Wartime relics make an appearance at L-C Valley's Radials N' Rivers show (WITH VIDEO)

Jul. 2—Steven Barr's dad once was banking close to the ground near trees in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft when he spotted German soldiers.

A pilot in the U.S.Army Air Corps, his dad was heading to safety as fast as possible after strafing a train locomotive on a combat mission in World War II.

"They were just shocked to see his plane," said Barr, 69, a retired Moscow real estate agent. "He just leaned over and waved."

Barr was among hundreds of people who attended the fifth Radials N' Rivers Fly-In 2023 on Saturday at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport.

Dozens of military and antique planes were on display and pilots flew over the airport for spectators.

Saturday was only the second time Barr had seen a P-38. The first time was in the 1980s in Palm Springs, Calif., attending a reunion of World War II veterans, with his dad, William Barr, who died in 2011.

"I'm just a little overwhelmed by the size when you're right up against them," Barr said. "It's pretty amazing."

Three P-38s were at the event, something that several people attending the event said is extremely rare. So was a P47 Thunderbolt, and P51-Mustangs.

Those aircraft were three of the most important in winning World War II, said Dennis Bergstrom, an aircraft photographer from the Spokane area.

Originally, P-38s were intended to escort bombers into Germany, Barr said, but the uses for them multiplied after they were deployed.

"(The P-38) was one of the first aircraft that could go all the way into Berlin," Bergstrom said. "They were the fastest of the fighters for a while until the P-51 Mustang showed up on the scene."

The P-51 Mustangs were faster and had even longer range, Bergstrom said.

"The P-38 was the major fighter in the Pacific part of the war," he said. "A lot of the highest scoring aces World War II pilots flew P-38s in the South Pacific."

Bergstrom learned about P-38s from his dad, who was an air traffic controller at fighter bases in World War II.

"He saw tons of these," Bergstrom said. "They were his favorite airplane. That's what got me so interested in them. My dad, every time he talked about World War II, he (said) those P-38s are beautiful airplanes."

What his dad saw stayed with him his entire life, Bergstrom said.

"He told me and my brother, 'I don't want you enlisting in any military so that you're part of a war because it was so ugly,' " he said.

A number of pilots died at his father's base, Bergstrom said.

"Coming back from combat, a lot of times, they'd be all shot up," he said. "They were trying to land. They weren't successful. They'd crash."

Barr's interest in World War II aircraft grew from how the war shaped his family.

His dad flew 51 missions, leaving from Italy going north over German occupied Yugoslavia and Austria and into Germany.

Sheepskin jackets and boots helped protect pilots from the frigid cold over the Alps on missions that stretched six hours.

"You could get shot down and some of his buddies were," Barr said. "It was dangerous. But he managed to survive the war."

At home in the United States, Barr pursued his dreams, never climbing into a cockpit again to fly.

He spent his entire career at the University of Idaho in Moscow, as a professor of entomology, a goal he had before leaving college to enlist in the military.

The nose art on his plane was a beetle holding two .45 caliber pistols, standing apart from other aircraft that were adorned with beautiful women

He married a woman who had been engaged to another man when they met on a double date before Barr went overseas, the younger Barr said. Her fiance died on a training mission.

"That outlines what it was like at the time, how lives really changed just like that," Barr said.

His dad remained friends with the men he met in the war, often attending reunions. Being at events like Saturday's, Barr said, helps him understand a little more of who his dad was.

"He was an amazing individual, very intelligent," he said.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.