6:00 pm: Doors open with light reception
7:00 pm: Program begins
Atlanta History Center, McElreath Hall, Woodruff Auditorium
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In commemoration of the 72nd anniversary
of the founding of the Eighth Air Force in Savannah, Georgia, this special evening program features veterans who served in the Mighty Eighth Air Force. Hear first-hand accounts of bravery and sacrifice from those who fought the air war over Nazi-occupied Europe as part of the "greatest air armada of all time". By the end of World War II, over 350,000 men served in the Eighth Air Force and 26,000 lost their lives - more than the entire U.S. Marine Corps during all of World War II. Five veterans will share their individual stories of piloting a B-24 Liberator over the skies of Germany; acting as lead navigator of a bomb group; serving in a B-17 Flying Fortress ball-turret; captivity as a prisoner of war in a Nazi POW camp; and battling a jet-propelled German Messerschmitt 262 from a propeller-driven P-51 Mustang.
Presented in partnership with the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force with support from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this program is the second of the Atlanta History Center’s ongoing veterans series, Stories of Sacrifice. These free events are designed to highlight veterans' personal stories and inform the public about the oral history opportunities available to veterans, their families, and our community. These important stories are recorded and preserved through the Atlanta History Center’s Veterans History Project produced in collaboration with the Library of Congress as well as the Military Voices Initiatives conducted by StoryCorps at the Atlanta History Center.
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Before the Stories of Sacrifice program, attendees are invited to explore Veterans Park at the Atlanta History Center. Funded by a generous grant from The Home Depot Foundation, Veterans Park is a memorial to those whose sacrifices secured our freedom and offers a unique public gathering place that encourages a personal connection to veterans through reflection, remembrance, and celebration. A series of panels in Veterans Park provide a poignant personal connection to military history through oral history recordings of veterans. Each panel features a QR code compatible with any smartphone that allows visitors to access videos of veterans sharing their individual stories containing memories of tragedies and triumphs in their service to our nation.
This program is FREE; RSVPs are requested; 404.814.4150. For information on Stories of Sacrifice or veterans oral history initiatives visit AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/VeteransVoices.
