Corbin WWII veteran Paul Jones takes ride in vintage B-25 bomber

When Corbin’s Paul Jones served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, he got to fly some well-known airplanes off the decks of an aircraft carrier including the Wildcat, Hellcat and the Corsair. After the war, he flew jets including the Cougar, Fantom and the Fury.

One plane that Jones never got to fly during WWII was a B-25 bomber, in part because it was an Air Force plane and he was in the Navy.

Although he didn’t get to fly a B-25, Jones, 99, did get the chance to ride in one during a flight late Saturday afternoon at the London-Corbin Airport, which was part of a program by Honor Flight Bluegrass.

Jones said that he appreciated the opportunity to take a flight in the B-25.

“I am glad to get to renew my memories as rusty as they are,” he noted.

Honor Flight Bluegrass Chairman of the Board Jeff Thoke noted that Honor Flight Bluegrass usually flies WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans to Washington D.C. for a day, but this time instead of taking the plane to Washington D.C. they decided to take the plane to the veterans visiting five cities across the state during this barnstorming tour with the bomber over the weekend.

“It is sort of taking the plane out to the smaller cities in Kentucky, who have never had a chance like this to have a plane like this come in,” Thoke noted. “These planes usually go to Louisville and Lexington. They never fly to these smaller airports.”

Thoke added that the day long trip is sometimes hard on older veterans, so the group decided to try this instead in hopes that more veterans would be able to enjoy the program.

This is the second year the program has done the barnstorming tour.

As part of the tour, Honor Flight Bluegrass was taking up just WWII veterans for free plane rides in the B-25 Saturday.

“They are to fly at no charge. There is no cost to go. The normal fee is $400 – $500. It is all sponsored by the Kentucky Veteran’s Trust Fund,” Thoke said.

While Thoke isn’t a veteran, his father was a WWII veteran and his uncle and grandfather were both veterans.

After getting the chance to go on two honor flights, Thoke decided to join the organization.

“It is just a small way to give back to the veterans. They have done so much for us,” Thoke said. “It is so exciting when you are on this plane and you get to fly these WWII heroes. It is amazing.”

Pilot Matt Conrad has been flying the B-25 plane since 2009, and flew it into the London-Corbin Airport Saturday.

“It is amazing. I get chills every time I take off. It is such a piece of history. I am just honored and privileged to fly it,” Conrad noted. “It isn’t a hard aircraft to fly. It is kind of like a sports car. It goes where you put it. It is a really nice airplane.”

The plane is a North American B-25, which was built in 1944 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The B-25 was made famous as the plane used during the Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, which took place on April 18, 1942 on the Japanese capital of Tokyo.

The raid was the United States response to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

During the Doolittle Raid, 15 B-25 bombers took off from an American aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet, and bombed mainland Japan.

The raid delivered a huge moral victory for the country, and later the plane became a very successful low-level strafer due to its 13 guns, Conrad added.

This particular plane never saw combat. It was crated ready to send to the South Pacific when the war ended.

London-Corbin Airport Manager Matt Singer said he got involved in Saturday’s event after being contacted by Honor Flight Bluegrass asking if he could get five WWII veterans together for it.

“We were excited, of course,” Singer said, when first contacted. Then the reality of trying to find five WWII veterans sank as many of the surviving veterans are now 100 years old. “We did. We looked at a lot of Facebook and calling VA clinics and nursing homes and stuff like that.”

Singer, who has been an airplane fanatic since he was a young child, said he loved seeing the old plane.

Singer admitted that he wished he could have flown the B-25 Saturday.

“Just looking at it, it is pretty and just knowing what went into it and how old it is,” Singer added.

Jones said he was surprised when he was contacted about the flight by people at the London-Corbin Airport where he used to serve on the board of directors.

“It’s been a lot of years since I have flown. I flew my last military plane in 2003 about 20 years ago I guess,” Jones noted.

Prior to the flight Saturday, Jones got to spend a few minutes sitting in the pilot’s seat of the B-25.

So did Jones wish he was the man flying the plane Saturday afternoon?

“Well, sort of,” he admits. “I have been there and done that. I flew for 60 years and flew for 23 years with the Navy.”

It was a tossup Saturday afternoon whether the plane was more popular with the few dozen people, who came out to see it, or if 99-year-old Jones was more popular with the flight crew regaling them with flying stories and his plans to celebrate his 100^th birthday this fall in New Orleans.