Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum

IMG_7811During our recent vacation in Tybee Island, Georgia, me and Terry visited the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia. If you have never visited this museum, please do. You won’t be disappointed. I took tons of photos in the museum, too many to post. I’m going to post the pictures that pertain to my dad’s service.

I would like to dedicate this blog post to my dad, Flynn Mabry, who served in the Mighty Eighth in Thorpe Abbots, England during WWII. He served in the 100th bomb group, 350th bomb squadron as a B-17 mechanic as part of the ground crew. Thank you for your service, dad! I love you and miss you always!
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Major General Lewis E. Lyle Rotunda. The rotunda is named in honor of the Museum's founder who flew 75 bombing missions over Europe during WWII , never losing a single man.
IMG_7576Flags from all 50 states are displayed in the rotunda of the museum. If you look closely you can see the Tennessee state flag.

IMG_7578Flags of each bomb group and squadron are displayed in the rotunda as well. This is the flag of the 100th bomb group also known as The Bloody Hundredth.

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IMG_7617Painting of a B-17 bomber. When I first saw this I thought it was a real photograph. 

IMG_7630Tribute to the ground crews who kept the Flying Fortresses in the air.

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Savannah was the birthplace of the Mighty Eighth.
IMG_7735Tribute and memorabilia from the 100th Bomb Group.

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Eight Air Force stained glass.
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IMG_7656The museum’s B-17 is being restored in honor of “City of Savannah” which was the 5,000th airplane processed through Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah during WWII. The B-17 is a huge plane. I’ve seen pictures of them, but until you stand in front of one, you don’t realize just how big they are. This is the one thing I was really looking forward to during our visit to the museum. Even with my wide angle lens I couldn’t get the entire plane in the picture. The pictures don't do it justice!

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IMG_7776Eighth Air Force Memorial Gardens.

IMG_7779The Chapel of the Fallen Eagles. The first time we visited the museum 10 years ago, we didn't go into the chapel.

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IMG_7794Stained glass in honor of fallen members of the 100th Bomb Group.

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If you are ever in the Savannah area, visit the museum. As the brochure says it's "One of the world's most powerful museum experiences." Knowing my dad served in the Eight Air Force made it even more special for me!

"Air superiority is the ultimate expression of military power." - Winston Churchill

4 comments:

Kay R. said...

Awesome pictures!! Great tribute to Dad. I imagine he would have loved walking through this museum. I'd like to visit someday.

Ann S. said...

I would've loved to have walked through it with him :) It was awesome! You guys should go sometime!

Jane said...

Great post! Thanks for sharing these pics. I will probably never get to see this museum but feel like I've been there now. Do wish Dad could have seen it. Love the picture of that leather squadron patch. So WWII! :)

Ann S. said...

Thanks, Jane! I always loved that patch too.