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April 2009
Mission Update! News from the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum |
Vol 5, Issue 1 |
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175 Bourne Ave
Pooler, GA 31322
912.748.8888
Open daily 9:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m.
(Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving & Christmas) |
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Progress on the B-17 |
Work on the restoration of the B-17 is continuing at a steady pace. The next step is to have International Aero Services buff the plane back to its original factory finish. The Volunteers, led by Jerry McLaughlin, are working in 3 shifts and the progress made each week is clearly visible.
You can be a part of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B-17 project. The Museum appreciates all financial gifts, and for contributions of $100 or more you will receive a certificate of participation, suitable for framing, which recognizes your part in this historic Museum event.
Please make all checks payable to "B-17 Project" and mail to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, 175 Bourne Ave, Pooler, GA 31322. If you would like to pay by credit card, please call
Tameka Ford 912.748.8888 ext 101. |
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Join the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum today! |
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Become a Member of one of the worlds most powerul museums.
If you are passionate about America, if you believe that preserving
traditions, loyalty, democracy, and freedom are more important
than ever, and if you appreciate the sacrifice of the men and
women who continue to defend our freedom today, then you
need to become a member of the
Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum today!
Select from one of 10 different Membership Levels!
Discounts at the Museum Gift Store.
Unlimited admission for one year.
Dine in the Museum's restaurant.
For more info and to join please click on the link below
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| Mandy Livingston
Marketing & Public Relations Manager |
The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is pleased to announce Mandy Livingston as their new Marketing and Public Relations Manager.
Livingston previously worked in the Museum's special events department as a Meetings and Special Events Associate. The 24-year-old native Savannahian is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and has a bachelor's degree in public relations. She is an alumna of Kappa Delta Sorority and was a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America.
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| Brenda Elmgren
Director of Development |
In her new role Brenda will head all fundraising and development activities. She brings a high level of energy and talent to this new position.
Brenda has served for the past three years as the Chief Administrative Officer. The native Savannahian is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and has a bachelor's degree in Business Management.
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| Meet Frank Paro
Museum Volunteer Greeter
by Heather Thies |
Fanklin K. Paro began volunteering five years ago  at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. Frank joined the Army in 1945 and served with the Occupation Forces in both Japan and Germany after WWII ended. After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1951, Frank joined the Air Force and served during the Korean War with the 6314th Installation Engineer Company. He served in the Air Force until 1966.
Frank married his wife Jeannie in 1964 and the two moved to Missouri upon Frank's retirement from the military. He has always held a life long love of music so he went back to school and received his college degree in Music. While living in Missouri, he also served on the City Council and as Mayor of Buffalo, Missouri, both for two years.
In 2002 Frank and Jeannie moved to Savannah, Georgia to be close to Jeanie's sister. While shopping in the grocery store they overheard a man discussing the Museum. Frank introduced himself to Dick Phillips who started recruiting Frank to be a museum volunteer. Frank began as a volunteer in the Chapel of the Fallen Eagles and then moved into the Rotunda as a greeter. Frank warmly and excitedly introduces all visitors to the museum as he explains the general layout and story behind the museum. Frank makes everyone who enters the museum feel welcomed. | |
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Museum Staff
Brenda Elmgren
Director of Development
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Call for Volunteers
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Do you have a few spare hours? Need something fun and exciting to do? Do you enjoy meeting people from all over the country and World? If you answered "Yes" to any of the these questions, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is the perfect place for you to volunteer your time.
Volunteers Ed and Betty Robarts
To be a volunteer or for more information, please call Heather Thies, 912.748.8888 ext 106, or email her education@mightyeighth.org
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Upcoming Features!
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Be sure to see our next edition of the "Mission Update!" online newsletter for the latest news, "What's New in the Archives", "World War II Memorial Updates", and much more.
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Turn your Gold into a Museum Donation
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With gold at an All-Time-High, Anderson Jewelers is buying your unwanted gold.
Come into Anderson Jewelers in Savannah, GA to sell your scrap gold & 10% of the sale will be donated to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. Be sure to mention the Mighty Eighth.
For more information, call Janice at 912.355.8515 or Click here for the website |
Upcoming Museum Events
For the month of April |
The opening of the
2nd Air Divison
exhibit.
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| Freedom Salute for returning troops |
The Yellow Ribbon and Family Readiness Group hosted a
freedom salute ceremony in
the Gen. Lewis E. Lyle Rotunda
on Monday March 30, for the soldiers from the 848th
Engineer Company. These
soldiers are returning from a one year deployment to Iraq.
One hundred and two soldiers
were recognized at the ceromony. | |
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| The Mighty Eighth Store |
| The Mighty Eighth Air force Museum Gift Store is a unique shopping experience. In it you will find everything from clothing, jewelry, and books to models, patches and pins, and collectibles found nowhere in this area. Click on the link below to begin shopping today. Mighty Eighth Online Store
Air Force Garden Stone
Cosmix Wind Spinner Army
Double Cherry Bird Feeder
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Flying Legends Summer Camp 2009
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 The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is offering Flying Legends Summer Camp again this year. This day camp is perfect for kids ages 6 to11 years old. Heather, our education director, teaches about roles of children in the home front; navigation, bombardier, and pilot training during WWII; and other exciting activities during camp.
