Lt. John Mason of the United States Naval Reserve climbed into his plane, an SB2C Helldiver, on Oct. 22, 1945, at Blue Grass Field in Lexington, where he and other members of the Navy Victory squadron presented an exhibition. Twenty Navy planes flew in a “Navy Flying Might” air show as part of Fayette County’s Victory War Bond campaign. The insignia on the plane show that Mason destroyed three Japanese planes on the ground, sank two ships (a destroyer and a freighter-transport) and participated in 30 bombing missions. Published in the Lexington Leader on Oct. 23, 1945. Herald-Leader Archive Photo