"Broward Navy Days needs you to become a member - now more than ever. Due to budget constraints the U.S. Navy cannot support Fleet Week Port Everglades with ships this year. Instead, we will focus our events on recognizing the important contributions of veterans and more than 1,200 military and Defense Department personnel based right here in South Florida.

Keep in mind that Broward Navy Days maintains a year-round presence in our community and is not going away. There will be welcoming events and shore leave activities for visiting Navy and Coast Guard ships throughout the year. We will support the activities of the U.S. Southern Command and Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale. Broward Navy Days will participate in the commissioning ceremonies of new Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters in South Florida and the change of command ceremonies for the local Navy and Coast Guard commands. This year, and every year, we place special emphasis on honoring our many veterans for their service to this country. This includes our Salute To Veterans luncheon, Pearl Harbor memorial service, and the Legion of Honor Ceremony to honor World War II veterans with France's highest decoration, dating back to 1802.

Please don't forget about us. Broward Navy Days is a private, nonprofit organization. We do not receive governmental funding or financial support from a national affiliation. Our funding comes from sponsorships, special events, and tax-deductible contributions from people like you. That's why I urge you to become a member at this critical time. Memberships add up to support the biggest and best local military appreciation effort in our area.

Giving is easy. You can download a membership form and pay by check or go to Broward Navy Days Website and pay by credit card or Pay Pal. Thank you for your support of our important mission,
Mary Anne Gray President & Executive Director."

Our member and volunteer David Epstein a Parachute Rigger in WWII visited the Naval Air Station Pensacola with his wife Gloria where he was met by CDR David G. Jasso, Executive Officer of the naval base. David was interviewed for the press as he related the job of a Parachute Rigger. David donated his parachute-rigger tools to the Pensacola Museum. For a period of time David was assigned to President George H.W Bush's Squadron, who was training as a Pilot on the TBM/TBF Avenger torpedo bomber in NAS Fort Lauderdale. David has donated WWII memorabilia and his Aviator's Log Book with Ensign Bush's signature to our Museum.

Sue Presley, one of our long-term volunteers first came to this Museum to purchase a poster of the Flight 19 Squadron. By the time she left, thanks to Museum's founder Allan McElhiney's persuasiveness, she was a member, volunteer assistant to Allan, and had acquired space to use for display of her Eastern Airlines memorabilia! Sue was employed by Eastern in Atlanta, Georgia in 1965 as an airport agent. She transferred to Fort Lauderdale Airport in 1970. She later worked at Miami International Airport as an agent and as a Special Services Representative. In 1979, after Sue's daughters were grown up and getting married, Sue became a Flight Attendant for Eastern. Along the way, she became a private pilot. She remained with Eastern until 1990, when she accepted early retirement nine months before Eastern ended its long life as one of the country's major carriers. Sue's love of flying remains intact. She has been to all 50 States and to more than 50 foreign countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, many places it would not be possible to visit today. In February, Sue flew to Washington, DC with daughter Debbie and son-in-law Pat to see the newest addition to the family, their grandson baby James, who is Sue's first great-grandchild. Sue is thinking of one more major trip to Russia or Israel, health and finances permitting. Until then, she says that she will do her traveling through the many interesting displays in our Naval Air Station Museum. THANK YOU SUE, for all you do!

Larry Rivera, son of WWII veteran Ray Rivera, discovered this Museum while he was riding his motorcycle around Perimeter Rd. He told his father Ray (a WWII sailor and survivor on the USS Bunker Hill), about his visit to the place and brought him over to meet Allan, the founder and custodian. That was 7 years ago. Ray & Larry have been the most dedicated volunteers. They enjoy spending time together while painting, pressure cleaning, landscaping and taking care of the continuous maintenance of this Museum. OUR DEEPEST THANKS TO BOTH!

The Flight 19 Soccer Club visited the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum

Flight 19 is an independent supporters group based in Fort Lauderdale/Broward County, FL, exclusively supporting the professional soccer club team The Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The group was conceived in 2010 to stir up support in the area, in anticipation of the return of the legendary Strikers and North American Soccer League in 2011. Their mission is to rally passionate support. On game-days the group works together to provide an electric atmosphere at Lockhart Stadium, home of the Strikers, by providing a home-field advantage for the Strikers. Through singing, chanting, tifo displays, waving flags, and banging drums for the full 90 minutes, this support group strives to help their team get the win in every game.

