum Forth Worth, TX RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit June 5-6 Chennault International Airshow Lake Charles, LA RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit June 19 1940’s WWII Era Ball Boulder, CO RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang July 26-August 1 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, WI RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit August 6-8 Wings and Wheels Spectacular Owls Head, ME RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang September 15-19 Prairie State College Community Outreach Event Chicago Heights, IL RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit November 13-14 Stuart Airshow Stuart, FL RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang GREETINGS FROM THE AMBASSADOR TEAM! Happy New Year! As we embark on 2021, filled with hope and longing for new beginnings, we are ready to start a new chapter. We anticipate the latter half of the year to be very busy with events and hope you can join us on the journey. For those of you interested in volunteering with the Traveling Exhibit, we will continue to follow our COVID-protocols to ensure everyone’s safety. To eliminate any unnecessary risk, we will not be hosting an Ambassador Ground School this year, and we look forward to resuming the annual training in 2022. We have plenty of opportunities to volunteer within the squadron. Whether you can spare a little time each month or each week, from your home or on the road with us, we can always use some extra hands to aid in our mission. Our ambassador program has added incentives to recognize the efforts of our volunteers: Volunteer Coordinator • ‘Ambassador of the Year’ Award. The recipient of this award will receive a ride in our Melanie Burden P-51C Mustang Tuskegee Airmen. • For every event you volunteer each season, your name is entered into a draw for a prize package. • For those that help-out behind in the scenes in the comfort of your own home, you will receive a thank you gift. • Volunteers that help at 4 or more events in a season or take on a project behind the scenes, will have an additional opportunity for a flight in our P-51C Mustang Tuskegee Airmen. • Accommodations at an event are provided for the first volunteer to sign up, who lives outside of the area. If you are interested in joining our team, please go to our website at cafriseabove.org and find out how you can become a CAF RISE ABOVE Ambassador today! What is your silver lining? The last six months have been a blur; staying healthy, happy and incredibly busy. Following a decision to leave my job with the drone company over philosophical differences, I spent several months meeting with potential investors. In the midst of that, we began construction on a long-awaited garage, and I assumed some responsibility for duties performed by a general contractor. The pandemic forced a pivot towards assisting my wife’s transition to remote teaching her fifth graders, with tech support, and taking care of our two dogs. On the plus side, the shutdown brought a number of unsolicited voice-over projects my way, as former clients sought me out to update work produced for them over the last 10-12 years. An unexpected delay in the start of work with the US Census Bureau provided four months to focus on projects around the house, fulfilling responsibilities as a board member with a local land trust, and trustee at one of the oldest churches in our State. I learned a lot about my fellow Americans while helping with the decennial headcount this summer. With lots of gas in the tank, I’m looking for my next adventure... Ambassador Bob Sheppard OUR MISSION IN ACTION Students who have been inspired by the lessons and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. As an eleven-year-old fifth grader, have realized that I can use these principles in my own life as proof of this. I can AIM HIGH so that I can get the job of a world changing comedian instead of a “nonworld” changing person with a job where I can’t choose my path in the job. I can also USE my BRAIN to figure out problems, to solve them and to teach others in a funny way. But I might be late for everything if I wasn’t READY TO GO by laying things out the night before. I BELIEVE IN MYSELF by being confident that I can reach my goals. I can NEVER QUIT by remembering that my goals can help the world. I can EXPECT TO WIN by trying my absolute best to achieve my goals. So, using the principles that the Tuskegee Airmen used I can make the world better and live a happy life. ~Caleb Bonner Grade 5 I just wanted to let you know that the students read the booklet “RISE ABOVE: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen”. We read it together whole class, and when we finished the story, the students clapped. At that point they wrote a poem about the subject titled “When I’m a Tuskegee Airman.” Their perspective on the topic is amazing for such young minds. Thank you for making these materials available for the kids and for expediting the shipping to make today’s lesson possible. ~Gay Carlson, Teacher at Ricks School at the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado This is one of the poems written by a student from the Ricks School at the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado When I become a Tuskegee Airman, I am going to taste the delicious food my mother made for me the day before I go into flight school.