As part of the Millville Army Air Field Museum’s Lecture and Movie Night series, distinguished pilot Rocky Gannon of South Carolina presented by Zoom on March 9. Due to COVID, the Museum has transformed these presentations to virtual events, enabling attendees to see and learn from World War II veterans from around the country.
Spanning his long career in the military, Gannon piloted a B-17 during World War II, flew 18 months in Korea, during the Belgian Congo War, and then an astounding 387 missions Vietnam. He spoke of being inspired to join the Army Air Corps after seeing P-47 Thunderbolts from the Millville Army Air Field fly over his Ocean City High School class in 1943. After 37 years of service, he retired from the Air Force with more than 6,000 hours in 34 different types of aircraft.
Remarkably, Gannon met Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart as young boy at an airshow in Atlantic City.
In addition to the important first-hand history he provided to Zoom attendees, Gannon shared a harrowing story of how he participated in the filming of the Hollywood movie Bombers B-52 as a pilot. He received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star.
Gannon is a longtime friend and member of the Museum. He was interviewed in 2013 by Millville High students as part of the award-winning Veteran Interview Project, which was created by the Museum and the Millville Public Schools. Amazingly, having just turned 96, he is the youngest of the Museum’s virtual speakers in the past 12 months!
To obtain more information on future speakers and other Museum events, visit p47millville.org or call 856-327-7588.
