Pioneers in Blue
(U.S. Air Force graphic)
Second volume of Pioneers in Blue launches


10/27/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFNS)  -- The second volume of Pioneers in Blue, a special project highlighting the contributions of 40 Air Force veterans from across generations, will launch in late October.

"Pioneers in Blue" is a Air Force Public Affairs Agency sponsored project that includes portrait-based displays, video interviews, multimedia and a website dedicated to telling the stories of individual veterans. The entire endeavor will be submitted to the Library of Congress as part of the Veterans History Project and distributed to numerous media outlets to help honor those who have served proudly.

Some of the veteran's honored in this volume include:

Col. (ret.) George "Bud" Day is the most highly decorated American military warrior since Gen. Douglas MacArthur. His military career spanned 34 years and three wars, during which he received 70 decorations and awards ... more than 50 were for combat, including the Medal of Honor.

Col. (ret.) Gail Halvorsen is known as "The Candy Bomber." During the Berlin Airlift Halvorsen made little parachutes out of handkerchiefs, tied them to chocolate and gum, and tossed them out of his aircraft to German children. The amount of candy steadily increased during the airlift, and by the end, American pilots had dropped 250,000 parachutes and 23 tons of candy.

Senior Airman (Sep.) Sunny Anderson served in the Air Force for five years as an award-winning radio and television broadcaster. After separating in 1997, and several years of persistence, she landed a job at the Food Network. Today, she is the host of "Cooking For Real" and has also hosted "How'd That Get On My Plate?"

The 80 piece portrait exhibit, consisting of two volumes, will be displayed in the Pentagon 5th floor, A ring, between the 8th and 9th corridor until further notice. To see all the pioneers online, visit their website here.

(Courtesy of the Air Force Public Affairs Agency)