A salute to the greatest generation

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - The men and women who served in WWII will be honored at the Great New England Air Show with a special theme "a salute to the greatest generation".

"A lot of aircraft in that are WWII vintage aircraft, WWII army vehicles, and we have reenactors that will be dressed up as WWII soldiers that will be enrolled out there in WWII camps, also." Steve Vautrain, Wing Commander, 439th Airlift Wing

Of the more than 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during WWII, less than 2 million are still alive today. The VA estimates they pass away at a rate of 850 a day.

Air show organizers want to make sure their stories don't follow them to the grave. "We need to recognize that a lot of lives were lost, a lot of families were broken, for the very reason why we're here today. To just randomly dismiss that is not the right thing to do. This is one way we can maintain that memory." Werner Maiwald, Galaxy Community Council Air Show Volunteer

Visitors to this year's show will be able to check out dozens of vintage war birds like the F4U corsair and P-51 Mustang. Westover's Wing Commander hopes this look back in time will inspire future generations. To see a little way back in history and see how things were, because they were the greatest generation, and they sacrificed so much. This year's Great New England air show is one big way of saying thank you for service, for sacrifice, and for freedom.