WHAT:
A youth cadet from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Florida Wing, Trevor Simoneau, will present his award-winning exhibit “A Salute to the Tuskegee Airmen” to Tuskegee Airman pilot Lt Col George Hardy in a special event.
Simoneau’s work was one of the Junior Individual Exhibit winners of the 2016 Florida History Fair, where over 50,000 Florida students competed for the awards. He spent 10 months studying and collecting materials for the project, which included interviews with Lt Col Hardy as well as the late Tuskegee Airmen Lt Col Leo Gray and trips to historic sites such as the Tuskegee Airmen National Park in Tuskegee, Alabama and Chanute Field in Rantoul, IL. Both sites are important landmarks in the groundbreaking program that trained the first African American military pilots of World War II.
“A Salute to Tuskegee Airmen” will be on display for the duration of AirVenture inside the CAF Red Tail Squadron’s RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit, located at KidVenture. It will then make its way to a permanent display at the CAF National Airbase in Dallas, Texas. Simoneau will be volunteering at the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit during AirVenture to share his knowledge about the Tuskegee Airmen and aviation to further inspire young visitors during their visit to this mobile movie theater featuring an original film about the Tuskegee Airmen.
WHEN:
Tuesday, July 24 at 10:00 a.m.
WHERE:
At the CAF Red Tail Squadron’s RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit at KidVenture, located on the EAA AirVenture grounds at Pioneer Airport.
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About Trevor Simoneau
Trevor Simoneau is an inspirational high school student that represents the exciting future of aviation. He is the president of Embry-Riddle’s Aviation Explorers Post 747 and the founder of Chart It All, a company that specializes in custom-created products printed with aeronautical charts. He is a glider pilot with the Eagle Sport Aviation Club and Cadet of the CAF Florida Wing. Simoneau’s passion for flying and all things aviation has landed him a spot as a student reporter for SUN’ n’ FUN Radio and a correspondent for Embry-Riddle’s The Avion Newspaper. He also lends his time as a volunteer with EAA Young Eagles.
About the CAF Red Tail Squadron
The CAF Red Tail Squadronis committed to telling the inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first black military pilots and their support personnel. RISE ABOVE: Red Tail, their three-fold outreach program, includes an airworthy P-51C Mustang and the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit mobile theater. These two exciting and entertaining vehicles tour the country year round with stops at airshows, schools, museums and community events. In addition, the group curates and provides extensive educational resourcesfor students, teachers, youth leaders and anyone looking to learn more and be inspired by these remarkable American trailblazers. The CAF Red Tail Squadron is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization part of the Commemorative Air Force(CAF), a non-military group that restores and flies combat aircraft to remember the lessons learned from the defining moments in American military aviation history. Learn more at redtail.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Darcy Castro
CAF Red Tail Squadron
darcy@redtail.org
(203) 297-4994
