NAA-K B-25 Bomber Builders Newsletter
On October 9, 1988, a group of former B-25 Bomber Builders gathered at the Wyandotte County Museum. The reunion was scheduled to end a month long display honoring the men and women who built B-25 bombers at the North American plant at Fairfax Airport during World War II. About 50 former employees attended the event, and most expressed a desire to continue annual reunions. During the visiting, between stories of days gone by, mentions were made of a newsletter to keep the old warbird builders in touch.
In December of that same year, Harry and Alice Desko mailed the first NAA-K B-25 Bomber Builders Newsletter. The newsletter was intended to chronical the first reunion of former employees of the Fairfax B-25 plant in Kansas City, Kansas. Over the next 18 years, a reunion was held every year in August - the anniversary of the first flight of a B-25. Fourty-six newsletters were written quarterly and soon were mailed to over 900 former employees, pilots and other B-25 enthusiasts.
Through the years, the newsletter became much more than just an annual reunion of friends. The newsletter accepted the V.J. Lane award on April 20, 2004. Kansas City, Kansas issued three separate proclamations for "Bomber Builders Day". Many articles and television spots were dedicated to the men and women who built and flew B-25 bombers thanks to the coordination and visibility of the newsletter.
On August 18, 1996, a B-25 vertical tail and rudder assembly was dedicated at the Wyandotte County Museum during the annual reunion. All "Bomber Builders" in attendance signed the restored piece of history. Now on permanent display, the entire project was only possible due to the efforts of George Bauer and Jim Stella.
On May 2, 1998, just 10 years after the first reunion, the NAA-K B-25 Bomber Builders Newsletter dedicated a memorial to the 59,337 men and women who built 6,680 B-25 bombers at the Fairfax plant. Carved out of 4,320 pounds of Mount Rushmore Mahogany Granite, this memorial still stands at the Wyandotte County Museum. It stands as an example of the never-ending determination of the "Bomber Builders".
On November 6, 1999, the Bomber Builders newsletter was there when the original flag pole from the Fairfax plant was dedicated at it';s new home at the Clay County Regional Airport. Donated by Frank Howerton, the founder of the Kansas City Warbirds, it's flags are still flying.
The public television special "Over Here!" would not have been possible without the coordination and efforts of the newsletter. First aired on May 20, 2000, the newsletter was manning the phones that night for a KCPT fundraiser.
If it involved a B-25 somewhere in the area, odds are the newsletter was somehow a part of it. This was true for 18 years. In July of 2006, the last newsletter was mailed. Sadly, both Alice and Harry also have passed. Their legacy etched in stone continues to this day.