Memorial Day fly-over kicks off summer

Warbird owners and pilots mounted a stirring six-ship formation of World War II fighters to fly over the greater Boise, Idaho, area as a Memorial Day salute to military members who gave their lives in service to America.

It’s a tradition going on 15 years in the region, spurred by the sense of gratitude and love of history shared by John and Sue Paul, the founders of the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho.

It takes a lot of horsepower, literally and figuratively, to marshal six World War II fighters for a fly-over. Warhawk Air Museum hosted the annual Memorial Day event that was witnessed by thousands in the greater Boise, Idaho, area. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

Hosted by the Warhawk museum team, the May 31, 2021, formation featured three of the museum’s rare warbirds, the P-40E “Sneak Attack,” P-40N “Parrot Head,” and P-51C “Boise Bee.”

They were joined by Mark Peterson of Boise in his TF-51D “Diamondback,” plus the P-51D “Patty Ann II” and P-40N “Suzy” from Gary Peters’ Hangar 180 collection in Lewiston, Idaho.

Pat Kilroy, Warhawk Air Museum Director, hands a scroll with the names of veterans to be carried on the Memorial Day flight over Idaho. P-40 Warhawk pilot Jim Thomas came from California to fly the museum’s P-40E in the formation. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

Pat Kilroy, executive director of the Warhawk Air Museum, said the previous year’s Memorial Day fly-over was witnessed by an estimated 350,000 people in the flight path. This year, the museum was open and a crowd of more than 1,200 came to watch the fighters start up, takeoff, and make passes overhead as part of their circuit in the region.

The fly-over coordinated with eight Memorial Day ceremony sites and four hospitals in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, according to Kilroy.

The route of flight for the Memorial Day fly-over emphasized the veterans cemetery where the timed arrival at 11:11 a.m. was a nod to the historic end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th month in 1918. (Courtesy Warhawk Air Museum)

It has a big impact when six roaring piston-engine fighters pass over the Veterans’ Cemetery and similar sites on a serpentine flight plan. And that doesn’t come cheap, with thousands of dollars in aircraft operating expenses, plus travel for the pilots and planes that came from out of town. Humana health care insurance company helped underwrite about half the cost of this year’s event, and the participants gave of their own time and resources.

The six-ship fighter formation for Memorial Day in Idaho flew past the moon setting in the west. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

The result was a touch of patriotic magic in the skies over Idaho. Sue Paul said a strong impression for her is “the sound of it… and imagining what that sounded like to our guys fighting on the ground.”

Summer in Idaho kicked off with a heartfelt salute on Memorial Day.