This weekend, more than 10,000 people are expected to attend the Wings Over Dallas Airshow at Executive Airport. The Commemorative Air Force hosts the show each year.
This year's theme is "Texas Goes to War" and marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
More than 40 vintage airplanes will be on display, and the air show will have reenactments of air-to-air combat. Some World War II veterans will also be at the show to share their stories.
"I want kids to appreciate what we have and how we will continue to operate as patriots," says Col. Joe McPhail, a marine from Grand Saline.
McPhail turned 100 this month. He joined the Marines and went on active duty three days before the Pearl Harbor attack. He would fly 140 missions during World War II and 100 more during the Korean War.
"I consider myself blessed. I got to do a lot," he says.
During World War II, McPhail's unit is credited with shooting down 124 Japanese planes. He was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 Air Medals.
"I kind of choke up a little bit. I don't consider myself a hero at all," he says.
Army veteran Buck Sloan grew up in Lufkin.
"They took me to Dallas. They gave us examinations. There were three lines out there: Army, Navy and Marines. They said, 'pick one,'" he says. "I thought and thought, and said, 'the Navy's got the beds.' So I picked the Navy, and I stood in that line all day. They fastened the chain in front of me and said, 'That's our quota for today' and shoved me in the infantry line."
He was 19 when he was sent to Europe. Sloan says he captured 31 Germans.
"The machine guns would pin you down and killed several of us," he says. "Finally, they called in the smokescreen. I had my BAR, and when that smokescreen came, I got the drop on this German lieutenant."
He says he told the lieutenant to get the rest of his company.
Sloan says he was faced with German tanks when they entered a town near the end of the war. He says his unit crawled into ditches to protect themselves; they were then involved in hand-to-hand combat the next day.
"I'm so glad I could do it for all the people here," he says. "When I came back, I got a little blue. The war was just about forgotten."
Sloan wrote a song called, "The War that's Almost Forgotten."
Wings Over Dallas runs 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Details and tickets are available here.
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