Since April 2005, AVO has received 2259 emails to the webmaster. The 2005-2006 eruption of Augustine volcano increased email traffic from 20 emails per month to 20 emails per day.

Do you have recollections of Alaskan volcanic eruptions from days gone by? Do you still come across volcanic ash from Augustine, Spurr, or Redoubt in your yard, attic, or garage? Have you ever seen glowing red blobs on the side of a distant volcano, while on a trans-subarctic journey? We would love to hear your story.

Please submit your accounts by emailing us. With your permission, we may share your volcano memories with others around the globe!

My father, then Major "Jack" Chennault, commanded the 11th Fighter Squadron in the Aleutians during WWII. An "old man" of 26 or so, he had occasional authority problems with young hot-shot pilots just out of training. His solution was to challenge a couple of them to follow him for a flight inside the caldera of an inactive volcano. The caldera was a couple of miles across, and while not in active eruption, had major hot spots that caused severe turbulence. After flying around it a couple of times, he would return to base and pull well to the side of the runway where he got out of the plane to watch them land. They would wobble in to a landing ... and usually make it out of the cockpit before they lost their lunch on the tarmac.
He never had any discipline problems after that - with them or with any of the other young bloods who were with them.
Janet L. Chennault

Hello Janet - It sounds like your father was stationed at Fort Glenn, on Umnak Island, which is the same island that contains Okmok Volcano. Okmok is a large caldera, and erupted at least twice in the WWII era - in 1943 and 1945, so I'm not surprised that there were hot spots when he flew over it. Okmok's most recent eruption was in 1997. Thank you for sharing your volcano story with us!

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