Naval Air Station Museum

     Monday, June 19, 2023: So far, I’ve been to a lighthouse and rode a tramcar at two other places in Cape May County, New Jersey on the date above. Finally, I headed to a third place in this county: the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, 500 Forrestal Road at Cape May Airport, Rio Grande (609-886-8787). In an air hanger that the navy built in 1942, I first saw an introduction film showing the history about this place as a training facility for dive bomber airmen from 1943 to ’45 and of how dangerous this training had been because out of 129 crashes, 42 airmen died. After World War II, different airline companies used this hanger before they abandoned it. In the 1990s, Joseph & Patricia Salvatore bought the building and with the help of the Naval Air Station Wildwood Foundation (NASW), they restored it. Inside, I looked at over two-dozen military aircraft from WWII to the Korean War and the Viet Nam War. Most of the aircraft were airplanes, jets, and helicopters, and nearby were some of the engines that were once in some of these aircrafts. I also noticed some autos and boats along with plenty of texts, pictures, videos, and exhibit items on different themes. Some of the subjects covered a memorial to those airmen who died both in training and others who died in combat, blacks who served in the military as well as women in the military. Additional areas were about those who helped out with boats during 9/11/01 at the World Trade Center, the Coast Guard, a room showing everyday items from the 1940s, and plenty of “hands-on” areas that have been popular with children. Of the three places that I visited on the date above, this proved to be one of the most interesting! This would be a good place to visit in addition to the nearby NJ Shore towns, and I’m sure you will learn something new.