Lovin' Spoons Pooler is located at 479 Pooler Parkway.

Come remeber those who served our country at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. All military veterans and active duty military will be recognized. Military veterans will receive a special admission rate of $5 and active duty military personnel will receive a rate of $6.

The second annual Flying Fortress 5K is to benefit the restoration of the Museum's B-17, the "City of Savannah". The 5K (3.1 mile) course will make its way through the campus of JCB, Inc., starting and finishing at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

Register Online Today!

For hundreds of years, Savannah has charmed residents and visitors alike with its fine old architecture, wide, cobbled streets and romantic moss-draped trees. Though less widely known than its haunting beauty and fabled eccentricities, part of the enchantment of Savannah is its cuisine. Blending European, Asian, and West African customs, Damon Lee Fowler introduces The Savannah Cookbook. It offers recipes for Southern classics such as rice and grits, soups and stews, poultry, fish and meat dishes, as well as a helpful chapter on pantry basics. 

Each year the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum displays the "Honor Tree" in the Museum's Rotunda. The giant lighted tree is filled with photographs of Veterans and Active Duty Military. To honor your loved one who is currently serving in the military or is a veteran, send us a picture by emailmarketing@mightyeighth.org or mail a copy of the photo (the photograph will not be returned) to the Museum:  

Let the Mighty 8th be a part of your legacy

Support the Mighty Eighth

Follow the directions to view this video by B-24 Pilot Paul Grassey (Duration 2 minutes)

Step 1. Go to the App Store on your smartphone and download a QR Scanner for FREE!

Step 2. Scan the QR Code with your smartphone to view video.

*This video is also available on the Museum's website at www.mightyeighth.org

The newly redesigned Website of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum aims to extend the reach of all the Museums programs by serving a broad audience of museum-goers, members, and the general public. The new web site features expanded content, museum exhibits, tour packages as well as special exhibits. The redesign incorporates bold colors and graphics and completely new navigational tools. Access the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's new web site at www.mightyeighth.org 

 It has been a very busy fall at the Mighty Eighth.  Our agenda includes new exhibits, expanding educational programs, events, and our annual fall campaign.
 
We have just completed the enhancement to the Ploesti Exhibit.  This diorama now includes new features that make the Ploesti raid seem to come to life for our Museum visitors.  Many thanks to the 44th Bomb Group for their generous donations that helped make the upgrade possible. 
 
In addition to the Ploesti exhibit, the B-17 Restoration continues.  We make progress every week even though many of the things we are doing are not always visible to our guests.  Some are, like the ball turret and the chin turret that will be installed in the near future.  Many thanks to all of the great volunteers who are working on this historic project. 
 
Next on our agenda is a re-do of the POW exhibit.  This exhibit will more effectively demonstrate life as it existed for a prisoner of war in WWII.  We hope to start on this project shortly. 
 
Our Character education program CHARACTER COUNTS!® is now the standard code of conduct for all schools in the Savannah Chatham County District School System.  The Museum's certified instructors have conducted training seminars for over 800 educators so that the program can be implemented in all the schools in the District.  Seminars and lectures at the Museum with veterans and their stories will enhance the program further.  Support for our educational programs have come from all over the state.
 
We are following up the success of our 15th Anniversary Gala with our Second Annual "Flying Fortress 5K" to be held at the Museum on Saturday, November 12th. The inaugural race held last year was a great success and we hope to grow it substantially this year.  You can register for this race by calling the Museum at 912-748-8888 and asking for Jane Harper.
 
We are in the process of planning our next Atlanta fundraiser, the "Boots, Blue Jeans, Bomber Jackets and BBQ" to be held in Atlanta next year.  We are now discussing a date.  After the success of our last Atlanta event we are anxious to do another.  We have a remarkable group of volunteers in the Atlanta area to help with this event.
 
Lastly, our fall fundraising campaign is in the mail this week.  This time we are incorporating some features, like a QR code, that is new to our fundraising efforts.  If you do not have a Smart Phone, you can still view the QR video on our website.  We are counting on this campaign being our most successful ever.  There is something of interest for all our supporters.

 
Our goal is to keep this great Museum dynamic and to constantly make the experience here more meaningful and up to date.  Thank you for being an important part of our success.  Your support is greatly appreciated.

Restoration Project Update

Albert 'Bud' S. Porter Jr. 

