Original AEDC Dedication Plaque kept safe

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Ron Bandy, a supervisor in the AEDC Carpenter and Paint Shop happened to be in the right place at the right time to protect a part of AEDC history - the original AEDC Dedication Plaque.

The plaque inscription reads, "At this site on 25 June 1951, President Harry S. Truman dedicated Arnold Engineering Development Center to the memory of Gen. H.H. (Hap) Arnold, the father of the U.S. Air Force."

Bandy kept the plaque safe for approximately 25 years.

"Around 1989 or 1990 we were told to go to the warehouse dock one to remove the [Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold] picture and plaque," Bandy said. "Thinking the plaque was too important to discard, I put it in the scaffold shed and forgot about it for about 10 years. [I was] going through the shed one day and there it was right where I left it."

Bandy moved the plaque two more times throughout the years until it was finally placed on a file cabinet as a makeshift display where it was shown to ATA General Manager Steve Pearson.

Bandy said, "I then put it in the Carpenter Shop office on top of a filing cabinet and there it stayed until Mr. Pearson came to our Tool Box meeting on Oct. 15. Knowing he is an avid history buff, after the meeting I told him I had something to show him. The rest is now, as they say, history."

Bandy said he wanted the plaque to be accessible where everyone could view it and enjoy it.

AEDC Historian Christopher Rumley has taken possession of the plaque for safe keeping. According to Rumley the plaque may have been removed for aesthetics.

"I went over to Warehouse-1 to see if there was still anything up on the building to commemorate the spot of the 1951 dedication," Rumley said. "There is a large plaque on the wall and some photos of the dedication ceremony. I guess the original plaque was getting old and rusty so they replaced it with a newer one. The old plaque is now in my possession in the archives and will be placed on display in building 100 [the A&E building] for all to see."