Retired fighter jet will soon be focal point of combat memorial in downtown Lena

Before arriving to a parking lot outside The Rafters Restaurant in Lena, the F-4 Phantom fighter jet was the pride of the military.

Then, it was mothballed. It was converted into a drone to serve as a target during aerial practice over the Mojave Desert.

Then, it was a ground target at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico before ended up on the General Services Administration's list of disposal items.

That was when it caught the eye of a group of veterans from northern Illinois.

The vets, members of the Northwest Illinois Aerial Combat Memorial Committee, were looking for something that could serve as the centerpiece of a downtown memorial.

"We just thought to ourselves, 'What's cooler than a fighter jet on a pedestal?' said Bing Wells, combat memorial committee vice president.

In February 2018, the GSA donated the jet to the village of Lena, and a year later, the jet — minus its twin engines and instrumentation — arrived.

For the past four years, the memorial committee worked to get a piece of land across the street from the American Legion Hall at Main and Vernon streets in downtown Lena and an 18-foot-tall pedestal.

Last month, Koning's Precision Paint & Body painted the jet "gull gray" and black.

"Neither my husband nor I served, but we certainly appreciate the ones who have," said Brenda Koning. "This is our way of giving back to them."

Next on the to-do list is adding military insignia on the tail of the plane.

Once the insignia work is completed and a large steel plate is attached to the belly of the plane, Nebraska-based Worldwide Aircraft Recovery, a full-service aircraft recovery company and the same outfit who delivered the jet to Lena, will get a call to tow the plane downtown and hoist it atop the pedestal.

"It's just a matter of when they can find the time for us," Wells said. "It could be a couple of weeks. It could be a couple of months. It could be next year."

The memorial committee is collecting donations and selling 8-by-8 inch memorial pavers to raise funds for the memorial. The money will be used to add lighting, flag poles and flags and plaques that will provide information about the jet and the memorial.

As many as 5,195 F-4 Phantoms were made from 1958 to 1981 making it the most produced supersonic military aircraft in the country.

In its heyday, the aircraft set 16 world records in categories such as speed, reaching mach 2.6, and altitude. Because of its impressive performance, the Air Force, Navy and Marines all flew F-4s, and the jet served in conflicts ranging from Vietnam to Iraq.

The F-4 was retired in 1996.

Wells said the jet "will be a memorial in honor of all those who came before."

Donations to the Lena memorial project can be sent to: The Northwest Illinois Aerial Combat Memorial, P.O. Box 290, Lena, Illinois, 61048.

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Lena is close to installing centerpiece of downtown combat memorial