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| Fred Harl and Carmelo Turdo |
December 7, known in the United States as Pearl Harbor Day, presents another opportunity to pause and remember those who perished that day in 1941 in the attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on U.S. Pacific Fleet on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and other south Pacific military installations. The importance of this event cannot be understated, as it brought the United States into World War II through direct attack on her territory and changed the course of history. The event has been respectfully recreated since 1972 throughout each airshow season by the Commemorative Air Force's Tora! Tora! Tora! Team at venues across the nation. The original six replica aircraft used in the demonstration were from the 1970 movie, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and have since been augmented by others. Throughout the performance, the narration tastefully describes the action as if it were the actual attack, yet reinforces the theme of reconciliation that has turned the United States and Japan into strong allies today. The Aero Experience was there to witness the Tora! Tora! Tora! team in action during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016 airshow, which included a dogfight between a replica Zero fighter and a P-40 Warhawk.
One of the aircraft flying in the airshow sequence was an Interstate Cadet actually stationed on the island of Hawaii during the attack, and was in storage from December 1941 until April, 1946. The aircraft is now on loan to the Heritage Flight Museum in Burlington, WA.
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