From their Official Website:
"The group is named in honor of Flight 19, a squadron of 5 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that took off from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale (now the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport) in 5 December of 1945, disappearing in perhaps the most famous incident associated with the Bermuda Triangle. Our crest is based on the roundel insignia found on WWII era US Military Aircraft, the classic NASL style soccer ball and the triangular shape of, you guessed it, the Bermuda Triangle. The story of Flight 19 is a part of the history of Fort Lauderdale, and considering the long time home of the Strikers, Lockhart Stadium, is situated on land that was once part of an airport built to train WWII Naval pilots, and is still under the flight path of FTL Executive Airport, we feel it is a fitting name to represent our efforts to honor Fort Lauderdale and our rich history."

Website: http://www.flight-19.com

“Broward Goes To War”  Exhibit in the museum's gallery depicts the economic, social and demographic changes during the war years of 1941-1945, and shortly thereafter. The war put Broward County on the map. It forever changed it. This exhibit was possible, by the Broward County Historical Commission in Fort Lauderdale.

The gallery features display panels with graphics, diagrams, photographs and period uniforms, artifacts and memorabilia. Accompanying text provides details and background information. Panels describe the military training that occurred in the area. Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, located where Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is now, was a training base for bomber pilots, and other naval schools also operated in Fort Lauderdale. Local beach areas were restricted to military personnel, and blackouts at night were often called so that the German submarines that commonly patrolled offshore in the early years of the war would have difficulty seeing land.

Also displayed will be ration books, "The Victory Cook Book,"  which describes how to substitute for rationed foods, and the small bulbs that could be used during blackouts, and Victory Gardens memorabilia. "It was a time of sacrifice," said Fort Lauderdale resident Allan McElhiney, who served aboard the USS Asheville during 1944-45 while it was at Port Everglades. "People all over the county were involved in the war. Some people were coming into downtown Fort Lauderdale on horse-drawn wagons because of the gas rationing. I hope that young people will go to see it and learn about their past history and the role that Fort Lauderdale and Broward County played in winning World War II," McElhiney said. Other panels discuss area industries prominent during the war, such as agriculture and marine businesses, and document how the local economy boomed after the war's conclusion. "The very first season after the war … ended up to be the biggest season that Broward County had had up until that time," said county historian Helen Landers. Hundreds of former service members who had been stationed here, like McElhiney, became county residents, and they were a key to later growth. McElhiney turned out to be the Founder and current President of the NASFL Museum.

This exhibit was possible, by the Broward County Historical Commission in Fort Lauderdale. They created the exhibit from their own collections, and the Boca Raton Historical Society, the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, the Hollywood Historical Society, and the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum also contributed materials or research. This exhibit will be at the NASFL Museum from March 16, to September 16, 2013.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO VISIT THIS EXHIBIT, OR THE MUSEUM AT ANY OTHER TIME: Volunteers are usually at the Museum on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 11:00am to 4:00pm, but PLEASE CALL BEFORE GOING to schedule your Free Tour: (754) 300-9259

Japanese mementos from a Sniper cave in Saipan were donated by WWII veteran Ray Rivera. Ray Rivera joined the Navy at 16 years old, and was on his way to the South Pacific on the USS Bunker Hill where he celebrated his 17th birthday. He became a 2nd class Petty Officer. Ray recalls that he was aboard this aircraft carrier on May 1945, when it was attacked by Japanese kamikaze pilots. He was below deck on his way to the galley, when the first plane hit the ship. He was immediately assigned to “damage control.” The fires raged on deck, and heavy smoke infiltrated into the decks below. The crew of the Bunker Hill lost 346 sailors and airmen, 43 missing (never found), and 264 wounded. The damaged ship returned to Pearl Harbor, and then onto Bremerton WA, for repairs. When the war ended, the Bunker Hill became a “Magic Carpet” taking troops back and forth, throughout the South Pacific.

It was on one of these trips to pick up military personnel, that Ray had a close encounter with a Japanese sniper. As he recalls: "Our ship arrived in Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) to pick up more of our troops. If we had to walk around, we were assigned a Marine escort because it was still dangerous as there were snipers hiding in caves. Some Japanese soldiers didn't know the war had ended, and we still had several incidents. A small group of us were walking around with our escort, and suddenly we got shot at. The shots were coming from a wooded area ahead of us.  The Marine took aim in that direction, and then there was silence. We proceeded to the area and checked the perimeter, and we found several abandoned caves. It looked like someone had been living in them for a while. At that time it was customary to take "souvenirs" so I looked around and saw several torn pages from a photograph album. There were of young men, like us fighting the war, and I wondered if they had sisters, mothers, brothers. I also found torn pages from what it looked like Japanese propaganda from magazines. The pages had been perforated with one top and bottom hole and held together with shoelaces. I was drawn to the images and I wanted to safe-keep these mementos. I held to these pages for more than 60 years. I don't speak Japanese and don't know the names of the Japanese soldiers in the photographs, but it would be good if someone knows their families or recognizes them. "