P-47 built in Evansville returns home

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  • chevyguy

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    My grandma worked on the line at Republic in Evansville, while grandpa was in Europe. This is awesome for highlighting the war effort in Indiana during WWII and the personal family connection for me


    https://www.courierpress.com/story/...y-new-home-exhibit-opens-thursday/3698807001/

    27J5BIJW3RFOZLND5RWCBY4QPY.png
     
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    chevyguy

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    johny5 said:
    What a great story! Thanks for sharing.

    I may need to set aside some time to head over and take a look.


    Its 5 hour drive for me, but worth it to see a piece of history. I think there are less than 10 known to still be flying in the world and this is the only flyable one built in Evansville. Also I will visit my family while there.
     

    snorko

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    What a great story! Thanks for sharing.

    I may need to set aside some time to head over and take a look.

    Its 5 hour drive for me, but worth it to see a piece of history. I think there are less than 10 known to still be flying in the world and this is the only flyable one built in Evansville. Also I will visit my family while there.

    One of four per one story I read. When you are here make time to tour the LST 325 as well. one of the last if not the last sailing LST. I half jokingly call Evansville the town that won the war. Hundreds of LST ships, thousands of P-47 aircraft, 95% of the .45 acp ammo, large part of the .30 carbine ammo, and literally hundreds of other companies that manufactured goods from turret canopies to tents & uniforms.
     

    chevyguy

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    snorko; said:
    One of four per one story I read. When you are here make time to tour the LST 325 as well. one of the last if not the last sailing LST. I half jokingly call Evansville the town that won the war. Hundreds of LST ships, thousands of P-47 aircraft, 95% of the .45 acp ammo, large part of the .30 carbine ammo, and literally hundreds of other companies that manufactured goods from turret canopies to tents & uniforms.

    Yes my grandma also worked at the yard for the LST’s

    My neighbors grandma worked at Briggs in Evansville during the war, a search came up with they built the wing assemblies for the F4U Corsair and I believe the the SBD dive bomber.
     

    Mr Evilwrench

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    I had an uncle that was on one of those LSTs. I've forgotten the number. The crew got their practical training sailing it down the Mississippi River, through the Panama Canal, and across the Pacific to dive in to the island hopping campaign.
     

    snorko

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    Yes my grandma also worked at the yard for the LST’s.

    I was appraising a bunch of homes for a road project a few years ago and one was owned by a really sweet old lady who worked at the ship yard. I probably spent an extra 45 minutes to an hour talking to her about that time and what Evansville was like during the war. She had some great stories and I was really thankful she shared them. She passed away about a year later, sadly.

    Local video about the shipyard: https://video.wnin.org/video/picture-picture-evansville-wwii-evansville-shipyard/
     

    rob63

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    I think the P-47 is the unsung hero of WWII. The record of the 56th fighter group is remarkable.
     

    Bigtanker

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    That is pretty awesome. History comes home.

    I'm in awe of these type of aircraft. The AirZoo in Kalamazoo, MI has a few of these. They also have cutaways of these monster engines. They area work of art. I could stare at them for hours.

    4360_front_cutaway.jpg
     

    Tactically Fat

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    One of four per one story I read. When you are here make time to tour the LST 325 as well. one of the last if not the last sailing LST. I half jokingly call Evansville the town that won the war. Hundreds of LST ships, thousands of P-47 aircraft, 95% of the .45 acp ammo, large part of the .30 carbine ammo, and literally hundreds of other companies that manufactured goods from turret canopies to tents & uniforms.

    Relatively geographically isolated, yet with an "OK" highway system to get there AND the major shipping lane of the Ohio River sure all worked together well back then, didn't it?
     

    snorko

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    Relatively geographically isolated, yet with an "OK" highway system to get there AND the major shipping lane of the Ohio River sure all worked together well back then, didn't it?

    That and we had a ton of industry that could make the changeover. Chrysler auto plant converted to ammunition production and tank refurbishment, International Steel and George Koch & Sons made the LST yard feasible, etc. I don't know if anything besides "they have an airport and a ton of vacant land" drew in Republic.
     

    Alamo

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    LeverGunFan

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    Cool story! I recall seeing the "Tarheel Hal" in a few airshows, in a way I'm sorry to see that it won't be flying anymore. The few P-47 pilots I know of liked flying the P-47, but the Army Air Force decommissioned almost all of the P-47s after the war so that very few exist today.
     
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