Bud Porter was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  From 1942-45 Bud served in the United States Army Air Corp.  He was assigned to the 412^th SQ/95^th BG located in Horham, England as a ball turret gunner of a B-17. His crew, 699, was assembled and trained briefly at McDill Field and flew the "Memphis Belle" on two training missions. They went to England aboard the "Queen Elizabeth".  Crew 699 became a family and stayed together for all their eleven missions until Germany surrendered in the spring of 1945.  Taking advantage of the GI Bill, Bud went back to college and earned a BS degree from Rutgers University in 1948.  He then spent thirty five years with GMAC Finance/Insurance Division of General Motors. Bud and his wife Sis moved to Hilton Head Island in 1984. 

As a member of the local community of the 8^th AF WWII veterans, he soon became engaged in planning for the museum and aggressively promoted the establishment of the museum in Pooler, Georgia.  Once it was built, he continued his ardent support of the museum.  He was present as a volunteer on the day the museum opened and has an unbroken chain of support to this day. He served as the Director of Volunteers and continues to volunteer every Sunday and whenever possible downtown at the Annex.  He serves on the Board of Trustees of the museum and is a past president and very active member of the Birthplace Chapter of the Eighth Air Force Historical Society as well.  

MISS SOPHIE: Gone to the Dogs

Teri Bell

 I am often asked who "Miss Sophie" is. The name Miss Sophie conjures up visions of a favorite aunt or some petite elderly lady who bakes cookies and pies, but in truth Miss Sophie is our dog.

Maj. Gen. Frederick L. Anderson, Jr.

Through the efforts of both Maria Sheffer Jolley and Hope Anderson Kapsner combined with the talent of artist Susie Chisholm, a bronze bust of Maj. Gen. Frederick L. Anderson, Jr. has been added to this museum's collection and is on display in the General Lewis E. Lyle Rotunda.

Anderson assisted with the Strategic Bombing Survey and in 1945 became Chief of Personnel for the Air Staff in Washington, D.C.   He retired from active duty in 1947.   His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal.  He was rated a senior pilot and combat observer.  His foreign awards include the British Commander of the Bath, the Russian Suvorov, 3rd Degree, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, the Polish Order of Polonia Restituta Commander's Cross, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm.

Judge Ben Smith was honored at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum on Thursday, October 13, 2011 for his dedication and countless contributions to the Museum.

A Trustee and Corporate Secretary of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum since 1990, Judge Ben has been a strong influence on the concept, development and construction of this museum.  Together he and Major General Lewis E. Lyle wanted an appropriate memorial for the 8th Air Force and the museum idea began.  From the beginning, his wisdom and wise counsel continue to be a constructive force in the day-to-day operation of this institution. 

During World War II he served as a B-17 radio operator and gunner with the 303rd Bomb Group.  As a returning veteran, he was elected to two terms as J. P. (Magistrate).  Over the next four decades he served as Judge of the State Court of Ware County and as Judge of the Superior Court Ware County Judicial Circuit.  He was instrumental in establishing the first addiction treatment center in Waycross, GA.  He served two terms as President of the Eighth Air Force Historical Society and is acknowledged as an effective historian of the Eighth Air Force.  An accomplished artist and author of events during that critical time in American History, in 1978 he published Chick's Crew chronicling the crew he served with in Europe. In his words, "This is a book about young Americans in the year 1944, how they fought, how they died, how they lived, how they were able to bring a measure of humanity into a desperate situation, and how they survived against all odds."

His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.

Black Thursday: The Second Schweinfurt Mission - October 14, 1943

By Museum Volunteer Gary Silver

Over the past two centuries a relatively small number of one-day disasters - 

 At the conclusion of the Eighth Air Force's 1943 "Pointblank" summer offensive
and its centerpiece mission, the Schweinfurt-Regensburg double-strike, the
Luftwaffe seemed to be winning the air war over Europe. "By 1943, the Eighth
had felt confident enough to strike at cities on the German frontier, but these
missions proved as useful to the Luftwaffe as to the Americans. Among other
things, they enabled the Germans to perfect their daylight defense operations
by gaining experience in plotting bomber formation speed, strength and
probable destination. Thus, the Luftwaffe could place every available aircraft
in interception position on the bomber route." [Crawford] The effectiveness of
these measures by the Germans became apparent when the U.S. Air Force
tallied the cost of its August 17th double-strike mission. The Eighth's total
aircraft loss on that weather-cursed mission was approximately 40 percent of
the original bomber force sent out from England, while the damage done to
Schweinfurt's ball-bearing production, 57 percent of Germany's total output,
although considerable was not decisive. Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments
minister, had immediately ordered the damaged plants patched up, began
utilizing reserve inventories, and adopted emergency distribution procedures to
keep available supplies flowing to needy armament factories. But rather than
quickly launching a follow-up raid that could have struck the catastrophic blow to
Schweinfurt's ball-bearing production Speer dreaded, the bloodied and depleted
Eighth Air Force had little choice but to confine operations within the protective
umbrella of its fighter cover, while rebuilding strength in men and machines.
[Miller, p.206] . Numerous attempts to persuade Sir Arthur Harris, head of RAF
Bomber Command, to launch such a follow-up raid at night were ignored.

