I went with Bryan to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. When we got there he got a motorized cart to save his knee. They are available first come first served. It was a lifesaver as he managed to get around much easier. His knee is worn out with all the walking we have done this summer and gets worse day by day. He went slow enough that I could keep up with him, and in some cases I was faster than him!!!
Here is a LINK to a map of the Museum that shows you what is in each hanger.
I've put links to the museum for information on the individual exhibits that I have posted pictures of below. This is for anyone who is interested in the history.
Building 1 has the World War II Gallery and the Early Years Gallery.
This was all I saw of the Early Years Gallery. Bryan had seen it yesterday as he knew I was more interested in the WWII exhibit.
We started in the WWII Gallery.
Bockscar-the aircraft that ended WWII. This was the aircraft that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
The displays were very lifelike and at a glance these looked like real people.
Memphis Belle Exhibit. The Memphis Belle was not the first bomber to complete 25 missions. It was the first to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the US.
Mom has her name on the Memphis Belle. I couldn't find out why, nearest I got was that one of the gunners was from Virginia but that's probably not the reason.
The Suzy-Q was the first USAAF bomber to complete 25 missions and return to the US. It flew these missions in the Pacific between February and October 1942. Bryan calls me Susie-Q from time to time!!!!!
B24 Sperry Ball Turrett - This was on the underside of the aircraft. Can you imagine being squeezed into this for the whole flight and then having to fire against the enemy.
Honor Roll for 350th Fighter Squadron who were based at Raydon, Suffolk, England in 1945.
The V-2 rocket was fired by the Germans at England. Mum told me about the V-1(Doodlebug) that they used to hear as they went overhead. The buzzing sound they made stopped at the time they were going to drop. They used to breathe a sigh of relief once it went overhead without the noise stopping, although they did drop all around them. All this time they were sheltering in the air raid shelter that had been constructed in the back garden.
This air raid shelter was dismantled after the war and the hole that was left in the ground was made into a pond and my brother and I used to fish for newts there. We would put them in jam jars but they had to be put back in the pond before we went home. Happy Memories made from the spoils of war!!
Here is a picture of my Mum and Nan standing by the pond, and I think that metal building in the background could even be what was the entrance to the air raid shelter.
Here is a picture of my Mum and Nan standing by the pond, and I think that metal building in the background could even be what was the entrance to the air raid shelter.
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| V-2 Rocket |
D-Day - June 6th, 1944
Families were advised by telegram when relatives went missing.
and then later were advised they were a prisoner of war. In the meantime they had no idea of what had happened to them. I guess hearing they were still alive was a relief but then worrying about what was happening to them, I can't imagine!!!
Doolittle Raid, the bombing of Japan. The planes took off from the deck of USS Hornet for the raid but they knew they couldn't land back on the carrier. Here is a VIDEO of original news footage of the raid.
The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Doolittle Raiders.
Read the link above to learn about the 80 Doolittle Raider Goblets that are kept here at the museum and used by the Doolittle Raiders to toast those of them that have passed since the last reunion. Dick Cole raised a glass to toast David Thatcher after his passing in June 2016, and became the sole survivor of the 80 Raiders. He is now 103 years old.
Of the 80, 3 were killed in action, 8 became prisoners of war, of which 3 were executed, 1 died in captivity and 4 were repatriated.
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| White "uniforms" Doolittle Prisoners of War wore. |
After leaving the WWII Exhibit, the hallway depicts the Berlin Airlift and the humanitarian efforts that were made to supply West Berlin with supplies after WWII.
Tech Sgt. John H "Jake" Schuffert became the cartoonist for the Airlift Times, a newspaper published for Airlift personnel.
It took a long while to go around the WWII Exhibit and I still didn't read everything. I tend to read everything and Bryan looks at the planes in detail. It works quite well as we can then tell each other what we've seen and found out. We still had three other buildings to see. Ha!!Ha!!
As we left the WWII exhibit we saw this quilt. "Fabric of the Air Force" which was made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force in 1997. Read the link to see how this was developed and made. There are squares from virtually every Air Force installation in the World. One interesting part is that the thread that was used to join the squares together was flown aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its September 22nd, 1997 mission.
There was a square made to commemorate the closed Air Force Bases. I loved this.
On to Building 2.............in the next blog!!!!!!
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