"Honoring the Past...Inspiring the Future"
At the end of this month, please look for the Spring 2013 campaign letter and brochure as we continue to Honor the Past and Inspire the Future! Your donations help the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum continue with the mission of preserving for all Americans the stories of courage, character, and patriotism displayed by the men and women of the Eighth Air Force from World War II to the present. To donate online, please visit
http://mightyeighth.org/support-the-museum/contribute-to-the-museum/
Thank you for supporting the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum!
For more information please contact:
Meghan Lowe
Director of Development
912-748-8888 ext. 165
mlowe@mightyeighth.org
Also, as the 2013 United Way campaign kicks off, please remember to allocate your United Way gift to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. The Museum receives 100% of all specified United Way donations. We appreciate any gifts to help the Museum carry out its mission!
Become a Member!
The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum introduces new membership levels for active duty military and their families! An individual active duty military membership is now $25.00 and a family with at least one adult serving in the armed forces is $60.00. We have also added new benefits for the Squadron Leader and Wing Commander members. Become a member today 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/
Please also consider having your employer become a corporate member! Corporate Membership information can be found at:
http://mightyeighth.org/corporate-membership-page/
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Museum Gift Store
We have some great new arrivals.
 | | Sopwith Propeller |
Our Sopwith Propeller is absolutely beautiful and is $259.99. We also have a new small red tipped propeller for $119.99.
We now have Barista cups in either B-17 or B-24 for $15.99. These great insulated cups are perfect for traveling. Also, we have a new selection of coffee mugs. You can choose from B-17, B-24, P-47, P40, P-38 and P-51. They are only $11.99.
The Luck of the Irish is with you this month. We are offering a $5 discount on our Mighty 8th jackets. Through the end of March you can purchase these jackets for only $44.99. Hurry while supplies last.
Don't forget our great sales items:
White 8th logo sweatshirts - $19.99
Crewman t-shirts - $9.99
Crewman Baseball Hats - $9.99
At these incredible prices, these items won't last long.
Shop the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum Gift Store Today!
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Feature Volunteer
by Jerry McLaughlin
This month's Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum Volunteer of the Month is Danny Harden, from Clyo, Georgia.
Danny has been an active volunteer with the B-17 City of Savannah project since 2009, and has worked his way up the ladder of the organization from crew member to Crew Chief of the Wednesday (Day) Crew. He is now the Supervisor of the Special Projects team.
Danny's qualifications for joining the B-17 restoration are many: he is retired from the 165th Air National Guard Squadron, after 35 years of service as an engine mechanic and Ground Support Supervisor and he has decades of experience in his hobby of restoring antique farm equipment. Danny also serves on the Board of the Effingham County Historic Society. If that is not enough, he makes his own sugar cane syrup and spends a great deal of time on his farm working his blacksmith skills on the forge he built in his barn.
Danny and his wife Brenda have been married for 47 years and have two children and five grandchildren. If you need some corn syrup, shoes for your horse, or your airplane needs repair - Danny is the man to call.
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Three Reichs
by Jaime Hanna
SO.....WHAT WERE THE FIRST TWO REICHS?
 Most people know about Nazi Germany being declared the 'Third Reich' by Adolph Hitler but on tours I often get asked, "What were the first two Reichs?" As I have never been quite sure of the answer, I figured this would make an excellent topic to write about so that we are all prepared should anyone ask us this question. Before explaining the three Reichs, one should know that translated, Reich means empire; however, it does not necessarily refer to a monarchy form of government. Some historians believe a better translation would be 'realm' or 'territory'.
The First Reich (800 - 1806) is considered to be the Holy Roman Empire, which most historians agree was created under Charlemagne when he was crowned 'Emperor' by Pope Leo III on Christmas day in 800. The Holy Roman Empire, which the French writer Voltaire famously described as "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire", was a loose affiliation of various regions in western and central Europe. By the time Otto I took over in 962, much of Charlemagne's territory had been divided, with the bulk of the territory remaining around present day Germany. There was a vast mix of people and many of the Emperors over the thousand years were associated more with Austria than Germany. The First Reich ended when Emperor Francis II of Austria abdicated after losing to Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz, per their treaty.