The American bombing campaign against Germany's ball-bearing production
resumed on September 6 with a disastrous raid on the ball-bearing plant at
Stuttgart, which turned out to be "...one of the worst fiascos in Eighth Air Force
history." With heavy cloud cover obscuring the target, the B-17s circled the
city hoping for a break in the overcast while fighting off the Luftwaffe - and
consuming precious fuel. Of the original 338 Fortresses that took off from East
Anglia, 76 aborted and 230 that reached Stuttgart left with full bomb bays. "Their
discouraged bombardiers dropped their excess weight randomly on 'targets of
opportunity' on their way back to England. Near Paris, the red lights on the fuel
gauges of some B-17s began to flicker and minutes later, bombers started to
go down into the English Channel." Twelve Forts ditched into the Channel, but
by nightfall all crewmembers were picked up by the British. Forty-five bombers
were lost in an attack that its participants believed should have been called back
as soon as the Forts encountered impossibly heavy weather over the continent.
[Miller, p.206-7]

Also during that September, the Eighth Air Force was reorganized. The 1st, 2nd,
and 4th Bombardment Wings (recall that the 1st and 4th flew the Schweinfurt-
Regensburg double-strike) were renamed respectively the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Air
Divisions. The 1st and 3rd Divisions flew B-17 Flying Fortresses exclusively, and
the 2nd AD was a B-24 Liberator unit. "Combat Wing" continued to refer to an
informal battle formation comprising three to four bomb groups. [Miller, p.207]
 

Losses to the bomb groups continued unabated. "During the week prior to Black
Thursday, the Eighth Air Force lost nearly 90 bombers on three missions. It
was obvious to everyone, including the Germans, that not even America's vast
resources could sustain such losses indefinitely". [Crawford]
 

As expected, bomber crew morale began to falter as the losses
piled up. The situation was aggravated somewhat by the Luftwaffe
tactic of targeting one particular bomb group for heavy losses or,
if possible, extinction. The 100th Bomb Group (BG) earned the
nickname 'Bloody 100th' after it lost 12 out of 13 aircraft following
an October 10 mission against Munster, while the 492nd BG, a B-
24 outfit, was nearly wiped out after becoming a 'marked group'
the following year. Joseph W. Baggs, 384th BG lead bombardier,
recalled that as early as August only eight of the group's original
crews were left. Four days before Mission 115, the 381st BG's
medical officer wrote that 'morale is the lowest that has yet been
observed.' [Crawford]

Read Further 

Nov 17, 1942: 23 B-17s and 12 B-24s hit St. Nazaire. This was the first mission for the 303rd and 305th BGs. The 303rd BG could not find the target. The 44th BG located the target but it was obscured by clouds. Nov 3, 1943: 539 bombers from all 8AF BDs pounded the Wilhelmshaven port area with 1,448 tons of bombs. Seven aircraft were lost. Escorting fighters, including 48 P-38s from the 55th FG and the 79FS from the 20th FG, shot down 14 enemy aircraft. Bombers claim 21 more enemy fighters, 11 by the 91st BG alone.

Nov 6-30, 1943: Each day the VIII BC looks for weather that would permit bombing. Several shallow penetrations were made with mediocre results.

Nov 2, 1944: 1,100 bombers drop 2,648 tons ordnance on Merseberg/Leuna oil refinery. The Luftwaffe put up 400 aircraft to oppose the bombers in their first show of force since September. 873 fighters including 31 9th AF P-38s escorted bombers. Unescorted 91st and 457th BGs were attacked by enemy fighters because bombers were not on their designated tracks. 457th BG navigators insist course deviation was deliberate. Overall, 40 bombers were lost. 352nd FG downed 39 of 102 enemy aircraft destroyed that day. 55th FG claim 17 more.