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). A few months ago, The RISE ABOVE Squadron hosted a Facebook Live video interview with Tuskegee Airmen Lt Col Harold Brown. We also had a special guest on that interview - Captain John “Jack” Wichser. Jack was a crew member on a B-24, was shot down and spent the rest of the War in Stalag Luft 1 as a prisoner. Jack was 99 at the time of the interview, and about to celebrate his 100th birthday. He was engaged and funny and had a great story. After the interview, his family contacted the RISE ABOVE Squadron to let us know how Photo courtesy Mike Garcia much it meant to Jack to be included and have a chance to tell some of his story. After In This Issue - August 2020 the Facebook live event we discussed the possibility of having another Facebook live interview where Jack was the subject rather than the guest. • Educational resources • Tour schedule at a glance Sadly, it was not to be. Just a week before his 100th birthday, Jack passed away. He • Greetings from the took those stories he had always been reticent to share with his family most of his life Ambassador team to his grave. • Volunteer Spotlight: Terry As COVID-19 has kept the RISE ABOVE Squadron from our normal schedule of taking Loudermill our exhibit to schools and airshows across the country, we have adapted and used • Our mission in action social media to capture and share as many of these stories as we can. • We Need You! • Shop with a purpose WWII was a time when Americans joined together to overcome a terrible and relentless enemy. We did it because we were “all in.” Everyone was ready, willing, and able • Join the Top Flight Club to do whatever it took to be victorious over an enemy that in many cases we did not • Tuskegee Airmen: Did you totally understand. know • Tuskegee Airmen: Quote Does that sound familiar? The stories of how the Tuskegee Airmen, the WASP, and all the soldiers in WWII sacrificed and worked together to defeat the enemy are applicable of the month now more than ever. Our mission will always be to tell these stories – using those • Tuskegee Airmen Profiles: lessons to teach younger generations to RISE ABOVE their challenges. Harvey R. Alexander • And then there where Thank you all for what women! Marjorie A. you do to help us with this mission. Franklin • Tuskegee Airmen: Virtual We sincerely appreciate Museum artifact spotlight your support in helping us • Tuskegee Airmen: Archive preserve and share all these photos stories. Our commitment is that whatever the challenge, • WASP Profile: Nancy we will adapt and keep (Harkness) Love focused on our mission to • WASP: Did you know Honor, Educate and Inspire. • WASP: Archive photos “Lest We Forget.” • Thank you supporters RISE ABOVE! • For more information At the prison camp, Wichser befriended a young co- Doug Rozendaal pilot who painted him an image of a B-24 with engines CAF RISE ABOVE Leader burning. He used ashes to “paint” the picture! EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES NEW! Now offering the Inspiration Pack: WASP Our Inspiration Packs are perfect for the parent, teacher, youth leader or community group looking for a tangible reminder of the lessons of the Tuskegee Airmen or the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)! Cost is $95 each pack, inlcudes s/h The Inspiration Pack: WASP pack includes: 50 each CAF RISE ABOVE: WASP dog tags featuring the Six Guiding Principles and the “Triumph Over Adversity – RISE ABOVE: The Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots” booklets. The Inspiration Pack: Red Tail pack includes: 50 each CAF Red Tail Squadron dog tags featuring the Six Guiding Principles and the “Triumph Over Adversity – RISE ABOVE: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen” booklets. The RISE ABOVE Back-to-School Campaign provides free electronic resources to support and inspire educators and students to Triumph Over Adversity and work together to persevere through their challenges. School kick-off resources and “flight plans will be available for PreK, primary, elementary, middle, and high schools. Inspiring short videos about WWII Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) are also included to help educators and students “rise above” crisis challenges. Teachers can use these resources to provide help to students setting personal achievement goals for the year. *** Introducing the Penda Learning Session *** We are pleased to announce that we have secured another great resource to support your back to school efforts in this challenging time. Penda Science’s game-based, standards-aligned, online intervention platform helps students in grades 3 through 10 