Minnesota Military Museum Aircraft

[MWalsh]

Nice selection of photos.

 

I also enjoyed looking at the "40/8" WWI vintage railway car in the back ground.

 

Here is the story of the Gratitude Train, which was sent from France to the US in 1949 in appreciation for our efforts of WWI, WWII and the reconstruction. Here is a write up on the one in North Dakota.

 

http://history.nd.gov/fgt/history.html

 

This link has a list with information of the "Merci" train cars by state...

 

http://www.mercitrain.org/

 

I am sorry to say the one designated for Nebraska did not survive...

 

http://www.nebraskahistory.org/exhibits/me...train/index.htm

 

That IS a great story on the WW1 40 & 8 cars! It puts into context the size of those things.

 

On a related note, I cannot help but think of the WW2 POW's in Bataan jammed into those cars very similar in size as that, stuffed in by the 100's in high heat and left for hours and days inside them...

 

MW