News
KOMU: Corsair Reunion
On October 14, 2016, Lt. Col. Ferrill A. Purdy reunited with the Corsair flown during combat when he was 22 years old. We discovered this plane when searching through his World War II Flight Log Book. Corsair F4U-1A #17799 is owned by Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, CA, yet it was flown to Columbia, MO for this special reunion. We raised $28,000.00 in 40 days. Many generous people made the reunion possible including Veterans United Foundation.
On September 9, 2017 “Mr. Purdy’s Corsair” had a Mid-America Emmy nomination in the Military – News Single Story Feature / Program Feature Segment. Sadly, we didn’t win but it was an honor to have this video against 4 other videos. While Mr. Purdy couldn’t travel, it was special to have his kids, Gayla Maier and Greg Purdy in attendance at the St. Louis, MO venue. A very special thank you to Scott Schaefer, Lindsey Tyler and Eric Blumberg for creating this memorable video of an incredible day!
Columbia Missourian: Lt. Col. Purdy reflects on his love of airplanes
Ashton Day, Outreach Team at the Columbia Missourian, captured this video in 2016 of Lt. Col. Ferrill A. Purdy reflecting on his love of airplanes.
Lt. Col. Ferrill Purdy Featured Story
The following is an incredible video put together by Scott Plummer and shared by Warbirds News about Lt. Col. Ferrill Purdy (including his children) and Major John H. Tashjian. These men flew the famous Corsair F4U-1A #17799 during World War II and since the 1970’s has been owned by Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, CA.
Planes of Fame’s F4U-1 Corsair
Major John Tashijan, and the son and daughter of his squadron mate, Lt. Col. Ferrill A. Purdy, were united with Planes of Fame Air Museum’s F4U-1 Corsair. Scott Plummer of AIRSHOWVID.COM put together this great montage of the event. As some readers may already be aware, the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California last year received absolute proof that their Vought F4U-1A Corsair flew in the combat zone during WWII. The story behind this discovery is as simple as it is remarkable, and is totally down to the work of one woman, author Michele Spry. Read the story > https://goo.gl/QVAPza
Posted by Warbirds News by Warbird Digest on Thursday, May 25, 2017
Inspirational
Angel Gowns
As many of you know, I live my life by paying it forward. A year ago, I stumbled upon a Facebook post of a girl, Justi Bates. She transformed her wedding dress into beautiful Angel Gowns. Angel Gowns are dresses for infants that left this Earth too soon.
I knew this is exactly what I wanted to have done with my wedding gown and signed up in August 2016. In June 2017 I was contacted that Real Imprints www.realimprints.org and The Angel Gown Project that they were ready for my wedding dress. It was a bittersweet time as my wedding day (now 20 years ago) is a very special memory. Knowing the use of these beautiful Angel Gowns breaks your heart. Being able to give back to our community and give a piece of something that is so special to me is exactly what I wanted to do!
On August 2, 2017 (my 41st birthday) along with my Momma, I took 14 Angel Gowns and 6 Angel Bonnets to Boone Hospital Center – where I was born – to donate. On August 8, 2017, I took the remaining 4 Angel Gowns and 3 Angel Bonnets to University of Missouri Women’s & Children’s Hospital. Thank you to everyone involved with this special day of giving! Thank you Byler Media (Marshall Byler) for lending your amazing talents with this video and The Ink Cafe (Christy Asper) for jumping on board to help with this project locally and creating the beautiful cards to go inside each item! #RealImprints #TheAngelGownProject
CelebrARTy: A Purdy Little Painting…
Access Arts, here in Columbia, MO, asked me to be a “celebrity artist”. They held a fundraiser to support the many great things they do in our community through arts. The 2016 CelebrARTy is a way for local celebrities and local artists to make art together! This past year’s celebrity roster included Van & Lisa Hawxby, Cathy Atkins, Jessie Kwatamdia, Ian Thomas, Eric Johnson, Geoff Jones, Vicky Wilson and myself.
All summer, we learned what it is to be artists, under the tutelage of some amazing local visual art professionals. This experience was a lot of fun and pushed me outside my comfort zone which I love! I was paired with Madeleine LeMieux, director of Resident Arts. After talking about my desired project, she taught me how to paint a very special portrait of a very special World War II veteran. I worked alongside Madeleine for several sessions and Levi Barnes created this awesome video giving you an inside look from the beginning to the end of my painting. Thank you to everyone involved in this event. I highly recommend classes through Access Arts as well as visiting any of these awesome local artists especially Madeleine…. that girl is amazing! #PurdyLittlePainting #WorldWarIIVeteran #MyFirstPortrait
Education
Corsair Pacific Warrior Documentary
The following video is about the Corsair during World War II.
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