Dayton is known as the birthplace of aviation and this June marks a major milestone: 50 years of the Dayton Air Show! The CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show presented by Kroger roars into Dayton on June 22nd and 23rd.

“We’re thrilled to be celebrating 50 years of the Dayton Air Show and look forward to bringing audiences an epic event,” said Scott Buchanan, chairman of the United States Air & Trade Show Board of Trustees. “The world-renowned Blue Angels will be headlining a world-class lineup that families across the region will not want to miss.”

The Blue Angels last appeared at the Dayton Air Show in 2022 and will return with their F/A Super Hornets, which can reach top speeds of 1.4 Mach or 1,190 mph.

Also returning to this year’s Air Show is Tora! Tora! Tora! This production features a reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, with replica fighter and bomber aircraft that combine pyrotechnics with a thrilling show, including the fan-favorite Wall of Fire.

You can also see several acts like the Titan Aerobatic Team, the U.S. Army Golden Knights, and the iconic duo Maverick and Iceman.

One of the more poignant displays will make its debut at the Dayton Air Show. Operation Welcome Home was the brainchild of longtime Tipp City resident, Lt. Col. Mike Jackson (ret.).

Jackson spent his career in the U.S. Air Force and flew 210 combat missions during the Vietnam War. He has written several books about his service, his time in Vietnam, and the vitriol he experienced when he returned home.

“We didn’t get welcomed home in a way that anyone should. So, we set out to right that wrong and to give them the welcome home veterans deserved,” Jackson said.

Jackson served one year in Vietnam and returned home in 1972 to a country in turmoil.

“We were told when we got off the plane at Travis Air Force Base that we might want to take our uniforms off before we were bused to San Fransisco International, and we decided ‘heck with them.’ ‘We’re not ashamed of our uniform, we served our country, we did what we were supposed to do.’ So, we wore our uniforms to San Francisco International where there were tons of protesters waiting for us,” Jackson said. “They had signs and they yelled at us and chanted and called us baby killers. And some of them got spit on.”

Operation Welcome Home began in 2005 after Jackson published his first book called Naked in Da Nang. The book detailed his return home from Vietnam and the anger he felt for how he and other veterans were treated. That’s when he, along with co-author Tara Engel, came up with the idea to honor other Vietnam veterans who faced a similar homecoming.

“A guy who was a retired two-star general came up to me and started crying. He said that when he and his wife met in Chicago with a baby that he had never seen, that all three of them got spit on. They spit on a little baby. And that just solidified why we wanted to do this,” Jackson said.

Jackson was 24 years old when he fought overseas. It may seem young by today’s standards, but Jackson says he was one of the older servicemen over there.

“I went over when I was 24 and so I was an old guy. A lot of those guys were getting drafted at age 18 and 19,” Jackson said. “I went over as a first lieutenant and made captain while I was over there. I had had time to watch what was going on and how the troops were being greeted when they came back because it was on the news all the time. So, I kind of knew what was coming.”

While many who fought during the Vietnam War were drafted, Jackson enlisted despite having a teaching deferment. He decided that instead of being stuck in a classroom he wanted to experience the world and he applied to the Air Force. He was selected to go through pilot training and volunteered to go to Vietnam.

“I had a choice of going to Korea or Vietnam at the end of training, and I thought I’ve trained for it, and I’m as well-prepared for it as anybody; I should go over there,” Jackson said.

It’s a decision he says he doesn’t regret.

Michele Teska, who sits on the Dayton Air Show Board, has been organizing the exhibit, which will include Vietnam War-era airplanes, tanks, and even a special gift for veterans who served in Vietnam. Teska says she hopes that 50 years after the war ended, they will finally feel gratitude for their service.

“I not only want veterans to feel appreciated, but that history stays alive and that every single person, especially younger generations, understand the sacrifices that veterans made in order for us to live in the greatest country in the world,” Teska said.

“These were service men and women who were just going and doing the job they were told to do and yet they were treated horribly,” Teska said.

While Operation Welcome Home began as a way of honoring those who served in Vietnam, it is now being expanded to all veterans. Part of the exhibit will include members of Veterans Services to answer questions about filing claims.

The exhibit will include welcome home posters made by students and members of the public.

“Tipp City Schools made and contributed more welcome home posters than any other schools in the area,” Jackson said.

The exhibit is free, but you do have to buy a ticket to the Air Show.

Tickets to the Dayton Air Show are still available. You can buy them online at daytonairshow.com, where you can also find information about parking, schedules, and traffic.