The L-Bird Story (The Little Plane That Did) - August 7, 2013

In August OLLI learned “The L-Bird Story”. We were introduced by video to “L-Birds”, liaison planes, the military version of the Piper Cub, used to help with surveillance, rescue and special transportation during World War II.

The video included footage of L-birds in action,as well as their history and interviews with pilots, including the late John Kriegsman of Pekin. During WWII Kriegsman was awarded the Silver Star for valor.

We toured through parts of the Pekin Municipal Airport- John C. Kriegsman Field, learning of operations there. We were then allowed an up close view of a replica of the L-Bird, owned by John’s sons Rich and Johnny, who also introduced the film and were on hand to answer questions. OLLI members were actually able to watch the “L-Bird” take off and do a few loops around the airport. It was cool to see history coming to life.

OLLI would like to thank the Kriegsman family for taking the time to share their inspirational story with us.