A friendship flight from the United States to Russia planned to take place in June of 2020 will commemorate World War II veterans from both countries as well as from other allied nations, a group of organizers from the BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation said in a news release on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2018) A friendship flight from the United States to Russia planned to take place in June of 2020 will commemorate World War II veterans from both countries as well as from other allied nations, a group of organizers from the BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation said in a news release on Tuesday."Citizen diplomats from both the United States and Russia are preparing an around the world 'friendship flight' via the Alaska-Siberia air route (ALSIB) to honor the brave men and women of the United States, Canada, Russia and other allied nations as part of 75th anniversary of the end of World War II," the release said.
BRAVO 369 noted that it organized a similar flight with its Russian flight partner RUSAVIA in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The event's organizers explained that the June 2020 flight will be conducted by using vintage World War II aircraft. The flight will begin in Great Falls, Montana, and will continue in Canadian air space and Alaska into Russia.
The organizers also said the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, has endorsed the project.
BRAVO 369 President Jeff Geer pointed out that not many people today are aware the United States and the former Soviet Union were allies.
"In fact, even fewer know that between 1942 and 1945 nearly 8,000 military aircraft were flown from the United States to Russia using the ALSIB route," Geer said, adding that the program played a pivotal role in ensuring victory in World War II.
The Alaska-Siberia Air Route operated in 1942-1945 and was used as part of the US Lend-Lease program to deliver US warplanes to the Soviet Union. It consisted of roads and airports beginning in the US state of Montana and ran some 6,000 miles through Canada onto Alaska. Soviet pilots tested the aircraft in Alaska before flying them to Siberia to be sent westward for use against German and other Nazi axis forces.
