A replica of a bronze sculpture for

the B-29 All Veterans Memorial is on

display at the First National Bank.

Flanking the sculpture are Gene Rose

and Army National Guard Staff Sgt. John McGraw.

The sculpture, “Fallen Soldier,” is bronze and features a pair of combat boots, a rifle, a helmet and dog tags. The Sculpture will be placed at the B-29 All Veterans Memorial at the Pratt Industrial airport on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, said Gene Rose, vice president of B-29 All Veterans Museum Inc.
The sculpture will honor all fallen soldiers including Kansas Army National Guardsmen Spec. Jesse Davila, Staff Sgt. David Berry and Staff Sgt. Travis Bachman who all died in Iraq while serving with 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery.
World War II and the Pratt Army Airfield will be the focus of the proposed $100,000 new museum that will be located on the south side of the memorial just a cross the road, Rose said.
Efforts to raise money for both projects were put on hold after the Greensburg tornado on May 4. It’s time to restart both campaigns and complete funds for the sculpture and start collecting for the museum, Rose said.
A replica of the statue is on display in the lobby of the First National Bank. The replica will also be displayed at The Peoples Bank. Donations for the real sculpture can be made at the bank or by contacting Dea Dix-Brown, museum committee secretary/treasurer at 672-1944.
Unlike the real bronze statue, the replica features real dog tags, helmet, boots and a look-alike rifle that is set in stone from the memorial. The sculpture was chosen because troops use the real items belonging to the soldier in this fashion and pay their respects to those items to honor the fallen soldier.
Larrison Mortuary provided the “Fallen Soldier” carving in the stone and National Guard Staff Sgt. John McGraw, training NCO, provided the military pieces for the display piece. With the sculpture project nearing completion, attention will shift to the museum. It will have a façade that resembles the front of the World War II hangars. The museum committee had originally hoped to have the museum in a World War II hangar at the base but it has been badly damaged by wind and weather and no one or group has come forward with the necessary funding to save the hangar.
A new 75 feet by 75 feet steel building is planned to house items associated with the base and the B-29. Planned exhibits and displays include an engine room with a cut away engine and B-29 parts, a theater for video histories and B-29 library, a research center and archives, areas for historical displays of B-29 bomb wings, bomb groups that served at the base, the original chapel restored to it’s original design and a restored barracks.
The committee already has some of these items and other items are pledged. The committee wants real parts from a B-29 for the museum. “It would be nice to get a piece of an old B-29 to put in there,” Rose said. The purpose of the museum is to preserve the history of Pratt Army Air Field, display artifacts relative to the mission of the B-29, the Pratt community, and to honor and recognize the efforts of those who served on the B-29s and helped bring World War II to an end.
The Pratt Army Airfield was opened in 1943 and was the first training field for B-29 pilots and crews.
The airfield originally had five hangars. The largest could hold two B-29s and is currently occupied by R & R Manufacturing. Two hangars burned down in two separate fires and one was destroyed by a tornado in 1965. The fifth hangar is badly damaged and will probably have to be torn down.