Tag: Upstate New York
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A Pair of Trainers, A Pair of Friends
By Margaret DiBenedetto The Texan AT-6 was one of North American Aviation’s most successful training aircraft. Modified designs of the craft were used to train aerial combat pilots from World War II through the 1970’s. Equipped with a nose-mounted .30 caliber machine gun that fired through the propeller, the Basic Combat model, the BC-1, also…
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Ward and Ruth’s Halcott Airstrip
By Margaret DiBenedetto In 1945, Ward Reynolds was fresh out of the Army. During his tour he’d seen action in the Pacific Islands, had come back stateside and was in training to become an Army glider pilot when the war ended. Ward was born in Fleischmanns and grew up working on the family farm in…
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A Possibly Too-Succinct History of the WASP
By Margaret DiBenedetto The WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) program began with a feud and ended, some might say, in abandonment. The program’s two years of existence was an experiment that yielded overwhelmingly positive and beneficial results, contributed undeniably to the US victory in WWII, and was short-sightedly terminated. Nancy Love and Jackie Cochran were…
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Old Farm
Old Farm By Margaret DiBenedetto The old Roberts farm was up Mead Road, past our house, on the right. When I was eight and thereabouts, I would walk the dirt road along the little stream to the big red barn to play with the cats. But really, to see the work horses. Allen spoke a…
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Ebony’s Den
Ebony’s Den By Margaret DiBenedetto The icy surface of the snow crunched under the weight of my snowshoes. Just loose enough to get a good grip; firm enough to keep me on top of the two feet of late winter snow that had fallen, begun to melt, then iced up again. It was a good…
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Who Cooks for You?
Who Cooks for You? By Margaret DiBenedetto Dusk. Twenty or so of us had headed up the path through the field, then turned down toward the stream and crossed the covered bridge. “Here,” said Chris Wood, “this spot is perfect.” Chris and his wife Jessie Barry, of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, had come to…
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Know Your Garden
Know Your Garden By Margaret DiBenedetto “Know your garden!” he insisted. “Know your garden! What’s the point of it if you don’t know what’s there?” Truth was, I deserved the tirade. He’d merely asked about the birds, and I’d stammered and stuttered and could barely think. Truth was, I was completely starstruck by this famous…
Wild Life Stories 