It's a history that is finally being remembered. They're learning a trade and a little about the history of this state." "Getting to come out here gives them a chance to be ready for the outside world. "I think a lot of these guys come from backgrounds where they didn't appreciate much," said Gates, who is also in charge of the inmate construction team. It gets us back to getting used to the real world and society and not just mildewing in prison."Ĭallioux is set to be released in two weeks, after having served two years. "When you go to prison, you lose everything," said Callioux, who is serving time on drug distribution charges, "so being able to come out here means I'm a lucky person. He says it also made him appreciate the little things. Learning about the airplane's place in history gave him a greater appreciation of the work that needed to be done. Callioux, one of the inmates fixing the roof.Ĭallioux said he researched the Enola Gay once he found out he would be working on the hangar. To save money on construction costs, inmates from the Utah State Prison System are being used. "It's a challenge because it's an old building and it's not the straightest building," said Matt Gates, a construction supervisor. The hangar is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but getting on the monuments list would bring it more attention.įirst, though, there is a lot of work to be done. They really need to understand the story and the sacrifices of our World War II veterans," Petersen said. "The people that come really need to know what went on. Ultimately, Petersen would like to see the hangar, and surrounding buildings where the crew trained, to be listed as a National Historic Monument. Thanks to a Save America's Treasures Grant from the National Park Service, work has been going on at the hangar for about a year. Now, though, the hangar is being restored.
For nearly 60 years, the hangar was neglected - walls rusted, holes formed in the room, and windows were broken. "Some of the visitors who come here know what went on here," Petersen said, "but a lot of the visitors who come out to Wendover to gamble don't really know what's here." The crews that trained for that mission were based in Wendover. The Enola Gay is the airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II, essentially winning the war for America. Petersen isn't just talking about any hangar. "You can kind of feel the veterans that are still in there." "You absolutely can," said Jim Petersen, Wendover's airport director. But it's when things are quiet that you really can get a sense of what's going on.
WENDOVER - It's been busy inside a particular hangar at the Wendover airport lately. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
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