The F-111 Aardvark in front of the Aviation Heritage Park is here to honor retired Colonel Arnie Franklin. A Bowling Green High School graduate in 1961 and WKU in 1966, Franklin would serve in the Air Force as a command pilot with over 3,500 flying hours, with 782 logged in combat. He also served as a Commander of the 27^th Tactical Fighter Wing, was assigned at the Pentagon as Chief of the Middle East, Africa, South Asia Division, a Professor at the Air War College, and led the USAF portion of Operation El Dorado Canyon, the US Strike on Libya on April 15, 1986.

This exhibit comes from the private collection of Retired Colonel Franklin, including many artifacts from his military career. He will be here to tell the story and answer questions about his life in the USAF and that history-making mission.