After last year's success, the "Biggest Little Christmas Party" is in high demand by our local businesses.  It is a fun, economical and effortless solution to celebrate with co-workers and mingle with other area businesses.  Tables of ten (10) include DJ, dinner in our magnificently decorated Rotunda and a cash bar.  Come rock around our Christmas tree - - last year, over 250 people did!

For more information call the events department 912.748.8888

The 5K run/walk was held on November 6, 2010 to benefit the restoration of the Museum's B-17 the "City of Savannah". Runners braced the cold air to help raise funds to restore the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B-17.

WWII in HD: The Air War presents the untold story of the American 8th Air Force's bloody battle to defeat the German Luftwaffe in the months leading up to D-Day. Purchase your copy today! Shop Online

              On Wednesday, November 10, 2010, World War II Veteran, Skip Shelton, painted the nose art on the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B-17, "City of Savannah". This was a historic milestone in the restoration of the Museum's B-17 as she will begin to receive her combat profile. In addition to the B-17's nose art, the aircraft also received her stars and bars on the fuselage.

The 87-year-old veteran from Greenwood, South Carolina was a member of the 448^th Bomb Group during World War II. Shelton's artistic ability often kept him busy in addition to being a B-24 bomber pilot during the War. He would often be kept back from missions to paint nose art on the aircraft. After World War II he became a commercial artist at home in South Carolina.

A Savannahian by birth, General Travis commanded the 41st Combat Wing, composed of the 303rd, 379th, and 384th Bomb Groups of the Eighth Air Force, from September 1943 to September 1944. He flew 35 missions over Nazi territory. He returned to the U.S. to assume command of the 17th Bomber Operational Training Wing, Grand Island, NE. At the time of his death on 5 August 1950 in a B-29 crash he commanded both the 5th and the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wings. 

Fairfield-Suisun AFB was officially renamed Travis AFB on 20 October 1950.Savannah honored General Travis as well as his brother, Lieutenant Colonel William L. Travis, by changing Chatham Field to Travis Field. Today it is known as the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.    

Artist Hattie Saussy (1890 - 1978) enjoyed painting portraits of family and friends, including this portrait of Brig. Gen. Robert F. Travis. Her innate sense of light and color creates a vibrant character study of the general. Born in Savannah in 1890 she became a prominent twentieth century artist. To accomplish this she overcame blindness in one eye from a childhood accident as well as a fractured hip in 1972.  While still a student her art studies took her to New York and to Europe, especially to Paris where she was strongly influenced by the works of the Impressionists. With the outbreak of World War I, she returned to the United States and in 1915 began working in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. government until the end of the war. Saussy then returned to Savannah. She often traveled in North and South Carolina and Georgia, and particularly enjoyed stopping where ever the region's natural beauty suggested a painting to her. This habit made her one of the South's best known plein-air painters. She also played an active role in the art community of her hometown through her support of Savannah's art organizations and her encouragement of other artists.

Jeanelle Strickland grew up in the Savannah area and remembers spending time at the Lucas Theater and in nearby Effingham County visiting relatives.  As a child she heard stories of her uncle Sgt. Everett Dasher's experiences in WWII in the 303^rd Bombardment Group of the 8^th AF.  These stories fascinated her, especially because he still carried a bullet inside of him from a wound sustained during a mission.  She believed as a child that he might someday blow up from this bullet when actually it was just too close to vital organs to be removed through surgery.  Her uncle was involved with the museum when it first opened and donated his flight jacket with the bullet hole to the archives.  After the war he became a Lutheran minister.

Jeanelle has two children. Her daughter Lillian and her husband Russell live in the Charlotte, NC area where she is a chemist and he is retired Army Special Forces.  Her son Harry and his wife Jennifer live in Fredericksburg, VA with her two grandchildren, Bob and Jessica.  Harry serves in the Marine Corps at the Pentagon and recently greeted an Honor Flight of WWII veterans from Savannah at the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C. 

Jeanelle has held several jobs as a transcriber throughout her life.  She first began this career with the GA Mental Health Institute in Atlanta transcribing medical and patient reports.  She moved back to Savannah and worked for Family and Children's Services transcribing social worker and family reports.  She then switched to the GA Regional Hospital and later retired from the Chatham County Health Department where she transcribed reports concerning handicapped children. 

After retirement Jeanelle wanted to volunteer in a field she knew something about  that would be interesting.  She saw an ad in the paper for volunteers interested in transcribing oral histories for the museum and decided to try it. She has been volunteering at the museum since 2003. Jeanelle transcribes the oral histories recorded by Dr. Vivian Rogers-Price, Director of the Roger A. Freeman Eighth Air Force Research Center which includes the library, special collections and artifacts of the museum. Unlike her previous medical transcribing, oral histories are not confidential but used by researchers, museum staff and visitors to learn and tell the story of the 8^th AF and remember history. Because of her duties, Jeanelle knows more about the individual men of the 8^th from WWII than almost anyone.  She is always interested in listening to these men from all backgrounds, stories and religions that came together as a team for a common goal. She remarks that many of the oral histories have the similar themes of the men's love of family and country, teamwork, how excited they were to fly, and how dedicated they were to learning new things. She also remarks about the great things these men came back to America and accomplished after the war, using their training, their war-gained knowledge and the GI Bill to realize their potential. She also finds that even in such serious situations, these men could still find the humor around them to help get themselves through it. Jeanelle is honored to do this volunteer job and gladly transcribes the amazing oral histories for future generations. 

Pearl Harbor

"A Date Which Will Live In Infamy"

"AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR THIS IS NO DRILL."  These words exclaimed out over the wire from the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941 as the Japanese assaulted the base during a surprise attack early that fateful Sunday morning.  Over two thousand four hundred Americans were killed during the attack and almost one thousand eight hundred were injured. Eighteen ships were destroyed or damaged and over three hundred planes were lost or damaged.

Japanese and American relations had suffered since Japan invaded China in the 1930's. The United States had instituted an embargo on iron, steel and petroleum products to Japan resulting in ongoing diplomatic negotiations between the two countries about how to resolve the tension. With the negotiations impeded but still ongoing, a secret American warning went out to the Army and Navy commanders at Pearl Harbor but alert levels were not raised. Unfortunately, an attack was expected farther west, not at Pearl Harbor so few protective measures were put in place.  Since the harbor was considered shallow and therefore not conducive to a torpedo attack, the protective torpedo nets were left down. 

The attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:55 a.m.  The Japanese launched their surprise assault first on the air fields throughout the area to prevent American air defense during the attack and then struck the ships lined up in "Battleship Row." Very few American planes reached the air during the attack although many pilots made gallant attempts to reach them to fight against the enemy. 

The next day, December 8, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke before Congress with a war resolution Americans will never forget, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."  Congress declared war on Japan thirty three minutes after the conclusion of the speech.  On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States and America had officially entered World War II on all fronts.

In a bold step to keep the stories, history, and legacy of the Eighth Air Force alive for future generations, the Museum reenergized its character education program with a new idea, one with strength and spirit. After a lot of research, we chose CHARACTER COUNTS!®, a system using the six foundational words above. These six words give a definitive understanding of what it really means to have good character.

CHARACTER COUNTS! has no ideological or political agenda other than strengthening the moral fiber of the next generation. These core values instill character building habits in students, inspire moral ambitions, compel positive and negative consequences, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and model good conduct.