George Washington (CVN 73) - Naval Cruise Book

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Painting project A MS AN Steve Hers hey and A T3 Gene Roberts spent a lot of extra hours preparing for the Normandy Celebration. They helped paint VA-34's planes with invasion striping to commemorate D-Day with original markings CVW-7 crewmen honored D-Day vets at high altitude As a tribute to those who served at Normandy, the plane crews of VA-34 painted their aircraft with the black and white invasion striping used by the allies during the Normandy operation to distinguish themselves from German planes. “With the time we had, it was a real challenge to get all seven planes ready,” AMS1 Edgar Derr said. “It was our tribute to all those who stormed the beaches of Normandy.” Derr was helped on the project by AMH2 Joey Madden, AT3 Gene Roberts and AM SAN Steve Hershcy. The idea for the historical striping came from conversations about history held between VA-34 pilots. Led by Lieutenant Jay Steadman, the project served as a lasting tribute to those who flew into harms way 50 years ago. “Several of us are history buffs and we started kicking around the idea while we were watching old war movies on the ship’s television,” Steadman said. “We decided VA-34 planes would look really great in invasion markings so I coordinated with Petty Officer Derr, got the paint and researched how the markings should look.” According to Steadman, there were more planes flying for the D-Day invasion than ever before. The Allied commanders wanted a quick, easy way to distinguish between Allied and Luftwaffe planes. Their concern was more about friendly fire than the Luftwaffe, which was much weaker in 1944. VA-34 flew six 60 GW Spirit

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planes over the Omaha and Utah beaches during the commemoration ceremonies. “When 1 saw those planes fly over the beaches of Normandy, I started to think about what it must have felt like over fifty years ago,” Madden said. GW Spirit 61