YL-37 The Flying Memorial

YL-37 The Flying Memorial YL-37 flies in support of veteran events, schools and air shows as a hands on flying museum.
👉 For event inquiries: [email protected]
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06/26/2026

🇺🇸✨ BIGGEST 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION AROUND! ✨🇺🇸

Get ready, because this is not your average small-town celebration… this is an ALL-DAY experience you won’t want to miss at Willow Brook Barn!

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🚁 HISTORY IS FLYING IN!
At NOON, watch as the legendary YL-37 The Flying Memorial Vietnam Helicopter flies in!
➡️ On display from 12PM–4PM in the south courtyard
➡️ See it up close and hear the powerful story behind it

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🎉 DAYTIME FAMILY FESTIVAL (FREE + OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!)
Bring the whole crew and make a day of it!

🍔 Food trucks serving up all the favorites
🎶 Live music by The Chocolate Crackers from 1PM–4PM
🎈 Inflatables, face painting & balloon artist for the kids
🍺 Drinks by Wilson Tap Bar Service (beer & seltzers!)
⛱️ Shaded tent + cooling area to beat the heat

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🔥 BUT WAIT… THE NIGHT GETS EVEN BETTER! 🔥

🎹 Nig Ivory Ticklers: 3 Grands Dueling Pianos SHOW!
Featuring The Dueling Pianos Road Show from the great state of Oklahoma! But there’s not 2 pianos there’s 3!

🕔 Doors Open: 5PM
🍽️ Dinner: 6PM (catered by Lidderdale Country Store Catering)
🎶 Show: 7PM

🎆 Then head outside to the west lawn for…
FIREWORKS at 10PM by Twin Anchors Campground

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🎟️ GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!
✔️ Dinner + Show package
✔️ Or grab a ticket for just the show

Click the link to purchase your tickets now!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/colo-ia-4th-of-july-event-dueling-pianos-official-tickets-1987857381941?aff=efbevent&fbclid=IwVERFWARgS9dleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe1FslQzlIZoL6nViIkqqdUJF97OZUOn-6K-S9_d1KgVrDkmCfTVdhgQCfK9M_aem_3rsc5pEaRZPix4Sk0frw3g

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❤️🤍💙 DAYTIME = FREE FAMILY FUN
💙❤️🤍 EVENING = TICKETED EVENT

This is your one-stop 4th of July destination — food, music, history, family fun, and fireworks all in one place.

👉 Tag your friends, load up the kids, and plan to spend the WHOLE DAY with us!

Do us a BIG FAVOR and SHARE THIS EVENT AND INTO ALL YOUR COMMUNITY GROUPS!

06/26/2026

Ugly Angel, Larry Turner, shares a story about being thanked on a trip hauling a UH-34D engine from Texas to Iowa.

For many Vietnam veterans, the welcome home they deserved never came. Decades later, moments like these still carry tremendous meaning.

You never know when a simple 'thank you' will mean everything.

We met Nyle Nims in Roland at the Memorial Day Service. You may remember he brought along a photo of YL-35 with him from...
06/25/2026

We met Nyle Nims in Roland at the Memorial Day Service. You may remember he brought along a photo of YL-35 with him from his days on the USS Princeton. He was part of RLT-6 in Vietnam. We had the honor of giving Nyle and his family an unforgettable experience in YL-37 when we were in Ames after the Fly In Breakfast.

06/24/2026

An HMM-362 squadron Inspection by Col. Clapp, MGySgt Sproule and Col Tom Hewes.

Here are some more photos from our weekend in Council Bluffs when we reunited Col. Joseph Sales with this UH-34D. He was...
06/23/2026

Here are some more photos from our weekend in Council Bluffs when we reunited Col. Joseph Sales with this UH-34D. He was part of Operation ShuFly on April 15, 1962 when the Ugly Angels (Then, they were "Archie's Angels") were the first Marine Helicopter squadron to be inserted into Vietnam. THIS is our mission. To reunite as many veterans as we can with this aircraft from their time in the service. We want to thank his son, Travis and his wife, for helping us make this meeting possible.

06/22/2026

An interview with Ben Cascio - The One-Eyed Ugly Angel, back in October of 1999 at the first Ugly Angel Reunion in Inola, Oklahoma. Gerald Hail had just finished the restoration of YL-37, the UH-34D that had combat time in Vietnam. This event was the first time many of these Ugly Angel Squadron members had seen each other since leaving Vietnam. Listen to this first hand account at what it was like to fly this aircraft again after more than 30 years.

06/19/2026

Gerald Hail restored this UH-34D in 1999 and had the first of several reunions at his private airstrip in Oklahoma. This was the first reunion for HMM-362 since leaving Vietnam. Larry Turner, an Ugly Angel pilot from Vietnam went on to start Turner Copter Service in Iowa when he got out of the service. He used a UH-34 to do heavy lift jobs. In this video he flies YL-37 and shows the squadron what she can still do.

What a fun weekend!
06/19/2026

What a fun weekend!

06/18/2026

Starting up at the Ames Fly In Breakfast last weekend. Did anyone record the helicopter hovering during the demonstration? Share your footage below!

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State Center, IA
50247

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