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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Harry Mizrahi

Gerald Decker is a lifelong aviation enthusiast and airplane buff who, as an avocation, has devoted and continues to devote a large portion of his spare time to reading and studying the abundant literature which is available on the subject. Of special interest to him is the period of Aviation's "Golden Age," and more particularly the beautiful aircraft, both civilian and military, which dominated the decade of the 1930's. A member of Air and Space Smithsonian for a number of years, he is especially fascinated by the work performed by the people at its Paul Garber restoration facility in Suitland, Maryland which he has visited and toured on several occasions. It is his strong feeling that the work of this facility must continue so that future generations will have the opportunity to properly connect not only to aviation in the general sense, but more specifically to the evolution and development of machines that fly, from the Wright Flyer to the Space Shuttle. Mr. Decker anxiously looks forward to the 2003 opening of the new Air and Space Facility at Washington Dulles International Airport, which from the renderings exhibited to date, appears to be "grand slam home run" in the making.