June 2012 Mission Update! News from the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum |
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Museum Staff
President and CEO
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Let the Mighty 8th be a part of your legacy
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For more information about Planned Gifts and the Mighty Eighth Foundation, please contact Pam Vining |
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Support the Mighty Eighth
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Follow this QR Code to view a video by B-24 Pilot Paul Grassey
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Flying Legends Summer Camp
 During the summer months the Museum offers half day and extended day summer camps. These camps are great for rising 2nd - 5th graders.
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John Butler - Museum Volunteer
by Heather Thies
John Butler was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts in 1955, he married his college sweetheart, Sydney, and entered the Army. In the Army he served in the 16th Ranger Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. After the Army his career consisted of sales and marketing and later executive management. Read Further
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Moultrie Middle School Makes B-17 Contribution
Moultrie Middle School from Charleston, South Carolina came to tour the museum on May 21st. They brought a check for over $600.00 to donate to the B-17 restoration project. Most of the students wore "City of Savannah" B-17 t-shirts and dog tags that they ordered before their visit.  Mark Nadobny's, (their teacher), grandfather flew as a B-17 navigator with the 379th BG, 527thSQ at Kimbolton Air Base in the 8thAF during WWII. There is a plaque in the memorial garden of his grandfather's crew "Stanley's Stalwarts." |
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Thank you to our B-17 "City of Savannah Restoration Crew
On May 2nd the Museum held an all hands volunteer meeting. The Museum recognized the one hundred and twenty B-17 City of Savannah's Restoration Crew members.
The B-17, City of Savannah restoration project just celebrated its third year of restoration in January of 2012.
Restoration of the B-17 continues at a steady pace. You can be a part of the Museum's restoration project by contributing to its funding. The Museum appreciates all financial gifts, and for $100 or more you will receive a certificate of participation, suitable for framing, that recognizes your part in this historic Museum event. Donate Now!
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We Need Your Support
The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum does not receive funding from the local, state, or federal government. We depend solely on grants, support from corporations, and individual donations from Museum supporters. If you are interested in helping us upgrade and develop exhibits, expand our Character Counts character education program, and continue the historic restoration on our B-17 Flying Fortress City of Savannah, please visit our website:
http://mightyeighth.org/support-the-museum/contribute-to-the-museum/ or contact:
Meghan Lowe
Director of Development
912-748-8888 ext. 165
mlowe@mightyeighth.org
We appreciate any gifts to help the Museum carry out its mission!
Become a Member! Become a member of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum and help support "one of the world's most powerful museum experiences." As a member of the Mighty Eighth, you are entitled to unlimited admission for one year, subscription to the Museum e-newsletter, a 10% discount at the Museum Gift Store, a personalized membership card, and access to the Mighty Eighth's Members Only Online Forum. Memberships range from $25 to $1,000 for individuals and families! For more information, please visit our membership website: http://mightyeighth.org/support-the-museum/membership/ or contact: Danira Beckmann Membership Coordinator 912-748-8888 ext. 101 dbeckmann@mightyeighth.org Please also consider having your employer become a corporate member! Corporate Membership information can be found at: http://mightyeighth.org/corporate-membership-page/ Our Newest Corporate Member is: 
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Museum Gift Store
 National Flag Day was established on May 30, 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. In 1949 President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th as National Flag Day. Americans are encouraged to fly their flags proudly on June 14th.
If you don't have a flag or you need a new one, now is the time to purchase it. From June 1st through June 14th all of our 3x5 and 2x3 flags will be on sale for 20% off. So get your flag and fly it proudly.
 We want to help you celebrate your dads this Father's Day. With any purchase of $50 or more you will receive 10% off (some exclusions apply).
In addition to this discount you will also receive a FREE tote.
The Mighty Eighth Museum Store has some great gifts. We just received lighters. Choose your military branch or the 8th logo lighter. Of course we have belts, ties, tie bars, watches and polo shirts. Our WWII chess set has been a great hit for chess enthusiasts.
Don't forget we have a great selection of t-shirts and hats. So let us know what you need and make dad happy this Father's Day.
Shop the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum Gift Store Today!
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Character Counts! Student Ambassador of the Month
May 2012
Please join us in congratulating our Character Counts Student Ambassador of the Month:
 | | Rakeem Jackson |
School: Savannah High School in Savannah/Chatham County Public School System
Grade: 12
Rakeem Jackson is polite and demonstrates good manners both to his teachers and fellow students. He shows responsibility by completing his assignments on time. He is respectful to teachers and students by not participating in antics that take away from his learning. He has started a school youth group for his peers and is interested in enhancing the school by being a positive role model with maturity beyond his years.
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A Memory, A Knife, A Blanket
by Dr. Vivian Rogers-Price
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This knife was used by Russell S. Unangst at Stalag Luft I.
