Frigidaire and Dayton at War (1940-1945)

WHO: WACO Historical Society

WHAT: Aviation Lecture Series

WHERE: WACO Air Museum, 1865 South County Road 25A, Troy, Ohio 45373

WHEN: Thursday, October 27, 2016–doors open at 6:30 p.m., speech at 7 p.m.

CONTACT: Nancy Royer, 937-335-9226

On Thursday night, October 27th, Gailard “Red” Ketchem will give a lecture entitled “Frigidaire and Dayton at War 1940-1945.” Red Ketchem served in World War II as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 and may have fired one of the very guns his father, who worked on the production line at Frigidaire, had put his fingerprints on while building 50 caliber machine guns at the Frigidaire plant in Dayton (1942-1945).

While on military leave, Red took a tour of Frigidaire to view the production of these machine guns. Upon his return from the war, he also became an employee of Frigidaire and spent over 35 years in the service department. He now resides at Bethany Village Retirement Center in Centerville, OH and serves as a volunteer at the Grimes Airport, Champaign Aviation Museum, helping to build the B-17 flying fortress called The Champaign Lady.

The Aviation Lecture Series is sponsored in part by Dayton Power and Light Corporation. Parking and admission are free and open to the public. The lecture is scheduled to last one hour with a time for questions to follow. It will be held in the Willis Wing of the WACO Air Museum at 1865 South County Road 25A in Troy, OH. For questions, please call 937-335-9226 or visit www.wacoairmuseum.org.