A piece of WWII history flies into Marana - FOX Carolina 21

The Wings of Freedom tour has arrived at Marana Regional Airport on their trip, navigating planes around the county to make sure scarifies of WWII veterans are not forgotten.

Of the 12,000 B-17s built, only ten of them can still fly. One of these rare planes is flying in Marana today.

World War II veteran Ralph Freund served in the Air Force during the war. He had been an engineer on a B-17 and seeing it again brought back memories, especially of the more risky missions.

"They were flying in hot and heavy when I was there," Freund said. "I flew two missions on D-Day. It looks ten times bugger to be than during the war."

On tour, they have the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator and the P-51 Mustang.

Jim Harley from The Wings of Freedom Tour says they are flying around the county to salute those who serve.

"We're touring the country, teaching history, honoring the veterans and making sure their memories aren't forgotten," Harley said.

For Freund, forgetting isn't an option. The B-17 will always be a part of him.

"In my mind, my name of the plane was Brooklyn Bell," Freund said. "My wife was bell and she was from Brooklyn, so it was Brooklyn Bell."

Sunday is the final day that The Wings of Freedom Tour will be at Marana Regional Airport. To see how you can check them out yourself, go to: http://www.marana.com/index.aspx?NID=733

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