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Chanute Air Museum and WILL to Host 99th Pursuit Squadron Event
Original members of the all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron formed during
World War II at Chanute Field will join a discussion sponsored by the
Chanute Air Museum and WILL AM-FM-TV in conjunction with the airing of
Ken Burns’ new documentary series, The War, on WILL-TV.
The event, from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Rantoul Business
Center, 601 S. Century Blvd., will feature a discussion about the 99th
Pursuit Squadron as well as a screening of excerpts from the new Ken
Burns’ PBS series and a video about the pursuit squadron produced by
WILL-TV.
Participating will be Elmer Jones, one of six original aviation cadets
to be trained at Chanute; William Surcey, an original member of the 99th
Pursuit Squadron; and Mrs. Eunice Dansby Gingery of Decatur, wife of
Ellsworth Dansby, who was one of the first enlisted volunteers to arrive
at Chanute Field in 1941.
State Sen. Mike Frerichs and WILL-TV station manager Carl Caldwell will
make introductory remarks.
The 99th Pursuit Squadron members who trained as ground crew at Chanute
went to Tuskegee, Ala., where they joined with the squadron’s pilots,
and became the first unit of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. The 99th Pursuit
Squadron was deployed to North Africa, Sicily and Italy where it
supported the invasion of Sicily and Italy, and protected Allied bombers
sent to destroy Axis targets in Europe.
The museum, based at the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul,
features a long-term exhibit about the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
The War premieres on WILL-TV on Sunday, Sept. 23. WILL-produced
local stories about central Illinois during World War II on the home
front and the battle front will air on radio beginning Sept. 17 and
WILL-TV beginning Sept. 26, with more stories featured on the WILL Web
site at will.illinois.edu.
More than 70 World War II veterans, their families and others involved
in war service volunteered to be a part of WILL’s Central Illinois
World War II Stories, an effort to capture and share stories of
central Illinois during World War II. WILL reporters, producers and oral
history interviewers talked to local men and women, who describe how the
war altered their lives and the lives of their families.
For more information about the Rantoul event, call Mark Hanson or Robyn
York, Chanute Air Museum, at 217-893-1613.
Central Illinois World War II Stories are sponsored, in part, by
WETA, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Clark Lindsey Village,
Supervalu, Flooring Surfaces, East Central Illinois Building and
Construction Trades Council, Ecowater Systems and International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers #601.
Contact for release: Mary Barrineau, WILL AM-FM-TV, 217-244-5080
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Contact: Mary Barrineau
WILL AM-FM-TV
217-244-5080
barrinea@uiuc.edu
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