For more information please contact Nicole Wahlberg, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Evergreen Aviation Museum, 503-434-4006 or email nicole.wahlberg@sprucegoose.org.

 

FOR RELEASE

October 5, 2005

 

Evergreen Aviation Museum Announces Five New Oregon Aviation

Hall of Honor Inductees

 

Oregon's finest in aviation are honored at the third-annual

Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor event in McMinnville, Oregon.

 

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Evergreen Aviation Museum is honoring Oregon’s finest in aviation  - men and women who have made important contributions to aviation and airpower in all fields including, but not limited to, military, civilian, engineering, business, education and government.   The official Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor was established at the museum to recognize outstanding men and women.  The 2005 recipients are from Corvallis, Ore., McMinnville, Ore., Portland, Ore. and Salem, Ore.

 

The Hall of Honor celebration is on Sun., Oct. 23 at the museum.  The public is invited to the 1 p.m. ceremony.  RSVPs are required for the event.  Tickets are $20/person and $15/museum members. Dessert and beverages will be served.  To purchase tickets, please call 503-434-4185. 

 

World renowned aviator, Tony Blackman, is slated to address the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor inductees and their families with the stories that inspired his book Flight Testing to Win. Blackman was the last test pilot to fly with Howard Hughes.  He  also served in the Royal Air Force and the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany , was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a member of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He is also a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators.  Blackman will serve as the event’s keynote speaker and will sign books after the ceremony.  The Master of Ceremonies is The Honorable Jaime Oaxaca, museum board member and Director Emeritus of the Board of Directors, U.S. Space Foundation.

 

“It is our pleasure to publicly recognize the significant contributions to aviation these Oregonians have made,” said Darrell Kuelpman, executive director. “We are honored to present these awards to the recipients and their families and look forward to the future achievements our state will make in aviation.”

 

Former Oregon Gov. Victor Atiyeh is Chairman of the Hall of Honor Committee. Other committee members include: Mike Burrill, Sr., Chairman of the State Aviation Board; and Mr. Fred Rosenbaum, senior partner, Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum Insurance; retired Oregon Air National Guard Assistant Adjunct General.

 

The 2005 Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor inductees:
 

Colonel Terry Bernhardt                                   From the early days of Vietnam, through his subsequent service in the Oregon Air National Guard, he always displayed outstanding leadership, patriotism, courage and loyalty to the organizations he served. Bernhardt received the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster and Air Medal with 12 oak leaf clusters from the United States Air Force and the Gallantry Cross with Silver Star from the Republic of Vietnam.  Later joining the Oregon Air National Guard, he took command of the 142nd Fighter Interceptor Group in 1989 serving in that position until his retirement in 1996.  Bernhardt resides in Portland, Ore.

 

Lt. Col (Ret.) Raymond “Ray” E. Costello        Costello has been a respected member of the aviation community for over 64 years. He volunteered with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and earned ratings in two dozen different aircraft before joining the Air Force Reserve in 1946. Recalled to active duty for the Berlin Airlift, he also served in Korea and Southeast Asia. Joining the staff of the Oregon Division of Aeronautics (DOA) in 1972, he was instrumental in creating Oregon’s State System Planning for General Aviation. He persuaded the FAA to fund the concept for the Oregon plan, which became a model for state plans across the U.S. Upon retiring from DOA, Costello served the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) as the Northwest representative for 17 years and continues today as the special Oregon contact for AOPA among many other Oregon aviation leadership roles. He is referred to as Mr. Oregon General Aviation.  Costello resides in Corvallis, Ore.

 

Reverend Jacob “Jake” D. DeShazer                Staff Sergeant DeShazer joined the famed Doolittle Raiders and participated as a B-25 bombardier in the surprise attack on Tokyo, Japan.  After completing the mission, his plane ran out of fuel and his crew landed in hostile territory.  Captured and kept as a prisoner of war, he endured severe beatings and malnutrition for 40 months.  When the war ended on August 20, 1945, the Japanese released DeShazer. He wrote a story, titled I Was a Prisoner of Japan, which fell into the hands of the man who led the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Captain Mitsuo Fuchida - transforming his life. He received worldwide media attention for converting Fuchida to Christianity and both became friends, ministering together in Japan and the United States.  DeShazer resides in Salem, Ore.

 

 

Major Dean Johnson                                        Helicopter pioneer, Johnson believed in the use of the rotor-powered flying machine as an aerial workhorse and predicted a terrific future where man would utilize helicopters to move houses and haul timber out of forests. He served as a Marine Air Wing fighter pilot, flying dive-bombers in the South Pacific. Joining the Marine Corps Reserves as a helicopter pilot, he received the first commercial helicopter operator’s license in the nation in 1950. Purchasing his first helicopter the same year, he launched his company, Dean Johnson, Inc. Over the next few years, Johnson and his company proved the helicopter’s capabilities through aerial surveys of power lines, snow fields and timberlands; airlifting men to fight forest fires; rounding up wild horses for Native Americans, transporting heavy material for construction projects, and hauling at least 25 “authentic” Santa Clauses.  Johnson’s award is posthumous.

 

Lt. J. Thomas (Tom) Maloney                           Joining the United States Naval Air Reserve in 1941, Ensign Maloney received his wings on September 4, 1942.  He received an assignment with Air Group 98, based at Guadal canal. Providing air support during the invasions of Munda, Bouganville and Green Islands, he made over 80 strikes against the Japanese. In July 1944, he received an assignment with Air Group 6 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock and participated in fifteen strikes against enemy shipping and airfields in Nansei Shoto, Wake Island, and Okinawa. As Division Leader, Maloney led a strike against Okinawa, destroying a bridge used by the Japanese to supply their troops on the heights of the beach. Exploding debris from the bridge smashed into his aircraft, but Maloney maintained control long enough to ditch the aircraft in the open sea, where he and his rear-seat gunner quickly escaped before it sank and were later retrieved by a U.S. destroyer. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Navy Crosses, and five Air Medals.  Maloney resides in McMinnville, Ore.

 
The new inductees will be joining the 2003 and 2004 inductees:  Col. Rex T. Barber, Maj. Gen.Marion
Carl, Maj. Gen. Gordon L. Doolittle, Kenneth A. Jernstedt, David R. Kingsley, Gen. Merrill A.“Tony”
McPeak, Melvin Jack Murdock, John G. “Tex” Rankin, Jack G. Real, Major Robert “Bob” Deiz, 
Captain John F. Hampshire, Jr., Hazel Ying Lee, Norman “Swede” Ralston and General Nathan
Farragut Twining. 

 

The Evergreen Aviation Museum is best known as the home of the world’s largest wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose, SR-71 Blackbird and Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat.  In addition, there are more than 60 historic aircraft and exhibits on display, along with aviation artwork, traveling displays, the newly remodeled Spruce Goose Café and the museum store.  The Evergreen Aviation Museum’s hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily except when it is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter. An extensive museum store and friendly café add to the Museum experience. The Museum is located at 500 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way, across the highway from the McMinnville Airport and about three miles southeast of McMinnville, Ore., on Highway 18. Regular visitor admission is required. Call (503) 434-4180 for more information, and visit www.sprucegoose.org.

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