Museum Dinner with American Fighter Aces Sept. 14

Tickets on sale for American Fighter Aces banquet at Museum, Keynote speaker Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Crandall

SEATTLE, – The Celebration of Heroes banquet and reception honoring the year’s largest gathering of American fighter pilot aces will be held at The Museum of Flight on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 6 to 10 p.m.

The ticketed event is part of the 53rd Annual American Fighter Aces Association Reunion hosted by the Museum Sept. 12-15. More than two dozen Aces from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War are scheduled to attend. The keynote speaker will be Vietnam War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Bruce P. Crandall, whose experiences as an U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam are featured in the book “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young,” and portrayed by Greg Kinnear in the film “We Were Soldiers.” Crandall is an Olympia, Wash. native.

Admission includes a reception and dinner with AFAA members, and viewing of the Aces collection in the Museum’s Personal Courage Wing. Tickets are $60 general/$55 Museum Members.

The Museum of Flight is home of the American Fighter Aces Association. At the banquet the AFAA will also be bestowing its annual “Top Gun” awards to the top-scoring combat training pilot from each branch of the U.S. military. AFAA president, U.S. Air Force Lt. General Charles “Chick” Cleveland, will also speak about the importance of the American Fighter Aces to history and their legacy in the twenty-first century.

Tickets can be purchased online at museumtix.

The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field half-way between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors 65 and older, $15 for active military, $10 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available. Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. McCormick & Schmick’s Wings Café is on site. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org