World War II plane named in honor of American Legion Post 335

During World War II, many veterans organizations hosted fund drives to aid in the war effort, including raising money to build combat aircraft. 

Organizations who raised large sums of money to build more planes were honored by the aircraft company with the organization’s name on the new plane’s fuselage.  Lynbrook’s American Legion Post 335 was one of those organizations that raised money, and the post was honored with its name on a P-51 plane.  

At the time, Lynbrook’s Post 335 had more than 200 active members with many of them veterans of the first World War.  

The P-51 Mustang was originally designed by North American Aviation for the RAF in 1940 and began service in 1942. It was later adopted by the U.S. Army Air Forces. It was originally designed as a two-seater, but later changed to a one-pilot plane. More than 13,000 were built in the U.S. during the war. 

Although production was stopped after the war, some were flown during the Korean War. The plane had a speed of 437 mph and had a longer range to penetrate into German territory than other U.S. fighters. Additionally, it was better in air-to-air combat. It played a major role in the defeat of the Luftwaffe. The Tuskegee airmen flew a later version of the P-51 Mustang.

Grogan is a veteran and a member of American Legion Post 335