Camp is Monday - Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. with lunch included and the cost is only $60 per child. There is one extended session on June 22-26 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. that includes lunch and airplane model assembly. The cost for the extended session is $150
Regular Sessions 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. with Lunch $60
June 15-19
July 20-24
August 3-7
Extended Session 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. with Lunch and Airplane Model building $150
June 22-26
For more information or to register, call Heather Thies at 912.748.8888 ext 106 or email her education@mighteighth.org.
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Host your next event at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum |
Looking for a unique location for your next reunion? Have a family member who is recently engaged and needs an enchanting spot for the wedding? Consider the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. We provide an entertaining and inspirational choice of venues for meeting events. Our facility is designed to accommodate meetings and events, large receptions, seated dinners, weddings, as well as business presentations and corporate hospitality. The Museum offers a wide range of additional services such as catering, audio/visual, entertainment, and wireless Internet connections in the meeting rooms. Our exclusive caterer, Chef Matt Cohen, can help you customize the perfect menu. From corporate catering and receptions to black tie affairs, allow the professional staff at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum to make your event truly memorable! For reservations or further information, please contact the Events Department, 917.748.8888 ext 124
or by email events@mightyeighth.org |
| Four Generations Connect at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum
by Vivian Rogers-Price |
 The Escape and Evasion exhibit in the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum uses a safe house to tell the stories of Helpers who while living in Nazi-occupied Europe, risked their lives to aid downed Allied airmen return to Allied lines. Anyone caught helping downed crewmen were subject to execution.These Helpers supplied the air crewmen in their care with food, civilian clothing, false identity papers, transportation, and a safe place to hide from Nazi troops who were aware of their presence and of their crashed aircraft. Helper Anne Brusselmans's was one of many Helpers who acted voluntarily out of a love of freedom and a deep ethical commitment to what each regarded as decent human behavior. During the war years she lived in Brussels and successfully sheltered 32 downed airmen for varying lengths of time before sending them on the next stage of their journey back to Allied lines and freedom. Anne helped another 98 Allied airmen evade capture by the Nazis. Her daughter Yvonne was eleven when World War II began. At first she and her younger brother, Jacques, were told the downed airmen in their home were Flemish cousins. After Yvonne discovered the false papers and photographs of some of her Flemish cousins, her mother shared her secret. Yvonne helped her mother by sewing dog tags into trouser cuffs so that if the downed airmen were captured by the Nazis they would become Prisoners of War instead of being executed as spies. With the liberation of Brussels on 3 September 1944, Anne escorted 54 evaders to the Hotel Metropole to rejoin the American forces stationed there; she had successfully helped a total of 130 downed Allied airmen evade capture while living in Nazi-occupied Belgium.
Anne Brusselmans's commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy continued throughout her life; she was awarded the Order of Leopold II, the Belgian Croix de Guerre, the Medal of Freedom which is the highest American decoration given to civilians for wartime service, and the Polish Medal of Resistance. She was also made a Member of the British Empire (MBE). Both she and her daughter, Yvonne Daley-Brusselmans supported the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society that held its first reunion in 1964 in Buffalo, NY, in order to encourage Allied airmen aided by resistance organizations or patriotic nationals of foreign countries to continue friendships with those who helped them.
In addition, Yvonne Daley-Brusselmans is dedicated to preserving the stories of courage, character, and patriotism embodied by the men and women of the Eighth Air Force and now serves as a member of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's Board of Trustees. On 16 March 2009 three generations of the Brusselmans family toured the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, and Board of Trustees Member, Yvonne Daley-Brusselmans used this opportunity to show her son, Colin Daley, her daughter-in-law, Ginny Daley, and her grandsons, Alex, Chris, and Timothy the powerful exhibits of this museum. In the Safe House Anne Brusselmans's grandson and three great grandsons posed in front of her and daughter, Yvonne's World War II photograph for a commemorative portrait taken by Ginny Daley.
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Honor a loved one
Peggy Harden Memorial Gardens Coordinator |
| The Mighty Eighths Wall of Valor dramatically frames the Museums Memorial Gardens and offers a unique opportunity to memorialize the courageous individuals who compromised The Eighth Air Force.
Veterans can be recognized by name, rank, and unit number incised on a handsome 4 x 12 inch polished stone tablet.
 No matter what the rank or service of the Eighth Air Force Veteran, equal status is accorded on the Museums Wall of Valor.
Years from now, imagine the feelings a young family will experience when they see
and touch a memorial to
one of their own - perhaps a grandfather or great-uncle recognized for their unselfish heroism, sacrifice, and valor. Their legacy lives on, thanks to your thoughtful gift today to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's Wall of Valor program.
Peggy Harden, Memorial Garden Coordinator states that the programs for the Wall of Valor & Crew Plaque are open. It's a way to honor those who flew combat during the war. We also have a Vietnam Brick program.
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| The Columbarium |
 The Museum's Columbarium project "The Garden of Folded Wings" is nearing completion. This magnificent Columbarium is located directly behind the Museum Chapel and when completed will be one of the most beautiful and significant in the country. If you are interested in reserving a place in the Columbarium or simply would like additional information,
please call Peggy Harden at 912.748.8888 ext 103 | |
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Tell Us What You Think!
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You are
very important to us. We have created a short survey to help us improve
membership privileges and encourage others to join. Please take a moment to answer the questions
and offer suggestions. We are open to ideas and want to hear from you. Click here to begin the survey. |
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