Lest We Forget: 2nd Gen pilot continues show

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy McGuffin
  • 19 AW/PA

Eight replica Japanese Zeros sit side-by-side as their pilots go through their morning routines with each of their planes on day two of the Thunder Over the Rock Air and Space Show 2018. As one pilot completes final checks on his Zero, AI-114, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” pilot Dan Reedy reflects on the show and how it all started with his father.

“I’ve been part of the act since 2004,” Reedy said. “I’m following in my father’s footsteps because he was here from the beginning. He helped start this act back in 1972, and while watching him fly, I knew I wanted to do it someday.”

"Tora! Tora! Tora!" is the Commemorative Air Force's recreation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that signaled the beginning of the American involvement in World War II. Designed as a living history lesson, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" is intended as a memorial to all the service members on both sides who gave their lives for their countries.

“My favorite thing about doing this is the people,” he said. “I love talking with people from all over the country and educating them on the history of the attacks back in 1941, as well as the history of our team. My father wanted people to not only read about the history, he wanted people to see, hear and feel the history as well.”

The motto of the Commemorative Air Force and the Tora act is "Lest We Forget." "Tora! Tora! Tora!" is not intended to promote nationalism or glorify war. The intent of the Tora group is to help generations of individuals throughout the world born after World War II understand that war does not discriminate in the pain it causes, and that courageous individuals on both sides lose their lives.

“As a second-generation pilot, I hope to pass what my father started to the next generation of Americans,” Reedy said. “… that, and I just love to fly!”