A World War II veteran’s son paid tribute to him with a flyover in the sky above his home in Virginia on Wednesday.
“David Kahley, joined by three other pilots, made the trip from Culpeper, Virginia, to York County to honor Arlington ‘Art’ Kahley,” according to the York Dispatch.
Kahley’s father had planned to attend the Arsenal of Democracy event in Washington, DC, on Friday to watch 66 planes fly over the World War II memorial but was advised to stay home because of coronavirus concerns.
However, that did not stop David from recognizing his father’s service to the nation by flying with three other North American T-6 Texan planes.
“I figure, the weather looks good, so let’s go give him his own personal flyover,” he stated.
The veteran, a York County native, was drafted into the war in 1941 as an anti-aircraft gunner.
“He served overseas for three years and was stationed at several Pacific islands, including Fiji, New Guinea and the Philippines,” the Dispatch article read.
Kahley, who also celebrated his 98th birthday on Wednesday, told the York Daily Record he still thought about his time in the service:
I think it’s a part of me that’ll never, never be gone. The background and what I was doing… I’m glad I had that opportunity and could do it without getting hurt. Our outfit has two stars, if you notice on there, because we were in a threatening area the whole time. So we have a star on our ribbon for the Philippine Liberation Unit and the South Pacific star, too, for being in tough areas. Difficult, you never knew what was going to happen. But thank goodness I didn’t get fired at and could handle it.
The veteran called his son’s tribute to him “wonderful,” then added, “It felt like I wanted to get my anti-aircraft guns out.”
“I appreciated it so much, to line up four planes to come right over the house was something else,” he concluded.
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