Moment of silence Dec. 1 to honor CAP 65th

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MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) --  Civil Air Patrol members and advocates nationwide plan to honor the volunteer organization's 65th anniversary with a nationwide moment of silence Dec. 1 at noon Eastern time.

The moment of silence is part of the yearlong celebration of CAP's anniversary, punctuated with events both national and local in scope, including a time capsule dedication in March at Washington, D.C.

CAP was founded Dec. 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to America's involvement in World War II. CAP members conducted aerial patrols that discouraged and eventually ended German U-boat attacks on shipping in American waterways. Sixty-four members died while carrying out CAP missions during the war.

CAP, the official auxiliary of the Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with nearly 57,000 members nationwide. The organization performs 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions, as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and was credited by the center with saving 73 lives in 2005. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people participating in the CAP cadet program.

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