Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Brunswick, Georgia Eight Air Force Museum







January 18th Wednesday 70 degrees Rain during the night sunny most of the day

We awoke this morning and looked outside to find flocks of robins around our RV and I tried to take pictures of them, but they really didn't turn out very well.

We left South of the Border at 9:00 and drove nearly 300 miles down route 95 to Pooler, GA to visit the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. Lou had never been through this museum, so it was a must see. We spent nearly two hours walking through this museum. It really was more about people than it was about airplanes, which was a nice change.

It showed the birth of the Mighty Eighth and its humble beginnings in Savannah and the United Kingdom.

We were able to actually experience a mission in the "theater, where we received the pre-flight briefing in a Nissen Hut, Flight Line operations with the ground crew and we were immersed in an eighth Air Force bombing mission, complete with the sound, smell and wind.

We toured a safe house where many pilots were housed and returned to safety in England.

There was a Prisoner of War exhibit that showed the daily life of a flier and the harsh living conditions of prisoners of war in a German Stalag Luft.

Something that I had not seen before was a exhibit to honor the Fly Girls of WWII. that showed The women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and women's involvement in flight and war efforts. Complete with artifacts, video and audio stations with narrations from oral history accounts and photo enlargements.

It was an interesting afternoon. I was especially interested in the safe house, as I had read a book about a lady that had been in France during the war and had rescued pilots during WWII and returned them to safety and eventually her husband was captured and she smuggled in a gun to him and killed him to keep him from being tortured to death. She was later rescued by a German soldier. Was a very moving story. My late husband told us of a German lady that had fed him and several other American soldiers and hugged them and told them that she hoped someone was doing the same for her sons.

After we left the museum we drove another hour to Brunswick and we are residing at Golden Isles RV Park for the night. I had put two Pork tenderloin in the refrigerator to marinate last evening and we had those tonight for dinner along with rice and veggies and wine that Brion and Janet gave us for Christmas, was a very good dinner. Tomorrow will be a short drive to the base and we will be there for three days.

My cell phone has died a hard death. It is completely charged, but the clock won't even work, so have no phone number and can not access any. This may cause a problem.

The picture of the sunset was taken at 6:00 pm this evening. It was up to 74 degrees today and did it ever feel good. Was wonderful not to wear a coat. Estee just pranced around on a patch of clover at a rest stop today!!

No comments:

Post a Comment