U.S. World War One Centennial Commission meets at Dawn Patrol in Dayton
By Joshua Venuti
Staff Writer
On September 30, the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission held its quarterly meeting at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton Ohio. The meeting was held coincidentally with the Dawn Patrol Rendezvous Air Show, a showcase of World War One-era military aircraft & replicas, along with the Annual Conference of the League of WWI Aviation Historians.
The Commission meeting included an Executive Director’s Report, a Memorial report, an education report, an international report, and the chairman’s report. Notable attendees of the meeting included the newest Commissioner, Ambassador Theodore Sedgwick, as well as Chair Robert Dalessandro, Vice Chair Mr. Edwin Fountain, and Commissioners Dr. Libby O’Connell, Dr. Monique Brouillet Seefried, Dr. Matthew Naylor, and the Centennial Commission’s Executive Director, Mr. Daniel Dayton.
The Dawn Patrol Rendezvous Air Show, and the League of WWI Aviation Historians Annual Conference, both offered great opportunity for networking, discussion, and scholarship, on World War One. The Aviation Historians Conference took place on Friday, September 30th, while the Rendezvous Air Show were scheduled on Saturday, October 1st.
During the Rendezvous Air Show multiple full-scale World War One aircraft were scheduled to fly in. Aircraft demonstrations were scheduled during two separate two-hour blocks. The first block was from 12-2pm and the last one was from 3-5pm. During the last demonstration of each two hour block a mock shoot-down was showcased.
Amidst all the events of the day Mr. Robert Dalessandro addressed the crowd of attendees with opening remarks on behalf of the commission just before the first fly-in demonstration was scheduled.
Joshua Venuti is a Fall 2016 Summer Interns at the World War One Centennial Commission.
(L to R) Commissioners Tom Moe, Robert Dalessandro, Monique Seefried, and Edwin Fountain gather near a World War One fighter aircraft replica during the World War I Dawn Patrol Rendezvous at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, OH.
