EGLIN AFB — On Dec. 10, 2014, Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the Civil Air Patrol in honor of its founding members’ roles in protecting the homeland against deadly German U-boat attacks during World War II and carrying out other vital wartime domestic missions.
On Feb 22, Civil Air Patrol will present replica medals to the families of two deceased CAP World War II veterans who were not able to travel in-person to the Washington, D.C. ceremony.
The medal ceremony will take place 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at Shalimar United Methodist Church, 1 Old Ferry Road, Shalimar, during an awards dinner celebrating the local CAP unit’s 49th year of service. Doors open at 6 p.m. For tickets, contact Maj. Emil Pagliari, 803-4165.
Family members in attendance include Kristie Fagan of Pensacola, representing her late father, Ronald Lunstrum, who served as a CAP cadet during the war, and CAP Capt. Roy Trusty of Mary Esther, representing his late mother, CAP Lt. Lavern Jackson, who was a World War II CAP pilot.
Some 200,000 men, women and teenagers from all walks of life – including stars of the silver screen and successful businessmen, future Tuskegee Airmen and aspiring pilots – participated in CAP during the war years, largely without recognition or reward. The organization was founded Dec. 1, 1941, six days before Pearl Harbor.
Today Civil Air Patrol, the Air Force auxiliary, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 85 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Civil Air Patrol’s 58,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state, and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the Civil Air Patrol cadet program.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Congressional medal presentation set for World War II heroes