The Fighting Falcon Museum

     Now that the restoration is almost complete, the focus has changed. For the past nine years, the restoration team of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum has been working to complete a replica of `'The Fighting Falcon'', the most famous combat glider of World War II. The restoration has continued with the faith that a permanent location and building would become available. The museum has the potential to receive visitors worldwide and be a great tourist attraction for the City of Greenville.

      The Fighting Falcon Military Museum became officially incorporated on March 7, 2000. At a Greenville Public Schools meeting on September 7, 2000, board members voted to enter into an agreement with the Fighting Falcon Military Museum for the purchase of the Cass Street building for use as a museum. The building became available to us in November, 2001.

 

 

The purposes for which this corporation is organized are:

1. Establishment and maintenance of a collection for museum display of military artifacts and specific historic Army Air Force aircraft in honor of the sacrificial giving of men, women, and children, during times of war.
2. Education of the general public on wartime events through museum displays, aircraft displays, and presentations, publications, and educational programs.
3. To promote knowledge of and appreciation for the American historical experience and the efforts of our forbearers to create and preserve our U. S. Constitutional freedoms and liberties.

     The important role that Gibson Refrigerator Company played during the war will be a primary focus. The students' involvement and their unsurpassed accomplishment will also be honored. A tribute will also be made to the community for the role they played during this important time. We will share, not only with today's generation but future generations, a sense of pride and commitment so powerful that it has carried over the pages of history and expands across the nation. Families of former Gibson Refrigerator employees, the school children who worked so diligently selling war bonds and over 900 veterans of World War II from the Greenville area alone (including 26 women veterans) will all benefit from this preservation of history. This will also be a tool used for today's school children as they learn not just about World War II, but how Greenville and the school children were directly involved.

     

Together with the history portrayed throughout the museum will be educational learning centers where students can learn hands-on such things as the dynamics of flight in the "How Things Fly" gallery, made possible through a grant from the Greenville Area Foundation. The success of the glider project has been phenomenal. The restoration is 95% complete with an accuracy rate within 1%. At least once a year the public is invited to an open house. The first open house held on October 15, 1995 brought approximately 500 people to view the glider. This reinforced the interest held by many in the community. The restoration is available for tours by school children and other small interest groups and individuals. The Greenville Dailv News as well as The Grand Rapids Press are always eager to follow our progress with news articles, this is another way we keep the community informed. Our goal is to share our story with as many people as possible. Without sharing, the story will wither and fade into a vague, uncelebrated, unappreciated thing we call The Past.

     There have been many wars fought on our country's soil and others. Those wars pulled men and women from their homes, family and jobs. Now is the time to honor the sacrifices that were made. The Cass Street school building has now become the Fighting Falcon Military Museum and will be the permanent home of the CG-4A restoration. This is where the project began by a simple telephone call. By creating a museum in this building we are also preserving the oldest existing school building in Greenville today.

  There are three specific focuses to be maintained through the museum and this will be accomplished through the following themes:

Gibson Refrigerator Company

       The actual restoration of the CG-4A glider will be displayed as though it is on the production line of Gibsons. This will celebrate the hard working men and women of the community and the significant accomplishment of convertinQ to wartime production and the manufacture of the first glider in a record six month time period. The educational value will be obtained by being able to view the more than 70,000 parts that make up a single glider. A fully completed quarter-scale model of the actual "Fighting Falcon" will be on display at the museum. This model was completed by Eric Guenther prior to his death. There is also a model of the Fighting Falcon at the Meijer store giving us round-the-clock publicity for the museum.

Greenville Public Schools

       We are not just preserving the legend of the Fighting Falcon; we are also preserving a historical landmark in the history of Greenville Public Schools. The involvement of the school children during World War II is of primary importance. The accomplishment of the students during this time is monumental and needs to be celebrated and shared with the community and visitors to the area. The Board of Education was built in 1902 and is the oldest existing school building in Greenville. The Cass Street School is an ideal location to maintain and preserve this portion of history. The museum will be available to students for field trips with many educational exhibits planned. This is where local history can come alive for the students and enhance their current school curriculum.

Military Museum

       The third focus of the museum would be on the military involvement of men and women during different theatres of war. These men and women were once school children who have now dedicated themselves to preserving our present freedom. All visitors who tour the museum will learn about the sacrifices made for the freedom we enjoy today. The key component in any of the proposed displays is the educational value for the community as well as school children. We are excited about what has already been accomplished and are looking forward to the next phase of resurrecting a legend. Attached hereto is a sketch of the existing Cass Street School building showing the proposed building addition for housing the restored Fighting Falcon. Financial requirements for adding this building to the north side are estimated to be $350,000.00. The physical additional will cost approximately $150,000 allowing the balance to cover displays, interior accessories, display cases, furnishings, etc. The remaining balance will be placed in an account with the Greenville Area Foundation to supply future monthly and yearly maintenance costs to the museum.