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Flying as a bombardier in the 93rd Bomb Group, Russell S. Unangst and his crew went on the 22 December 1943 mission to Osnaburck, Germany. Their B-24, Bommerang II, suffered damage from both flak and a concentrated fighter attack. On the route back to England they decided to bail out over Texel Island, Holland to avoid a possible ditching. Four, including Unangst, landed on the beach and became POWs. The other six men drifted out over the North Sea and drowned. Unangst spent the rest of World War II as a POW in Stalag Luft I at Barth. Here food became the most frequent topic of conversation and the cold penetrated clothing, blankets, and buildings. The Germans failed to provide sufficient food or clothing to comply with the 1929 Geneva Convention so that each POW lost weight and suffered from the cold. An average man needs 3,000 calories each day to stay reasonably active; the Germans provided from 1,500 to 1,900. Additional nutrition and calories came from Red Cross parcels which were generally received once a week.
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This blanket was patched by Russell s. Unangst at Stalag Luft I.
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These parcels were paid for and packaged by the Allied armed forces and then shipped into Germany by the Swiss Red Cross. As Allied victory neared, Soviet troops liberated the camp on the night of 30 April 1945 and on 12, 13, and 14 May Operation Revival airlifted approximately 9,000 prisoners of war out of Barth. Unangst assisted with this airlift and was one of the last to leave. Among the possessions he selected to keep was a knife used to slice the German-issued coarse black bread that included sawdust as an ingredient, and one of the two thin blankets he had received when he arrived. Both the knife and the blanket are now at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum as the Russell S. Unangst Collection.
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A Tasty Talk with Teri
MISS SOPHIE: Healthy rolled-up sandwiches are the new vogue
by Teri Bell
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Article courtesy of Savannah Morning News
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The sandwich wrap has become the way to eat a sandwich. This phenomenon isn't really new, the name just is. For years we've been eating tacos, burritos, crepes, gyros and egg rolls, all of which are wraps. According to the sometimes unreliable Wikipedia, it wasn't until the late 1980s or early 1990s that the word "wrap" began to appear on menus. Legend has it that a waitress ran out of bread, used a tortilla in its place and called it a "wrap." Read Further
Teri Bell is co-owner of Miss Sophie's Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, GA. Go to sophiesmarketplace.com
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Operation Barbarossa
by Jaime Hanna
 Operation Barbarossa - the German invasion of the Soviet Union - began at 3:00 AM, Sunday morning June 22, 1941. The attack was unprovoked, and occurred less than two years after Soviet and Nazi diplomats toasted their signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact in Moscow. The treaty between these two historically hostile political powers set the stage for their respective invasions of Poland - which triggered WWII. The Barbarossa incursion saw more than three and a half million troops of the Axis Powers attack along a 1,000 mile front extending from the Baltic states to Odessa, on the Black Sea. It was the largest military operation in human history in both manpower and casualties, and opened up the Eastern Front in the European theater of WWII. It would become the site of the largest battles, deadliest atrocities, highest casualties, and most horrific conditions for Soviet and German combatants and civilians alike.  British historian Max Hastings has written: "Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union was the defining event of the war, just as the Holocaust was the defining act of Nazism. Germany embarked upon an attempt to fulfill the most ambitious objectives in its history, to push back the frontiers of Slavdom and create a new empire in the east. The Nazis argued that they were merely following the historic example set by other European nations in pursuing Lebensraum, living space, by seizing an empire in the territories of savages." [Hastings, p.137] Read Further
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This Month in 8th Air Force History
June 2-5, 1944. Operation Fortitude begins in support of the deception plan for the Normandy invasion. 521 B-17's and 284 B-24's attack targets in the Pas de Calais with 2,506 tons of bombs on June 2. On June 3, 534 bombers dropped 1,580 tons of bombs in two raids. Bombers were escorted by 439 fighters on the second day. On June 4, 509 bombers, escorted by 352 fighters, dropped 1,462 tons of bombs on Pas de Calais. 214 B-24's with 412 escorts also hit targets near Paris. On June 5, 626 bombers, escorted by 372 fighters, attacked Cherbourg and Pas de Calais. Six bombers and two fighters were lost.
June 6, 1944. D-Day! Big day for the 8th Air Force in support of the invasion. Mission 394 saw 1,114 bombers attack invasion beaches with 3,205 tons of bombs. Mission 395 sent 508 B-17's and B-24's to Caen and the beach-heads. 555 P-38's 414 P-47's and 750 P-51's from the VIII and IX Fighter Commands were on continuous escort and sweep duty.
June 21-22, 1944. Operation Frantic: 114 B-17's and 71 fighters land in Russia after attacking oil targets but were detected. The Germans dropped 110 tons of bombs on the US aircraft that night, destroying 43 B-17's 15 Mustangs and 450,000 gallons of gas. The Russians refused to let fighters engage the Germans.
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