Reliving history in GF

June 18th.

I thought you guys might like reading this about last weekends

Granite Fallsevent. The Marshall Independent ran a great story. Join us next year.

Jack K

Reliving history in GF - MarshallIndependent.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Info. - Marshall Independent

By Steve Browne , Marshall Independent

GRANITE FALLS - The Ray Fagen Memorial Airshow in

Granite Fallson Saturday featured the planes of legend, and a living legend who flew them.

The show began with a reenactment of a ground battle by members of various regional reenactment groups, including the 117th Infantry Division based out of Hastings.

Throughout the field were re-enactors wearing U. S. , German, Russian, Canadian and British uniforms.

Stephanie Gosse came from Jordan dressed in a Red Army uniform carrying a Mossin-Nagant rifle.

"I'm with a lot of reenactment groups," Gosse said. "This is part of the Russian 416th Rifles."

Some attendees were fans of the equipment on display.

"My father was on a B-24 in WWII so I have an interest in war birds," said Gary Wirth of Hastings "I do professional military vehicle restoration, mostly army trucks.

Gary Wirth's wife Sherri was one of a number of women who came dressed in fashionable wear of the WWII era.

"I'm married to him," Sherri Wirth said. "Our son and daughter-in-law are into reenactments, and my daughter-in-law has a large collection of vintage clothing."

The airshow featured maneuvers and simulated dogfights by P-51 Mustangs, P-38 Lightning and the once feared Japanese Zero.

The show started off with the unveiling of a bronze statue of Col. Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson, with Col. Anderson, now 91, on hand to sign copies of his book, "To Fly and Fight: Memoirs of a Triple Ace."

Anderson flew with the 357th Fighter Group in the European Theater of WWII, and had 15 confirmed kills to his credit. He retired after 30 years in the service, after having flown in

Korea

and

Vietnam

"I enjoy these air shows," Anderson said. "People say young people don't know anything about WWII. I like to go to the shows and tell them, and it's surprising how many of them do now about the war."

Across the hangar from Anderson sat another gentleman of nearly the same age. Former Oberwachtmeister Joachim Pusch was signing copies of his book, "Memoirs of a Young German Soldier."

Pusch was a forward observer for German artillery who fought on the Russian front. Originally from Silesia, Pusch Came to

America

in 1953 after the region was taken from German and ceded to

Poland

after the war. The entire German population was expelled and the area resettled with Poles whose homes in the east had been seized by the Soviet Union.

"I lost my home after the war," Pusch said. "We had a farm. I came to America on a sponsorship"
Pusch is now retired and living in

Shoreview. Former foe Anderson lives in Auburn, Calif., but travels around the country telling young people about the war their grandfathers fought. "There's still a lot of patriotism out there, and that's a great feeling," Anderson said.

Photo by Steve Browne

The Ray Fagen Memorial Airshow in Granite Falls on Saturday featured aerial acrobatics by a team flying the once-feared Japanese Zeros and began with a simulated ground battle put on by members of the World War II 117th Infantry Division re-enactment group based out of Hastings.