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Wilde About Texas: History takes flight through CAF
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The
Central Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force features flying pieces of U.S. history.
Inside the museum is a place where the U.S.'s flying history comes to life.
Jim Liles is one of the volunteers who keeps the Central Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in the air.
"We are in a World War II hangar built in 1943. [It’s] one of the last ones remaining in the whole central part of Texas," Liles said. "I'm retired Air Force, I retired in 1976, but I wanted to be with the old aircraft, work on them. I've been doing that since 1988."
Nearly 25 years later, Liles still gets a kick out of working with the planes. He loves the reaction he gets when visitors come into the museum.
"A lot of them ooh and awe, didn't know that any of them were still flying,” Liles said."Being able to fly on them, go with them. That's the only pay we get, everything else is all volunteer."
It's a chance to fly an important piece of our past.
On June 6, the 68th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the Hays County Historical Commission will premier a documentary on life in Hays County during World War II at the Commemorative Air Force Museum.