'We kept pinching ourselves:' Minter Field Air Museum gets much-needed $40,000 donation

Jul. 31—It sounded like good news.

But the board chairman of Minter Field Air Museum in Shafter wasn't quite ready to believe what he was hearing.

"We kept pinching ourselves," said Ron Pierce.

It all started when the museum's phone rang less than a week after an article about the museum was published in The Californian.

The front-page story had described the museum's mission, which is primarily to shine a light on the historic role the Minter Army Airfield played in training 11,000 combat pilots during World War II.

The story also noted that the paint was peeling on the museum's main building and that the museum desperately needed donations and volunteers.

"Somebody sent him a copy of the article," Pierce said of the man on the other end of the line who was calling from Southern California.

"He said, 'We'd like to help you.'"

The man, whom Pierce said prefers to remain anonymous, was offering the museum a $40,000 donation to provide needed care to the building — including the services of a professional painting contractor.

The man sounded legit. He was calling on behalf of the Johnson Family Fund, whose namesake, Charles M. "Charlie" Johnson with his wife, Kathy, founded the fund "in order to provide a conduit for their charitable giving," the man said in an email.

Charlie Johnson served in Vietnam as an officer with the 2nd Ranger Battalion, 5th Cavalry, according to the family fund. In November 1965, he fought in the Ia Drang Valley, in a battle later documented in the movie, "We Were Soldiers."

During combat in February 1966, Johnson was wounded in action. He not only received the Purple Heart, he also was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with the "V" device.

After returning home from Vietnam, Johnson married his college sweetheart, Katrin "Kathy" Brun. Charlie and Kathy lived in Mill Valley, Calif., while Charlie pursued his MBA in finance from Stanford University.

Charlie went on to a career in banking while residing briefly in Managua, Nicaragua and Shanghai, China prior to returning to San Francisco and ultimately southern California. He died in 2015.

Their philanthropy was primarily directed toward the military and first-responder communities.

For Pierce, the promise of such a donation was a godsend for the museum. But inside, he remained skeptical.

"We kept waiting for someone to call to say they needed $500 before the check could be sent," he said.

But that would not be the case.

"We got a check from them," he said. "It's in our bank account."

In fact, a painting contractor has been hired.

The museum has also received an unspecified sum to kick off a fund to expand the museum's hangar space, which is not currently large enough to hold the museum's collection of aircraft and other vehicles.

Pierce and other volunteers at the museum are walking on air, he said.

When the painting job is finished, they are planning a dedication ceremony to celebrate the museum's good fortune.

One might even say Minter Field Air Museum is flying again.

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.