Grumman F9F-6P Cougar

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Walter M. Kenney Field was the chosen location for the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial for its high visibility from nearby roads, ease of access for pedestrians, and for its historical significance as the longtime home of a Korean War-era Grumman F9F-6P Cougar Naval airframe, on loan to the town from the U.S. government.
The "blue jet," as it is often called, has been on loan to the town from the U.S. government since May 1959.
Today, the memorial sits directly behind the F9F-6P airframe.

During the construction of the memorial, a local auto collision business volunteered to refurbish the F9F-6P airframe.
To refurbish the aluminum structure, volunteers removed all old paint, pounded out dents, filled in cracks and gaps, repainted all surfaces, and applied decals to the fuselage and wings.
The entire process took roughly three weeks to complete.

Since its installation, the F9F-6P airframe had been used as a piece of playground equipment by local children. However, in February 2009, town government officials received paperwork from the National Museum of Naval Aviation requesting that the town take full responsibility for the loaned airframe's upkeep and make an effort to prevent people from climbing on its wings and fuselage. In response to this request, the town initially installed signage asking visitors to refrain from climbing on the airframe. However, the damage continued. Less than a year later, volunteers once again took to repairing the airframe, after which the town installed a four-foot high wrought-iron fence around the long-standing community icon.