NEWS
from
Central Connecticut State University
Honored as a "Leadership Institution" by the
Association of American Colleges & Universities
Media contact: Peter Kilduff, Director
of University Relations
(860) 832-1791;
Kilduff@ccsu.edu
November 11 opening for CCSU / New
England Air Museum Kosciuśzko
Squadron memorial to honor Polish air unit
established with Americans after World War I
WINDSOR
LOCKS, CT – November 8, 2007 -- The new Kościuszko
Squadron Exhibit at the New England Air Museum will
be officially opened to the public at 10 a.m. on
Sunday, November 11.
The
exhibit will become a permanent part of the Museum's
collection and will be available for viewing on a
daily basis.
Central
Connecticut State University‘s Stanislaus A. Blejwas
Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies
and the New England Air Museum developed the exhibit
to honor the Kościuszko
Squadron, an aviation unit that helped to defend the
newly re-constituted Polish nation from early Soviet
attacks. As U.S. veterans of World War I
volunteered to fly with the squadron, it was named
in honor of an American Revolutionary War hero from
Poland, Tadeusz Kościuszko.
The New England Air
Museum, located by Bradley International Airport in
Windsor Locks, Conn., is one of the nation's oldest
and largest aviation museums. Its collection is
extensive and includes artifacts and memorabilia
from all periods of aviation beginning with the
oldest surviving aircraft in the United States right
up to the modern era. The Museum is open from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, all year round.
Dr. M.B.
Biskupski, holder of the Blejwas Endowed Chair at
CCSU, noted: “The display is important to
Polish-American relations for several reasons.
First is that, after World War I, seasoned American
combat pilots volunteered for Polish service out of
a sense of debt to Poland as the homeland of Tadeusz
Kościuszko.
During the American Revolution, Kościuszko
was a well-trained professional officer whose
experience and talents as a military leader were of
inestimable value in helping to mold the fledgling
American armed force that ultimately defeated the
professionally-trained British Army.
“Second, Kościuszko
has an interesting connection to Connecticut, the
state in which such aviation pioneering companies as
the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine company and the
Sikorsky Aircraft Company flourished. In 1776,
General Kościuszko
was recruited in France by Benjamin Franklin and
Connecticut native Silas Deane, a delegate to the
American Continental Congress.
“Hence,
there is a real sense of closing the circle of
history by having this valiant Pole, General Tadeusz
Kościuszko,
honored by members of American Polonia in the Nutmeg
State. And, of course, giving long overdue
recognition to the air unit that helped secure
Polish independence following World War I and played
a crucial role in defending Great Britain during
World War II,” Biskupski said.
“A great community effort raised over
$40,000 to enable the development of this exhibit to
honor Poland’s famed
Kościuszko Squadron,” said Central Connecticut State
University President Jack Miller.
“The
Kościuszko Squadron has become symbolic of
Polish-American cooperation and that same spirit of
Polish-American cooperation,” Miller said. “A
community advisory committee chaired by Mary Mazurek
Heslin – worked very hard with some 170 individuals,
associations and organizations interested in
preserving and honoring this part of Polish history
and heritage. The committee also coordinated the
donation of two original Polish Air Force uniforms
and other memorabilia.”
Members of the
Kościuszko Squadron Commemorative Committee are:
Prof. Biskupski, Dr. Peszke, Polish Air Force
Veterans Association President K.S. Rasiej, P.E.,
Igor I. Sikorsky, Jr., Esq., and Harvey Hubbell,
IV. Close liaison with the New England Air Museum
is maintained by an Executive Committee of the
Polish Studies Program chaired by Biskupski and
including Peszke, CCSU Associate Vice President
Nicholas Pettinico, Jr., and Chairman of the
Advisory Board of CCSU’s Polish Studies Program
Waldemar Kostrzewa. The committee’s honorary patron
is Joseph E. Gore, Esq., President of the Kościuszko
Foundation in New York.
According to
Museum Executive Director Michael P. Speciale: "The
New England Air Museum is extremely pleased to play
such an important role in telling the story of this
little known but heroic chapter of aviation history.
NEAM is one of the nation's outstanding aviation
museums and, as such, it will prove to be a fitting
home for the Kosciuszko exhibit."
Further
information about the Kościuszko
Squadron memorial is available by calling
860-832-3010 or on-line at:
www.ccsu.edu/Kosciuszko/. Information about the
Museum can be found at (860) 623-3305 or by visiting
www.neam.org
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