April 23-25, 2010
Boise, Idaho
Special Friday Evening Seminar & Dinner
"On
Board Air Force
One" with E.E. Van Valkenberg
Friday, April 23, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Cost: $20.00 per
person; includes spaghetti dinner.
Dinner Menu: Dinner consists of Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce and Meatballs, Seasonal Vegetables, Caesar Salad with Croutons, Garlic Breadsticks, Lemonade and Iced Water.
Join us at our Special Friday Evening Seminar with E.E. Van Valkenberg, retired Chief Communicator of Air Force One, who will give a presentation: "On Board Air Force One".
Forget the movie with Harrison Ford and the nifty camera tricks, this guy knows the real Air Force One
Come spend an entertaining evening of pictures and great stories with Van … a man who kept six presidents in touch with the world while they flew on a succession of airplanes called Air Force One.
Van Valkenberg had a lively career even before he was tapped to run the first airplane's on-board telephone and communications systems. He served in the Navy beginning in World War II and worked for a time as a stunt parachute jumper with Joan Crawford. He served 21 months in Korea, was involved in the Cuban crisis, was with the 19th Air Force during the Santo Domingo uprising, and served 27 months in Viet Nam. Van was then transferred to Andrews Air Force Base where he crewed in the VIP fleet, flying the Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Agriculture, and many foreign dignitaries.
Van was then chosen as the
new Chief Communicator of Air Force One. He flew with six Presidents from Lyndon
Johnson to George H. W. Bush, has flown to almost every county in the world,
including 53 times into Russia and 27 times into China. He has even gone to
Entebbe, Uganda for lunch. There were three horrendous trips to Hanoi. As well
as all the sneaky trips with Kissinger around the world.
Van is also a Skydiver with over 2,040 free falls, nine of which were from 40,000 feet with the HALO Teams at Fort Bragg.
You won't want to miss one minute of the evening as Van recalls the humorous and serious inside stories of the Presidents, dignitaries, and movie stars who have flown on this symbol of America.
Updated:
Thursday, March 04, 2010
