B.J. Gudmundsson has released a new film as part of her “Inspiration Series” called “Long Runway Home.” I wrote a brief review of it earlier. Like the other films in the series, it honors people who have inspired many people over the years. Below is the description of the film from the film’s website. ( Watch YouTube parts of the film here.)
The Long Runway Home
Honoring Col. John and Ruth Gwinn
Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel John W. Gwinn was born in 1915 in
Lockbridge, West Virginia. He was 14 years old when the stock market crashed in 1929. “They say that we’re in the worst economic times since the Great Depression” Gwinn says. “I lived through the Great Depression and I know all about it.” Ruth Tolley was born in 1919 near the once-booming coal town of Winding Gulf in RaleighCounty. Her mother died when Ruth was 12 years old. The W.P.A. built an airfield on her family’s farm inSummersCounty. “I didn’t learn to drive,” Ruth says. “I learned to fly!” She soloed at age 16. Col. Gwinn completed his distinguished military career in 1964. After moving to Lewisburg he accepted the monumental “assignment” of building a commercial airport. He then managed the Greenbrier Valley Airport for 27 years. He retired in 1994 – mission accomplished! Ruth Tolley Gwinn took to the air again – teaching people to fly – and operating the family airport at Pence Springs. She holds the distinction of being the youngest woman in West Virginia to obtain a pilot’s license, which was in 1937. Shepherd’s Center of Greenbrier Valley2009 Community Service Award
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