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Mission Update! January 2014
National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
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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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Mark your calendars! Super Museum Sunday is February 9, 2014, and you are in for a real treat! If you are in or around the Savannah area on this date, admission to the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is FREE all day. Bring the whole family to Super Museum Sunday, where you are sure to enjoy a tour of the Museum.
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December 7th marked the 72nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor. To commemorate the brave service men and women, the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force paid tribute to those who served during WWII.
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 National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Legacy of Honor program
Please help us keep admission free for World War II Veterans by donating $10 to the "Legacy of Honor Program" Follow the link below to make your donation.
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We hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season. It's hard to believe that 2013 is behind us. It was a very good year and we thank all of you for your support.
It's cold outside so we have some thoughts on how to stay warm. Of course our reversible jackets for only $29.99 are sure to keep you warm. Snuggle up with a good book and a cup of hot coffee, cider, chocolate or your favorite beverage. This month we are offering our coffee mugs for 10% off. That should help warm you too. You choose your favorite mug and we'll ship it right out to you.
Of course you can't go out in the cold without a hat. Choose your favorite hat and receive 10% off. So that's your favorite mug and hat for 10% off.
Our book of the month for January is "It's Character That Counts". This book is a new release. It is written by Paul Grassey, a B24 pilot in the 8th during World War II.
We wish all of you a very Happy New Year.
Shop the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Online Store Today!
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by Jaime Hanna
 Robert "Bob" Irving grew up in Santa Cruz, California. After graduation he joined the US Army and married his high school sweetheart, Ann. He served in the Army in the infantry, armor, and aviation fields, and traveled all over the globe until 1989 when he was discharged from the the Army.
Bob and Ann moved to Savannah, Georgia where Bob attended Armstrong Atlantic State University and got his degree in education. He taught in both the Bryan County Public Schools and the Chatham County Public Schools. He worked his last ten years teaching autistic children at the Matthew Reardon Center for Autism.
Looking for something to do after he retired from teaching in 2011, Bob began to volunteer at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth in July 2013. After shadowing several tours, he began doing his own student and adult tours and has been indispensable these past few months covering just about any tour requested. He enjoys his work here immensely, stating this is "by far the best job I've ever had."
In his free time, he enjoys writing and spending time with his family. He and his wife have one daughter and three granddaughters. They also have two alpacas, named Whisper and Elvis.
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by Jaime Hanna
 William "Bill" Robert Lawley, Jr. was born in Leeds, Alabama on 23 August 1920. In 1938, he graduated from high school in Leeds. Lawley enlisted in the US Army Air Forces on 9 April 1942 and received his pilot's wings and Second Lieutenant's commission.
Bill Lawley joined the 305th Bomb Group in November 1943 and was soon flying combat sorties over Europe. In February 1944, the 305th Bomb Group participated in Big Week, a series of raids on the German aircraft industry. On 20 February 1944, Lawley flew one of the group's B-17s on a bombing raid of the Messerschmitt factory at Leipzig.
German fighters hit the 305th almost as soon as it cleared the target area. Lawley's plane was hit and fell out of formation. The co-pilot was killed and eight crew members, including Lawley, were badly wounded. The Medal of Honor citation, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, reads: "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty, 20 February 1944, while serving as pilot of a B-17 aircraft on a heavy bombardment mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe. Coming off the target he was attacked by approximately 20 enemy fighters, shot out of formation, and his plane severely crippled. Eight crewmembers were wounded, the copilot was killed by a 20-mm. shell. One engine was on fire, the controls shot away, and 1st Lt. Lawley seriously and painfully wounded about the face. Forcing the copilot's body off the controls, he brought the plane out of a steep dive, flying with his left hand only. Blood covered the instruments and windshield and visibility was impossible. With a full bomb load the plane was difficult to maneuver and bombs could not be released because the racks were frozen. After the order to bail out had been given, one of the waist gunners informed the pilot that two crewmembers were so severely wounded that it would be impossible for them to bail out. With the fire in the engine spreading, the danger of an explosion was imminent. Because of the helpless condition of his wounded crewmembers 1st Lt. Lawley elected to remain with the ship and bring them to safety if it was humanly possible, giving the other crewmembers the option of bailing out. Enemy fighters again attacked but by using masterful evasive action he managed to lose them. One engine again caught on fire and was extinguished by skillful flying. 1st Lt. Lawley remained at his post, refusing first aid until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion caused by loss of blood, shock, and the energy he had expended in keeping control of his plane. He was revived by the bombardier and again took over the controls. Coming over the English coast one engine ran out of gasoline and had to be feathered. Another engine started to burn and continued to do so until a successful crash landing was made on a small fighter base. Through his heroism and exceptional flying skill, 1st Lt. Lawley rendered outstanding distinguished and valorous service to our Nation."
