Step back in time and join us at the Dare County Regional Airport's Celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the End of World War II on Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, at the airport, which is located at 410 Airport Road in Manteo. 

Admission is free, and fly-ins are welcome for this event. Immerse yourself in the rich history of aviation through captivating historical presentations, live music by reenactor Theresa Eaman and World War II-era aircraft displays. The event will also feature a salute to local veterans, antique car displays (some World War II-era), museum tours, food trucks and a variety of aviation-related vendors.

A silent auction benefitting the Dare County Regional Airport Museum will include items such as a chartered fishing trip, Outer Banks air tour, signed Robert Taylor print and skydiving package.

“This will be a great event to mix with aviation enthusiasts, view unique aircraft up close, get a bargain at the silent auction, and honor local veterans,” stated Tony Bruno, curator for the Dare County Regional Airport Museum.

Click here to download the event flyer.

About the Dare County Regional Airport:

Although no World War II buildings remain at the Dare County Regional Airport, it was a very busy site of training during World War II.

On March 1, 1940, the Dare County Board of Commissioners appointed a committee to acquire property and begin construction of a publicly owned airport in Manteo, and construction soon began at 410 Airport Road. Following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy considered opening a Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Cape Hatteras; however, because airport construction was already underway in Manteo, the Navy selected that site to serve as a Naval Auxiliary Air Station upon its completion. 

Beginning in the fall of 1942, the new facility was initially utilized by the Civil Air Patrol, whose primary task was performing anti-submarine patrols along the coastline in search of German U-boats. The Naval Auxiliary Air Station was officially commissioned on March 3, 1943, and on August 31, 1943, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard took over anti-submarine patrols. 

From 1943 until the end of the war, hundreds of Navy and Marine pilots trained at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Manteo, and the vast majority of those pilots were assigned to carriers and land bases in the Pacific Theater. On September 2, 1945, on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the final surrender was signed by Japan.

In 1947, Dare County asked for the return of the airfield, and the request was granted and it was turned back over to  the county. Since then, the facility has been operated by a fixed-base operator and later the Dare County Airport Authority, which took over the airport in 1983 and continues to oversee the airport’s daily operations today. To learn more about the unique history of the Dare County Regional Airport, please click the button below.

For more information about this celebration, including vendor and food truck opportunities, please contact Tony Bruno at tbruno164@gmail.com. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the festivities, which are sponsored by The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.