Agenda

Reception 5:45 p.m.

Dinner 6:30 p.m.

Meeting after Dinner


Meeting will be held at the Sheraton Needham

Our Guests

John E. HappAuthor
Rev. Dr. Deborah JacksonPeoples Baptist Church of Boston
Minister Annette ThomasMessiah Baptist Church, Brockton
Mr. Jimmy ThomasVice President
Boston Baptist Social Union

Program Details

WelcomePresident David Collins
Song“Shine, Jesus Shine”
Led by Richard Freeman
InvocationRev. Dr. Deborah Jackson
Dinner 
BusinessDavid Collins
Christian Work MomentFred Drauschke
ProgramThe Navigation Case
John E. Happ
BenedictionMinister Annette Thomas

Lobster or Steak Night

June 6th, 2022

Our Program

Special Guest - John E. Happ

The Navigation Case reveals the drama and sacrifice expended by America's first ever demonstraion of air superiority, during the greatest campaign in U.S. Air Force history.

picture of John Happ's book - The Navigation Case

An aged and glossy leather briefcase was discovered when our family house was cleaned out and sold. We came to learn that my father had meticuously collected his military documents, private letters, and souvenirs, and packed them away in this -- his pilot's navigation case.

From randomly within, a newspaper article tumbled out. It described a massive typhoon in New Guinea causing “horror and tradgedy” and resulting in incredible untold loss of men and aircraft. But larger questions remain unanswered. What was my father, or any American, doing in New Guinea, of all places? If America was fighting Japan, why were we fighting in New Guinea?

Aviation as an industry was in its infancy. The sagas of pioneering pilots detail fascinating but deadly cadet training and violent air missions. The narrative flourishes into an incredible story giving the context for all the Pacific war stories from Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway Island, and Iwo Jima, up to the avoidable castrophe of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.