develop mastery and excel in science. We are excited to offer complimentary access to the Penda Science platform for one semester, with a significant discount on the purchase of the product once the trial period ends. Contact Penda Learning at (888) 919-0404 and mention code CAF for complimentary access. Since the content will need to be fully aligned and customized for your school district, and your specific students need to be loaded into the system, there is a nominal set-up fee. Check the free RISE ABOVE Resource Kits! Our free, downloadable RISE ABOVE Resource Kits provides users access to posters featuring the Six Guiding Principles, PowerPoint’s, classroom activities and a wealth of material about the Tuskegee Airmen or the WA SP. Want to go a step further? Check out all the affordable supporting educational materials available! Page 2 RISE ABOVE tour schedule at a glance PLEASE CHECK OUR SCHEDULE ONLINE FOR UPDATES! As we all know, this has been a tough year for events due to the pandemic, but there is always a silver lining! First, there has been a rise in “virtual airshows”, and we are thrilled to be included in the Canadian International Airshow that will be streamed on September 5. Additionally, we have had numerous events move from 2020 to 2021, as well as many events that were already planned for 2021 being finalized on our schedule. We will be covering a lot of ground next year with stops from Florida to Oregon, and everywhere in between! If you are interested in hosting us for an event next year, please reach out soon – our schedule is quickly filing up! DATE EVENT LOCATION September 25 Arsenal of Democracy Fly-Over [Postponed from May 8] Washington D.C. P-51C Mustang October 7-11 Tri-State Warbird Museum Batavia, OH RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang October 24-25 Thunder Over the Rock Little Rock AFB, AR RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang Oct 28-Nov 1 BFTS Flight Museum Terrell, TX RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit November 7-8 Stuart Airshow Stuart, FL RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit and P-51C Mustang To book RISE ABOVE for your event contact Kristi Younkin, Senior Logistics Coordinator, at [email protected] or call (479) 228-4520 Page 3 GREETINGS FROM THE AMBASSADOR TEAM! Are you interested in volunteering, but not sure where to start? Would you like to become part of a community, a team, and to carry on the lessons and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots? We invite you to check us out at cafriseabove.org and find out more about what we do. You can help out from the comfort of your own home or be our boots on the ground at an event when our tour resumes. Either way, we would love to have you join us! Become a CAF RISE ABOVE Ambassador today! Volunteer Coordinator Melanie Burden Page 4 VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT Terry Loudermill I was born and raised in Olathe Kansas, where I continue to reside. I am a Chiropractic Assistant and Office Coordinator at Performance Chiropractic in Olathe. I am also a husband and proud father of three amazing children. I enjoy riding motorcycles, playing golf, and flying. I have been interested in aviation all of my life. As a small child, I remember laying in my yard watching planes fly over. One of the greatest experiences I’ve had was at an air show in Kansas City in 2015. CAF Red Tail Squadron pilot, Brad Lang, allowed me to sit in the cockpit of the Tuskegee Airmen P-51 Mustang and have my picture taken with him. It was an amazing opportunity and one that I will never forget. I recently did something I thought I would never do and that was to get a tattoo. I felt that it would be a great honor to the Tuskegee Airmen to have the P-51 permanently inked on my shoulder. I use that tattoo as a tool to educate others about the airmen and share their story. One day, a few years back, I was driving by Robert Brogden Auto Dealership and noticed the CAF RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit there. I had just watched the Hollywood movie ‘Red Tails’, for the first time, so when I saw the exhibit, I got excited and I knew I had to get involved somehow… and I did. I volunteered with the CAF RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit while at the Negro League Museum in Kansas City Missouri in 2019 and subsequently the Blue Angel event at the Wheeler Airport. I am thankful for the opportunities I have been given through such a great organization like the CAF Red Tail Squadron. It has been a joy and privilege to share my knowledge and educate generations that are not aware of the history of the Tuskegee Airmen.