"Bud" Anderson dedication

[Lightninglover]

I attended the dedication of the statue of Colonel "Bud" Anderson and the Veterans Memorial at Auburn Airport (CA) this Saturday, 16 May.

Great event attended by hundreds. I put on a small display of WWII aviation items.

For those who don't know him, Bud is a local hero. He flew with the 357th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force in WWII. He had 16-1/4 victories against the Luftwaffe. All BF-109 and FW-190 kills (except for the 1/4 shared kill against a HE-111.) He is a great guy, very friendly and soft-spoken, a true gentleman. I have had the pleasure of talking with him a number of times.

Four P-51s showed up, not bad for a little airport! Incuded "Old Crow" which flew out all the way from Georgia!

There were also three AT-6s that did a flyover and a YAK demonstration team.

The statue of Bud was done by a renowned local sculptor and is beautiful. They are stiill raising funds for the materials used.

Some photos posted below. Not the best but I had to fight the crowd and watch my display at the same time.

Here is a little fact sheet I made up for the display:

Colonel Anderson’s Air-to-Air Victories

03/08/1944 – one BF-109, northwest of Hanover
04/11/1944 – one BF-109, ¼ credit of He-111, west of Hanover
04/30/1944 – one FW-190, southeast of Orleans, France
05/08/1944 – one FW-190, Soltau
05/12/1944 – one BF-109, northeast of Frankfurt (Ace)
05/27/1944 – two BF-109, northwest of Strasbourg
05/30/1944 – one BF-109, east of Schonebeck
06/29/1944 – three FW-190, southwest of Leipzig (Double Ace)
07/07/1944 – one BF-109, north of Leipzig
11/27/1944 – two FW-190, west, northwest of Nordhausen
12/05/1944 – two FW-190, west of Berlin (Triple Ace)

If you have never read Bud's book "To Fly and Fight" pick one up, a great read!


If you ever stop at Auburn airport check out the Memorial!

[Roger Cain]

Nice, couldn't make it up there, thanks for posting this and the pictures.

[eallen]

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing! I really like the coloring of the statue and the Old Crow on top! I had a friend who was involved in the statue process send me these pictures...











All photos courtesy of John Carr.

[K5DH]

Whose '65 Mustang is that? Nice ride. And is that an H-model I see?

[marine air]

Great pics. He's a great man and very humble. Nice choice of real P-51s. The H model P-51 is not only a rare treat but also a tip of the hat to his decades of test pilot work and he flew he H model in some of those tests. No doubt he appreciated all of it.

[dirtysidedown430]

Great stuff my hat is off to whom ever got money together and 51 guys who showed up.

[eallen]

Here is a pic of the H model. The 65 Mustang is the photographers (lovingly restored over a few years). He is also involved in the statue project. There have been fund raising events and lots of donations over the last few years. Started with re-naming the street by the airport there in Auburn and culminating with the statue placement and dedication. I will try to get some of the flying pics from him as well.

A newer company that I was not aware of carried the event live...not sure if you can go to their site and re-watch it but there is some nice history notes and list of folks involved.

http://www.flyingondemand.com/BudAnderson.html