FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - As the country mourns the loss of former President George H.W. Bush, a naval air station in South Florida is doing their part to honor his legacy by taking a look back at his life.
Bush had a decades-long relationship with South Florida that began years before his climb towards the presidency — starting during his early days of service in the Navy.
Bush received his wings in June 1943 in Corpus Christi, Texas, becoming the youngest Navy pilot at the time, at 19 years old.
Bush then came to South Florida, to a naval air station in Fort Lauderdale that was a training base for the Avenger torpedo bomber planes.
The flag at the station is at half-staff, Monday, in honor of his passing.
Bush trained for 10 weeks in the summer of 1943 to become an Avenger pilot at the base.
“The Avenger had a three man crew, and that three man crew would basically train together and go out and fight in the war together,” Museum Director John Bloom, “so he was here for about a 10-week period in the summer of 1943.”
“After he finished his training here, he went up to the Great Lakes where they did their carrier landing training, and then he went and had some more training and then went to the Pacific where he flew 58 combat missions,” Bloom added, “was shot down rescued, but he was a real hero.”
During his re-election campaign in 1992, the former president visited the naval air station, where he signed the large aviation mural that features a plane flown by Bush during his earlier days of training.
Staff in the museum after his visit took all the flooring, closet and bedding from the barracks he stayed in and put in a museum, dubbing it “The Bush Room.”
Visitors can see a piece of history where Bush stayed, including autographed objects he signed, during his stay at the training base.
The 41st president’s casket is headed to the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., where he will lie in state until Wednesday morning.
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