C&T Publications REVOLUTIONS II - April 2015 | Page 74

THE FLYING LEATHERNECK AVIATION MUSEUM
Words and Photos by Steve Scheunemann

The Author at work with HMH-363 in Somalia, 1993

Recently my good friend and co-Editor-in-chief Tommy Anderson and I took a trip about an hour south of where we live to MCAS
Miramar, in Miramar California just north of San Diego. About a quarter mile past the main gate and accessible to the public you
will find The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum. This museum is always free and well worth the trip. On display there are
aircraft that have served our country and been retired, aircraft that saw service from World War Two through Vietnam and beyond
have been restored and placed all around the outside of the building. Inside you will find memorabilia, photographs from the
earliest days of Marine Aviation to the present day and souvenirs commemorating Marine Corps Aviation.
Since I served as aircrew on CH-53D Sea Stallions during my six plus years of active duty in the Corps it was like going home again.
Walking among these planes whose proud service is done is a near religious experience when you think of the brave men and
women who flew them into harm’s way to protect our nation. Many of them were flown in dozens or even hundreds of combat
sorties. Others flew critical resupply missions and rescue missions. Many have had combat damage repaired, bullet holes patched,
parts replaced and some are even the result of combining two or more badly damaged aircraft to create one whole.
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