Thunder wows 11K at YARS on Air Force's 70th

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

VIENNA

Thunder over the Valley

Gallery

“Awesome” is how Jacob Liber, 7, described the performance of the Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team Saturday at the 2017 Thunder Over the Valley Air Show at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.

Jacob attended the show with his brother, Luke, 5, and parents Jeff and Christy Liber of Cortland.

The show, which is free and open to the public, will be repeated today, culminated by the Thunderbirds performance at 3 p.m.

Guests are required to park in designated parking lots, which open at 8 a.m. and close at 2 p.m., and board buses to be transported to YARS, where gates open at 9 a.m. today. The opening ceremony is at 10:55 a.m.

The 2017 Thunder Over the Valley show was designated by the Air Force Reserve Command as its signature event to celebrate the Air Force’s 70th birthday. YARS is home to the 910th Air Lift Wing and a Marine Corps contingent.

The Libers were among an estimated 11,000 people who came to the show Saturday.

Jacob’s favorite Thunderbirds maneuver is when two plans fly directly at each other and turn on their sides as they pass each other. Luke particularly liked when three Thunderbird F-16 fighter jets flew up and split apart, he said, gesturing.

“It is a wonderful thing the way the base personnel welcomed us. Everyone was so nice,” their dad said.

Christy, a Lakeview schools elementary teacher, said the show is an “amazing opportunity for the youth of the community to take pride in our military. It’s truly a blessing. We thank them for having us.”

Among the static displays at the air show are C-130H Hercules troop/cargo planes that YARS’ 910th Airlift Wing flies.

After touring a huge C-17 Globemaster, on loan to the show from the 445th Air Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, John Baciu and Barb Shaffer, both of Warren, were impressed.

“I’m surprised it can get off the ground,” said Baciu, who is an airplane enthusiast.

“I love that it’s multifunctional,” Shaffer said of the plane that can carry helicopters and personnel and does air medical evacuation.

One of the educational displays is the Commemorative Air Force Red Tail Squadron Traveling Exhibit, which tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black American military pilots who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Corps.

Standing in line for the exhibit were black Americans Ashton Bullock of Ypsilanti, Mich., and Clarence Harge of Boardman.

Bullock said she knew of the Tuskegee Airmen, having seen the movie and reading about them in school.

“It is tremendous how they overcame adversity just to fly. It is a tribute to them and their families. I think their story inspires other African-Americans, and really everyone, to achieve,” said Harge.

Air Force Col. Dan Sarachene, commander of YARS and the 910th Air LIft Wing and aC-130 pilot, said he is “very appreciative for the community’s phenomenal turnout to view the historical and present-day display of United States Air Power.”

Sarachene said he was “real excited” to have Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel sworn in as honorary 910th Air Lift Wing commander.

“We enjoy outstanding facilities at YARS and have dedicated well-trained personnel to perform our missions,” said Sarachene, a South Jersey native who calls Austintown his adopted home.

The 910th has “absolutely the best-trained, best-equipped airmen to do our missions,” said Reserve Chief Master Sgt. Bob Potts, senior enlisted leader for the 910th.

He added: “We work hard to overcome obstacles to complete whatever mission is asked of us, including putting on this community event.”