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When Francis Gabreski drives past Republic Airport in Farmingdale, he always makes a quick salute to the old brick buildings that stand as the last reminders of the bustling World War II aircraft production plant.
The Republic firm made the P-47 Thunderbolt that he flew when he became the hottest American fighter pilot on the European front. "Every time I go by Republic I salute the guys, they did a marvelous job," Gabreski said.
Now, at age 73, he has another local reminder of his role in military aviation: Suffolk County Airport in Westhampton has been renamed Francis Gabreski Airport.
Gabreski, who was put into the nation's Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, in 1978, says he is "tremendously elated" by the honor.
Changing the airport's name - the new signs aren't expected to go up until spring - is appropriate because Gabreski, America's greatest living air ace, commanded the Air Force base in Westhampton. Later, it was declared surplus and turned over to Suffolk County.
And, he'll get to enjoy the honor. Gabreski drives past the Suffolk airport regularly, as he visits some of his children who have married and settled on the East End.
Many Long Islanders remember him as the president of the Long Island Rail Road, a post that the Dix Hills resident took in 1978. Only...