All systems are “go” for the Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial. After gaining approval from Oak Harbor’s Parks Board and City Council to locate the memorial in the city’s Veterans Park on Pioneer Way, the committee went to work raising necessary funds.

“We currently have obtained 90 percent of the money needed for project completion,” said committee chairman Cmdr.(ret) Don Hanson. “Hopefully, we’ll soon be over the top.”

The memorial is being financed by private donations; no public or government funds are being used.

Hanson said, “The bronze ‘Airman’ statue that will be the focal point of the memorial has been ordered and is currently in work by noted sculptor Michael Maiden at his foundry in Sandy, Ore. He is the same artist who sculpted the statues at the EA-6B Prowler Memorial adjacent to NAS Whidbey Island’s hangar five on Ault Field.”

This memorial will honor all who have served in Navy patrol squadrons homeported at NAS Whidbey over the years; from 1942 to the present, including squadrons currently at Whidbey, there have been over 60 patrol squadrons based at either Ault Field or the Seaplane Base.

The first to arrive at the new Northwest Navy Air Base in 1942 were the PBY Catalina squadrons. The seaplanes, PBY Catalinas, PBM Mariners and P5M Marlins, took off from and landed on the Crescent Harbor, adjacent to the Seaplane Base.

Since then, PV-1 Venturas, PV-2 Harpoons, PB4Y Privateers, P2V Neptunes and P-3 Orions have operated from Whidbey’s Ault Field runways.

The Whidbey Island community is helping finance the memorial. Oak Harbor’s Island Thrift store recently donated funds needed for procurement of two granite benches that will be a part of the memorial. The three-panel granite wall and inscribed bricks for the patio and walkway will soon be ordered.

Karl Krieg of Krieg Construction has offered to do the necessary construction work at the memorial site, as he did for the EA-6B Memorial, and several banks, local businesses and the Rotary Club are considering how they will help.

For further information or a donation/brick order form, contact Don Hanson at (360) 240-0805 or .