The Thunderbirds will be flying over St. Joseph again in 2024 as part of the Sound of Speed Air Show at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.
The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, will headline the air show and open house on Sept. 14 and 15, 2024. The event is free and open to the public.
“It’s the chance for many of the citizens of St. Joe and the surrounding area to come out and enjoy what we have to offer here,” said 139th Airlift Wing commander Col. John Cluck. “It gives us a chance to pay back all the support we get from the local communities all around the area.”
Cluck announced the show’s dates Wednesday afternoon with St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale. The Missouri Air National Guard hosts the Sound of Speed Air Show with the City of St. Joseph.
“I always enjoy coming out, the speed, the sound. I mean, it’s what it’s all about,” Josendale said.
The last time the Thunderbirds performed in St. Joseph was for the 2021 Sound of Speed Air Show. The Thunderbirds named that air show the Military Show Site of the Year.
“They clearly are the elite of the elite, so you cannot not be excited about that,” Cluck said. “They knew that they put on such a great show in 2021. They want to come back and continue that history.”
The 2022 air show featured a B-29 “Doc,” which is the same type of aircraft that carried the atomic bomb that ultimately brought World War II to a close. Other featured World War II planes included B-25 “Mitchell,” a B-17 “Texas Raiders,” SNJ-5 Texan and an SB2C Helldiver. Attendees watched the planes fly, walked through the bomber, toured the cockpit and asked questions to the pilots, crew and volunteers on the aircraft.
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