Bill Lawley flew 14 combat missions before he was reassigned in June 1944. He returned to the United States in September 1944 where he remained in the Air Force and served in a variety of staff and command positions throughout his thirty year career. He was Assistant Air Attaché at the US Embassy in Brazil from 1951 to 1954 and commanded the 55th Air Refueling Squadron at Forbes AFB from 1955 to 1959. He attended the Air War College at Maxwell AFB and served on the school's faculty. From 1965 to 1968, Lawley was the Air Attaché and then the Defense Attaché for the US Embassy in the Republic of the Philippines. In 1968, he assumed command of the 3825th Academic Support Group at Maxwell and served there until his retirement in 1972.
Bill Lawley died on 30 May 1999. He was survived by his wife, Amelia, and his three children, Susan Decker, Anne Sheftic, and William R. Lawley, III.
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American P.O.W.'S and a Romanian Princess
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by Samuel G. Martin
A collection of photographs and artwork recently donated to the museum honored the memory of T/Sgt. Alson Foster. Foster served as a flight engineer with the 376th Bomb Group. On a mission against an oil refinery at Giurgiu, Romania on 3 July 1944, his B-24 was first damaged by flak and then finished off by a German ME-109 fighter over the Danube River near Zimnicea, Romania. The entire crew successfully bailed out and, with the exception of their co-pilot who landed in Bulgaria, they became Prisoners of War in Romania, under the control of the Romanian government.
AAF missions against rail and oil targets in Romania in 1943 and 1944 resulted in over 1,162 American airmen becoming prisoners there, including men from the Eighth Air Force. During their captivity, the downed American airmen found an unexpected benefactor: Princess Catherine Caradja. While other prominent Romanians advocated humane treatment of their American prisoners, Princess Catherine stood out as their most effective protector. Prior to the war, she had notably established and dedicated her efforts to her foundation for orphans. Her involvement protecting downed Americans began on 1 August 1943 when a 389th Bomb Group B-24, piloted by 1st Lt. Robert O'Reilly, crashed on her 22,000 acre estate during Operation TIDAL WAVE. She rushed to the crash site and discovered the navigator, 2nd Lt. Richard Britt, entangled in the wreckage and soaked in gasoline. She directed the efforts of her farm workers and local villagers in freeing Britt from the wreckage. Two German soldiers soon arrived and grabbed his legs to drag him away. She refused to relinquish Britt to the Germans and a brief tug-o-war ensued over the now unconscious navigator. The Princess won the struggle and had the injured American placed in her car and then drove him to a medical clinic. From that day, Catherine worked to ensure that downed Americans were not turned over to the Germans. After the war she recalled that she told the Germans: "You have enough men falling into Germany. What falls here is ours." She added: "To my knowledge, we got them all."
When the Red Army pushed into Romania during Summer 1944, Catherine prevented the Germans from taking the American POWs out of Romanian custody to Germany. Romania abandoned the Axis and joined the Allies on 23 August 1944. Eight days later, 31 August, 15th Air Force B-17s began a three day operation that successfully evacuated all American POWs held in Romania. Catherine paid a price for her resolve to keep the downed Americans from German control. She lost her estate before Romania left the Axis, and later lost her remaining holdings, including her foundation to help orphans, to the communists after the war. In 1952, she escaped from Romania and traveled throughout western Europe giving patriotic and anti-communist speeches. She received permission to enter the United States in 1955 and continued her speaking tours delivering thousands of speeches. She returned to Romania in 1991 at the invitation of the Romanian government where she died on her native soil in 1993 at the age of 100. She maintained a warm relationship until her death with many of the American airmen that she so passionately defended.
