In support of an official event 

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 25
In addition, the Fourth Hangar will be closed Saturday, May 24

Guided tours of the 4th building, normally scheduled at 3:00 p.m. daily, are canceled through May 28.

Effective immediately, the William E. Boeing Presidential Gallery will have limited guest access due to scheduled event preparations. The only accessible exhibits during this time include: Douglas VC-54 Sacred Cow, Flying the President Exhibit, USAF Established Artifact. We anticipate full gallery access will resume by June 5, 2025.

A Successful Evasion

Second Lt. Ralph K. Patton, a B-17 copilot, was one of thousands to evade capture with the help of the citizens and the Allied intelligence network in western Europe. Shot down by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire over western France on Jan. 5, 1944, he evaded for three days until picked up by the Resistance. After being shuffled from one safe house to another along the Shelburne Line for 59 days, a British gunboat picked him up and he returned to England.

Click here to return to Winged Boot: Escape and Evasion in World War II.