World War II Flight Training Museum and
63rd AAF Flying Training Detachment
Douglas, Georgia
News
News
On Friday 22 November 2024, the World War II Flight Training Museum, the 63rd Preservation Society, the WWII Flight Training
Base Committee, and the City of Douglas held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly-named Cadet Park and the Charles J. Loring Memorial. This event commemorated the 72nd anniversary of Major Charles J. Loring Jr.'s heroic actions and included the dedication of a memorial in his honor. Many family members of Charles Loring, along with several distinguished guests, were present at the well-attended event. 
The aircraft on display at the Cadet Park was acquired by the Douglas 63rd Preservation Society, Inc., for use in this memorial. It is painted as Lockheed F-80C, S/N49-1830 (FT-830) as flown by Maj. Charles J. Loring, Jr. Local volunteers and U.S. Air Force Maintainers from Moody AFB dedicated many hours of their time and skills to the restoration of the F-80 Shooting Star, the centerpiece of the memorial.
Thank you to Al Thomas and his crew at Al’s Paint & Body Shop for the beautiful paint job; Jimmy Kitchens, American Truck Parts, for transporting and positioning the F-80 on the display platform; and a special thank you to Sue and Hugh Harrington for their generous gift to help with this restoration. And a big thank you to Don Brooks who made all of this happen!
To see the special newsletter describing the event, click here: Cadet Flyer: Special Edition December 2024.