Ed Tant
Outside the museum, aviation buffs will enjoy seeing such Cold War relics as the U.S. Air Force B-47 bomber and the Russian MiG-17A fighter. The B-47 was the first jet-powered, swept-wing bomber. It was capable of carrying nuclear weapons and was the precursor to the B-52. The Russian-built MiG was flown during the VietnamWar. On the grounds near the planes are a chapel and a memorial garden dedicated to those who served in the “Mighty 8th” in World War II.
St. Simons Lighthouse dates back to 1872. Here is a view from the top of the 100-foot tall tower. Below is a beach scene with sailboats plying the Atlantic.
“Almost Home” by artist Keith Hill shows a British bicycle bobby watching the landing of a B-17 from my dad’s 447th Bomb Group . The painting was done in 1986.
Located near the Georgia coastal city of Savannah, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is a tribute to the American airmen who flew missions from England to targets in Nazi Germany. My father was a B-17 ball turret gunner with the 447th Bomb Group flying out of Rattlesden, England aboard the B-17 “Rowdy Rebel.” The museum features a B-17 bomber undergoing restoration, stunningly realistic scale models of the B-17 Flying Fortress, “nose art” from the bomber called “Eager Beaver” and flight jackets from American flyboys, along with Nazi artifacts like the swastikas below. Joy took the photo at the top showing me standing in front of a mural of a B-17 on the wall of the museum.
Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum
Christ Church, Frederica nestles in a grove of live oaks, the state tree of Georgia. Spanish moss drapes the limbs of the old trees. Statues stand in the shade of the trees in the church cemetery.
Here are two more views from the lighthouse. Our Ocean Inn Hotel is in the right photo above.
Christy Butler took the photo of Joy and me strolling toward the sea and
Franklin Shumake took the family photo (below right) showing us with her son Daniel, his wife Christy, and Joy’s daughters, Jamie and Marie.
Georgia Coast Beckons With Surf, Sun and Sky
