NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This Memorial Day weekend, the B-25 History Project is unveiling a piece of World War II history with an important tie to Kansas City.
B-25 bombers were aircraft first made and flown in World War II.
A plant in Fairfax, Kansas, produced the majority of these aircraft.
“Two-thirds of the B-25s, which is a World War II medium bomber, were built in Kansas City, Kansas, during the war,” said Dan Desko, the founder and CEO of the B-25 History Project.
The non-profit remodeled an actual tail of the B-25 to put on display at Callsign Brewing Co. in North Kansas City. The goal is to honor those who built and flew these planes.
“There were over 50,000, almost 60,000 employees at the plant. So basically if you lived or your family lived in the Kansas City-area during WW2, one of your family members probably worked at the plant,” Desko said.
They’re also honoring the crew that died on the test flight that crashed in North Kansas City in 1942.
“There were five crew members that were lost on the 13th B-25, which was built at the Kansas City plant. That accident happened just due west of where we’re sitting today,” Desko said.
It’s one of many reasons they chose to display this history at Callsign Brewing Co.
“It just goes hand and hand because of what we do to memorialize downed air crew, and also first responders and military,” Steve Sirois said.
Sirois is the founder and CEO of Callsign Brewing.
“In my military career I’ve known quite a few people who never made it home,” he said. “So for Memorial Day this is kind of special.”
It’s a Memorial Day history lesson – right where it belongs.
