ARIA February 2009 Newsletter

Jessica Bayless Brown

Jessica is the daughter of Captain Thomas Edward Bayliss, ARIA 328. She wrote the following message to the ARIA 328 Memorial Foundation; I would like to share her message with you.

I had spent a few years living within 50 miles of the crash site for a few years before my first visit. I went by myself on a sunny May 6. As I drove to Walkersville, Maryland, I was overwhelmed by various emotions. My entire life had been changed by the events that happened over that very town over 20 years ago. I was about to turn two when my father, Captain Thomas Edward Bayliss, died at age 30 on Aria 328. My brother was two months old, born three months premature. My mother and brother had both been invited on the trip but my mother didn’t want to leave me at home. My father loved to write, and paint, and I looked so much like him.

I drove silently along the road leading up to the park, past the houses, wondering who was there, wondering if this event had changed any of their lives. If they had seen something or had been horrified by the news; or had just heard the sirens in the back ground as they went about their lives. Heritage Farm Park was empty and silent. I looked to the sky, I looked to the tree line, I reached down and touched the earth. I walked to the edge of the field, sat in the grass, and felt so close to my father.

I had been to the memorial in Dayton, walked among the trees, felt the letters of my father’s name under my finger. But being in Walkersville, the actual site of the crash, felt real. The events of that day were real and the effect it has had on many, many lives are all very real. I support the construction of the Walkersville Memorial so that I and other family members and friends have a place to sit and remember and to know that they are not alone in the field but surrounded by love and compassion. My life will never be the same, the sadness lives on, but life is a fleeting journey and in the end, just as they did on Aria 328, all we have is each other.

Jessica Bayliss Brown

Military Memorial

ARIA 328 Memorial Service May 6, 2009

Service will start at 10:30 a.m. at the ARIA 328 Memorial, National Museum of the Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. After the service, we will gather at Clancy's for a fellowship luncheon. If you have questions please contact Randy Losey for more information.

Remembering Demon 51: June 8, 2009

Air Force officials dedicated a memorial Jan. 13 at the Museum of Military History in Jacksonville, Ark., to the six airmen who perished in the crash of an Arkansas Air National Guard C-130 transport during a training flight June 8, 1988. The aircraft, assigned to the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Ark., went down near Greenville, Miss., killing Maj. Andy Zwaan, 2nd Lt. Mark Brandt, 2nd Lt. Thomas Leece, MSgt. Ed Smith Jr., MSgt. Danny Holland, and SSgt. David Bingham. About 150 family members, friends, and current and former military members were on hand for the dedication to the crew of the aircraft, which had the call sign Demon 51. The memorial includes a plaque with the six airmen's photos and a single propeller blade from one of the aircraft's engines.

Submitted by Richard Beard

ARIA Memorial Coins

If you don't have one of these coins, you are missing out on a unique piece of history. The coins are approximately 1.54 inches in diameter, 39mm, and proceeds will benefit the ARIA 328 Memorial in Walkersville, Maryland. The coin back was designed by our own alumni Bob Guere. The back features a picture of the vertical stabilizer of ARIA 328 with a field of 21 stars in the background, each star representing a crewmember or passenger. A band surrounds the image with the date of 5.6.81. These coins are beautifully designed and manufactured. Donate today.

flyARIA.com Web Site Updates

As I promised in last month's newsletter, the recreation of the flyARIA.com web site has begun. Under "The Heritage" section of the site, I have added five videos. If you have videos concerning ARIA, please consider donating a copy so you can share with your fellow alumni.

The flyARIA.com web site updates for January are on schedule. The web site is being updated in real time, to always see the latest updates make sure your browser is set to check for new versions of stored pages every time you visit the web page. This setting can be found in your browsers internet settings.

I have updated the information for the original eight ARIA Aircraft on the web site. The information presented is not a complete history of the aircraft. Please submit additional information/corrections about these aircraft and the organizations that they were assigned to.

flyARIA.com Featured Pages

John F. Kennedy

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon and back. This is a very powerful and eloquent speech. The rest is ARIA history.

This page includes an audio recording of the President's space goals speech plus a video segment.

http://www.flyaria.com/jfk.html

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon, and ARIA was there. This page includes video of the Launch of Apollo 11 plus reentry video which includes references to ARIA 3.

http://www.flyaria.com/apollo11.html

We Still Need You

Funding is not our only need for the success of the construction of the ARIA 328 Memorial. We need volunteers. What can you do to help? It is as easy as contacting and following up with ARIA Alumni to spread the news of the memorial. We need experienced grant writers to allow us the opportunity to tap all resources available for funding. We need leaders to create and coordinate teams to contact ARIA Alumni and to head a “Think Tank” to generate ideas and methods to raise funds. Don’t think you can help? Contact us; I am confident that we can use you.

Silent Flyer

You can make the ARIA community aware of the passing, and funeral arrangements, of our Alumni by submitting the information through the Silent Flyer form on the ARIA Memorial web site. A special Silent Flyer email will be sent to all subscribers of the ARIA Newsletter with the information.

We are missing a lot of faces to the names in the Silent Flyer Memorial. If you have a photo of a silent flyer, please consider sending a copy to the ARIA 328 Memorial Foundation for inclusion into the web site.

ARIA 2011 Memorial Service and Reunion

We have received limited feedback for the 2011 memorial service and reunion. Even if you won't be able to join us, let us know your thoughts on what would make the reunion special. Please take time to fill out the online reunion form on the ARIA Memorial web site. We want to hear your feedback on this event. Two years may seem like a long time, but 2011 will be here before we know it. The flyARIA.com web site has been updated with over 350 pictures from previous reunions.

Request from Down Under Responses

I want to thank those who responded to the request by John Preece for information concerning the ARIA missions that were flown out of Perth, Australia. For those who did not receive the January issue of the newsletter, you can contact John at John.Preece@wac.com.au if you have any information about the ARIA missions out of Perth. You can access the ARIA Newsletters from the ARIAMemorial.com web site.

ARIA Information Request

There is going to be an Apollo X 40th anniversary held here at Tinker AFB on 20 May 09. Could you/another alumni send information on ARIA's involvement in Apollo X missions.

ARTHUR J. BONVIE, MSgt, USAF
Superintendent, Wing Intelligence
552nd Operations Support Squadron
DSN 884-4196/COMM (405)734-4196
Arthur.Bonvie@tinker.af.mil

ARIA Roster Updates

Don't forget to update your roster information. This can be done quickly by filling out the roster form on ARIAMemorial.com or flyARIA.com.

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Contact Information

I can be contacted through the ARIA Memorial web site or by Randy.Losey@ARIAMemorial.com. You can also use this email address to submit information to be included into the ARIA Newsletter.