WWII veteran’s dream comes true aboard B-25 bomber


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HEBER CITY — Seventy years ago, World War II veteran pilot George Haney Jr. flew many missions in a B-17 plane; but his first chance to fly in a B-25 came Monday morning at the Heber Valley Airport.

“I just wanted to fly it so bad and never got close to it,” Haney said. “Now at 93 years old in July, I can’t believe it! And all of the sudden I am going to fly from here to Twin Falls, Idaho, where we lived.”

The Maid in the Shade B-25 bomber was saved from a salvage yard in 1981. Twenty-eight years later it was restored to flight and now travels around the country to help honor veterans.

“It just makes our day when we have (a WWII veteran) come out. They are all getting up into their 90s,” Maid in the Shade pilot Russ Gilmore said. “It’s just a thrill. We love it.”

The Utah Wing of the Commemorative Air Force helped bring the plane to Heber City, and Haney traveled from his home in Filer, Idaho, to catch this once-in-a-lifetime flight.

“It is great to see one of these people who put everything on the line to defend the freedoms of this country to get the chance to make his dream come true,” said Michael von Rosen, Utah Wing of the Commemorative Air Force volunteer.

It was also a dream-come-true for Haney’s family, who enjoyed watching their father and grandfather get to fly in the WWII bomber.

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“For this to happen, (it’s) something he has wanted to do all the way back to 1944. He’s so excited. He is walking on clouds,” said George Haney III, George Haney Jr.’s son.

After a quick pre-flight check, the elder Haney took his seat in the Maid in the Shade — and he was more than giddy. After a short taxi to the runway, the big engines on the B-25 roared, lifting the WWII veteran into the air aboard a plane he idolized as a young airman.

“To be able to sit in this between here and Twin Falls, I’m so grateful,” Haney Jr. said. “And I will sure have a lot of fun telling my grandkids about it.”

George arrived in Twin Falls around noon Monday. He said it was a smooth landing, and he was greeted by Ruth, his wife of 71 years: the perfect end, he said, to the flight of a lifetime.

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Sam Penrod

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