On November 11th and 12th of 2011, the small community of Ida, LA. hosted a reunion for members, family, and friends of the 357th fighter group. when i say small, i do mean small as you see in the first couple photos. but what they lacked in numbers was more than made up with an overwhelming dose of southern hospitality. sadly, most of the Yoxford Boys have pasted away or were unable to make the trip. other than a couple family members like myself who attended, 4 of the original war horses came so that we may be able to honor them and all the veterans who served our country. they were:
Joe Shea G4-E 44-72710 My Bonnie
some of his story is here:
My Memories of the 357th FG by J
Jim McLane G4-B 44-14798 Dainty Dottie
his account of trying to shoot down "Kit" Carson ( with who he was good friends )
Kit Carson
Jessie Frey G4-M 44-15267 Ain't Misbehavin'
Pat Buzzeo crew chief for Jessie on Ain't Misbehavin'
before any of the festivities we took them over to Smokie Maddox's ( the mayor of Ida and the curator of the museum ) house. an artist recentlypainted a beautiful picture of Jessie Frey's Ain't Misbehavin' and the 4 "Boys" autographed them for sale in the museum.
picture legend:
#1 Ida, LA Main street
#2 Ida Community park where festivities were held
#3 Ain't Misbehaving Painting Prints
#4 Jim McLane (seated) Jessie Frey
#5 Joe Shea
#6 Pat Buzzeo
#7 Catfish dinner inside community Hall. 3rd gentleman in the first row of crowd was a Doolittle raider