Taking care of grandpa’s plane

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman J. Paul Croxon
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Staff Sgt. Brian O'Day drives by a stoic reminder of his family's military legacy every day on his way to work.

Before there was a Grand Forks Air Force Base, even before there was an Air Force, Sergeant O'Day's grandfather, Staff Sgt. Carl Coachman, flew aboard the B-25 Mitchell medium bombers as a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps. Now, a B-25 from his unit stands on display here in the Cold War Heritage Park in front of the main gate.

After Sergeant Coachman separated from the 321st Bombardment Group, he became active with the unit's reunion functions. In 1988, the group came from New York and donated a B-25 bomber to the base.

Six years later, Sergeant O'Day received orders to Grand Forks Air Force Base and also received instructions from his grandfather regarding the bomber.

"He calls every once in a while and the first words out of his mouth are, 'How's the B-25,'" said Sergeant O'Day. "He tells stories about it every time we talk."

In 2005, Sergeant O'Day was able to give something back to the B-25.

"When the runway was closed for repairs, I was part of a detail that cleaned and restored the static displays," Sergeant O'Day said. "I was assigned the B-25. It was the first time I was able to sit in it and see what my grandfather saw all those years before."

Sergeant O'Day also gave something back to his pioneering grandfather. During technical school he came across a photo of B-25s flying in formation over Italy during World War II.

"When I looked closely at the photo I recognized the nose art on one of them as the plane my grandfather flew aboard," Sergeant O'Day said. "I had a copy of the photo made, framed it and gave it to him."

"We also sent a photo of Brian in front of the B-25 here," said Sara O'Day, Sergeant O'Day's wife. "We sent it to his grandfather on his 80th birthday."

His tie to his grandfather is more than the bomber.

"During my career I've had the fortune to fly many of the same routes over the same places my grandfather flew during the war," he said. "I really feel like I've seen what he saw."

In addition to his grandfather, Sergeant O'Day's family is rich with military service. He has cousins in the Navy and Air Force, his younger brother is serving with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C. and his father and uncle also served.

"For our family, military service is just something you do."