Read Further
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Theodore Fletcher and his World War II Terrain Models
by Dr. Vivian Rogers-Price
By 1942 the Royal Air Force had taken more than 3 million aerial photos of Europe. Then using photogrammetry, or the science of making reliable measurements from aerial photographs, they constructed terrain models to use as visual aids in training military personnel for air, land and sea operations. With the arrival of the Eighth Army Air Force, the British and Americans worked closely together constructing terrain models. At first they relied on the Photo-skinned method that rescaled and stretched photographs over 3-D terrain. Then while planning the invasion of Sicily, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy needed models that were smaller and lighter as well as quicker to produce. Captain Theodore Fletcher, an American in the model-making section, developed a new technique known as the Egg-crate Method. Vertical sets of cardboard were cut to the shape of vertical topographic profiles running north-south and east-west. With this method, six men could finish a panel in twenty-four hours. Egg-crate construction made it possible for many branches of the Allied forces to build terrain models.
Theodore Fletcher's family recently donated his personal set of photographs to the research center at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. These photographs show him demonstrating the egg-crate method he developed and terrain models he crafted.
 Captain Theodore Fletcher builds a terrain model using his egg-crate method.
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The Education Department Needs Your Help!
 We are working to expand our programs so we can reach even more students in the 2013/2014 school year. Currently we tour about 20,000 students a year through the museum. For many reasons some schools are unable to visit the museum or do visit but wish to extend their learning into the classroom. Therefore we are creating an outreach program where the museum will travel to schools with footlockers containing WWII artifacts pertaining to many different areas and age levels. Using these trunks, students will learn about artifact preservation while conducting hands-on learning. We will incorporate our CHARACTER COUNTS! program into each traveling program because we know how important strong character lessons from WWII veterans are to our future generations. This program will be a huge success and bring 8th AF and WWII history to many more students than ever before. This is where we need your help! We need a name for the entire traveling trunk program. We are also looking for artifacts to include in the trunks. If you have any artifacts from the 1930's or WWII that you would like to donate to our department, please let us know. We are looking for a 1930's style radio, high school or military yearbooks, photocopies of photos and letters from soldiers stationed around the world, soldier's equipment and uniforms, home front artifacts such as magazines, newspapers, ration and cook books and depression era artifacts.
Please contact Heather or Jaime in the Education Department with any name ideas, suggestions or questions and we will be glad to listen or help. 912-748-8888 jhanna@mightyeighth.org or education@mightyeighth.org
Thank you for all your help and consideration.
Please click here to read about the new programs
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Miss Sophie: I didn't eat avocados for a long time, but times have changed
by Teri Bell
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Article Courtesy of
Savannah Morning News
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Growing up in south Georgia, I don't remember ever seeing an avocado on the table. Of course, the only ethnic food we ate was "Southern" and that doesn't include tortilla chips, salsa or guacamole.
Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that doesn't use avocado in some form.
The most common form, of course, is guacamole, but now sandwiches, salads and even burgers are offered with fresh slices of avocado.
Avocados have a vague history with several regions and countries taking credit for their origin - South America, Central America, Mexico and Peru, to name a few.
Florida and California claim to have first grown avocados in America. Today, California produces 90 percent of the nation's avocados. Major production of avocados didn't occur until the 1970s, when the "Tex-Mex" fad began to spread across the country.
I didn't start eating avocados until a few years ago, and I shied away from them because they were labeled a "bad" choice because of their high fat content.
The first of the year, I decided it was time for me to embrace the fact that I was getting older and needed to make some changes, one of which was to try to improve my diet and make healthier choices.
To my surprise, the avocado kept popping up in healthy recipes.
As it turns out, the fat in avocados is "good" fat and when eaten in moderation and in place of trans-fats, can actually lower your cholesterol.
Avocados also have anti-inflammatory nutrients - and this getting older seems to have everything inflamed!
Read Further
Teri Bell is co-owner of Miss Sophie's Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth in Pooler. Go to sophiesmarketplace.com.
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