Found within the Russian Artic Circle

There's something about finding an object from another time. It makes us wonder- who used this? Who were they?

The November 2008 issue of Veterans Magazine contains an interesting article on a P39 found at the bottom of Lake Mart-Yavr within the Russian Artic Circle in the summer of 2004. The recovery crew was concerned to see that both doors of the cockpit were closed- one should have been opened through which the pilot made his exit before the plane crashed.

For an unknown reason the pilot had not exited.

"Missing for 60 years, the pilot was buried on 6 October 2004 with full military honours at the Glory Valley Memorial, near the Litza Valley, NW of Murmansk."

There were other discoveries reported in the article. The magazine will be filed with the WWII archives here at the library for those who would like to read an interesting article.

Fighting for Freedom

We are looking forward to the talk by artist, Andrew Yelenak on Wednesday September 30th, at 2pm in the Community Room of the Library. Mr. Yelenak will speak about his experience and inspiration in painting the mural, "Fighting for Freedom" pictured above. The mural stretches 20 feet across the hall of the Major Raoul Lufbery VFW Post 591 in Wallingford, Connecticut. Veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War are represented in a colorful, incredibly detailed montage. The painting features a portrait of Major Raoul Lufbery, the WWI fighter ace and is anchored by a beautiful two foot tall rendering of the Purple Heart Medal. James Malavasi was the veteran who brought the mural to my attention. Thanks to Mr. Malavasi I was able to contact Mr. Yelenak. Also thanks to Mr. Maloney at VFW Post 591 for permission in reprinting text and the mural picture. For more information, or to order a copy of this mural please go to www.runningpast.com/mural/
To visit the website of the Major Raoul Lufbery VFW Post 591 go to www.vfw591.org/