A couple of months ago I was searching for information on one of the WWII veterans I was to photograph at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. I stumbled across a news article online about him participating in a flight given to WWII veterans in vintage PT-17 Stearman biplanes during the Pensacola Beach Airshow. As I read more about this event I realized I just had to see if I could be a part of the next event in July of this year. I located the website for it and emailed them. The founder of Veterans Flight, Roy KInsey, called me and we had a great conversation about the group and he invited me to come shoot some photos for the veterans and their families. As part of it, I could setup and shoot portraits of them, as well. They had about 32 veterans signup for it and I couldn't pass up that opportunity!

It took place over two days and Tropical Storm/Hurricane Barry had just been stirring in the Gulf Coast. Fortunately, the weather held off enough to get the Stearmans and their passengers in the air for the flights that these men will remember fondly, as many of these guys trained in the same type aircraft before and during WWII. It was an honor to be there and meet so many of our WWII veterans and see a few of the men I had photographed at the Naval Aviation Museum earlier.

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