The Salute to Veterans Airshow at the Columbia Regional Airport in central Missouri has existed for the past 30 years for one reason. Salute to Veterans Corporation spokesperson Jessica Houston tells Missourinet having the event during the Memorial Day weekend is fitting.
“Our mission is to honor, remember and salute our veterans,” she says. “Giving us as civilians a chance to say thank you for what they did for us and what they went through and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and died in the wars. This is a time set aside to say thank you and remember them for their service and maybe in ways they had never experienced before. I think that pulls on the heart strings of a lot of people who attend.”
Houston says many who have worn the uniform to fight for America will be there, along with thousands of others.
“It is the largest free airshow put on, on a non-military air base,” Houston says.
Planes from a variety of eras, including WWI and WWII and the Vietnam War will blaze through the sky. Parachute and skydiving teams will also be leaping around.
“These guys are working on it all year round,” she says. “These guys have been doing it for years and you can see that based on the quality of performance.”
The free show will be from 9 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday rain or shine.
Parking is expected to be challenging. A roundtrip parking shuttle is available for $5 from the Jefferson City Airport and at the Trowbridge parking lot near the Mizzou campus. It will run continuously during this weekend’s show.
The Salute to Veterans Parade will be on Memorial Day, starting at 10 a.m. in downtown Columbia.
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