T/Sgt Alson Foster pictured kneeling at the far left with crew training at Pueblo, New Mexico, in December 1943.
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Miss Sophie: Finger foods make fun Christmas party
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by Teri Bell
 | | Article courtesy of Savannah Morning News |
Merry Christmas! I hope this morning finds you surrounded by the people you love and thanking God for the gift of His precious Son. His gift is more precious to me this year, having lost a daughter; I realize the sacrifice God made for us. Because of that sacrifice, I know where my lovely Loraine is and this Christmas, she is celebrating with Jesus himself! This past weekend, Steve and I had our Miss Sophie's staff over to our house for our annual Christmas party. We started about six years ago inviting our staff for a formal dinner. It was the one time of year that we cooked for them and cleaned up - instead of the other way around. As the years have passed, we have had to keep adding chairs, tables and place settings. This year, rather than doing dinner, we did heavy hors d'oeuvres. Our staff has grown so large that we have run out of room to put tables! I love our company parties - mainly because I love my staff. It's fun to be with them when we can relax and aren't rushing to meet some deadline. We laugh and talk non-stop. Of course Steve would say we always talk non-stop! It's also nice to see what everyone looks like out of uniform and minus the funny hats that I make them wear. I am the luckiest employer in the whole world. The crew of people God has sent to me make my life so much easier. I may be the person you recognize as Miss Sophie, but my staff is what makes up all you know and love about Miss Sophie's. They are wonderful women, wonderful cooks and most of all great friends. It can be intimidating cooking for a bunch of cooks! They want their taste buds wowed with every bite. So I scour magazines and websites for recipes and try to have at least one thing that they don't get to eat on a regular basis. This year, since it was all finger foods, I got to indulge and try several new recipes! Having recently purchased my dear friend Damon Fowler's new cookbook, "Essentials of Southern Cooking," I made his Mushrooms with Sausage-Bourbon Filling and Low Country Crab Au gratin which I made as a dip. Both dishes were like all of his recipes, over the top good! "Essentials of Southern Cooking" is one book you want to make sure you have on your shelf. I mixed up a few more but the real hits at the party were Steve's Lamb Burger sliders and the Cranberry Margaritas. Steve has made these lamb burgers for us for years and I knew our staff would love them as much as we do. Making them into little burgers and using small dinner rolls for buns made them into a perfect little hors d'oeuvres. The Cranberry Margaritas were a recipe out of Southern Living and we just couldn't get enough of them! Below are recipes for the party's favorites. Maybe you can invite a guest or two over for New Years' and wow them with your appetizer party. Teri Bell is co-owner of Miss Sophie's Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth in Pooler. Go to sophiesmarketplace.com. Lamb Burger Sliders with Garlic Aioli Aioli: Combine ½ cup mayonnaise and 1 teaspoon of minced garlic. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Burgers: 1 pound ground lamb 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs 2 teaspoons crushed dried fennel seeds 1 ½ tablespoons minced shallot ½ teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper In a medium bowl, mix together lamb, panko, fennel, shallots, oregano, salt and pepper. Form into 15 small patties. Place on a preheated, well-oiled grill grate. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until done. Serve on mini buns with garlic aioli. Cranberry Margaritas Adapted from Southern Living 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries ¾ cup tequila ¾ cup cranberry juice ¾ cup lime juice ½ cup Triple Sec or another orange liqueur ½ cup sugar In a food processor, process for 30 seconds, cranberries, tequila, cranberry juice, lime juice and 1/3 cup of sugar. Pour mixture through a strainer into a large pitcher. Add 1 ¼ cup soda, and ¼ cup fresh orange juice. Dip rims of glasses in cranberry juice and then into sugar. Serve over ice. Yields 6 (8 oz) margaritas |
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You are very important to us. Your comments and suggestions are welcome and encouraged.
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National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force | 912.748.8888 | m8afnews@mightyeighth.org | http://www.mightyeighth.org
175 Bourne Avenue
(I-95 at Exit 102)
Pooler, GA 31322
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