Starlifter Bench Dedicated at Marietta Aviation Museum

MARIETTA – A bench dedicated to the people that flew, built and maintained the C-141 Starlifter was unveiled at the Aviation History and Technology Center in Marietta on Saturday.

The bench is located right behind the C-141 Starlifter plane, one of 285 that were built at Lockheed’s factory in Marietta not far away. It was gifted to the museum by the 57th Airlift Squadron Alumni, said Boone Barnes of the museum’s board of trustees.

“The 57th squadron was at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma where the training for the C-141 was done,” Barnes said. “They have given a bench to all 12 museums now that have C-141s on display across the country, including in Warner Robins. I believe we’re the last one with a 141 on display that they’ve given a bench to.”

Barnes, who was a navigator on C-141 aircraft, said it was a cargo plane that transported all sorts of military goods, and also brought in supplies for disaster and medical relief, as well as bringing prisoners of war home from Vietnam.

“Beans, bullets and bandages, it delivered pretty much everything,” said Brad Hawkins, director of the museum.

Woody Hall, president emeritus of the 57th Airlift Squadron Alumni Association, explained why the former members of the 57th Squadron donated benches.

“We wanted everyone who had ever flew, maintained or supported the C-141 mission throughout its service years to know they are unique,” Hall said.

Other benches are located at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, March Field Air Museum in Riverside, Calif., Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., McChord Air Museum near Lakewood, Wash., Scott Air Force Base in southern Illinois near St. Louis, McGuire Air Force Base near Lakehurst, N.J., Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Hawkins explained more about the museum, which is at 555 Perrin Road in Marietta.

“The museum is here to pay tribute and to promote north Georgia’s aviation legacy,” Hawkins said. “That’s a lot when you think about all we have with Dobbins, Lockheed Martin, the former Bell Aircraft Corporation, the former Naval Air Station Atlanta, the National Guard station units, the military units, so we have a lot to do, and we’re in our infancy getting started.”

The museum, which includes a number of planes from Cobb County’s aviation history, is open Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.