Mighty 8th Air Force Museum; Savannah GA

[Bones]

Outstanding pictures, the windows in the chapel are indeed awesome. On post 4 that is an A2 of a member of the 367th Bomb Squadron of the 306th Bomb Group. Patch is real close to my avatar. The back of my jacket is not near as nice as the one posted tho.

[capa]

Love that museum! So glad that they have a B-17 now. They also have a German Komet jet plane and the video presentation of an air raid was super cool.

[willysmb44]

They’ve really improved the museum since I was there last time in the late 90s. Back then, it looked more like a VFW’s collection thrown together instead of a museum dedicated to one specific subject, plenty of items were in the museum then that had nothing to do with the 8th AF, the USAAF or even WW2. It’s sad to still see so many unrelated items still on display but it’s a huge improvement!

[Teamski]

I certainly hope that the lighting is UV shielded or else those medal ribbons will wind up like the ones in the RAF museum: Faded into oblivion!

 

-Ski

[Teamski]

Also, are the stained glass windows replicas of the originals, or are they the originals? I can't see the local churches giving them up.

 

-Ski

[USMCRECON]

Also, are the stained glass windows replicas of the originals, or are they the originals? I can't see the local churches giving them up.

 

-Ski

Good question on whether or not the the glass over the medals is UV shielded. Since they were donated by a collector, I would guess they are but don't know for sure.

 

As for the stained glass, I believe they are original and were created for the museum chapel. Don't know for sure but I suspect they were financed with donations from members and veterans of the various units.

[outlook6]

My wife and I were there last year. We were fortunate that the day we visited there were very few people and a gentleman, who had flown with the 8th AF in Europe, was there as a docent and he gave us a personal tour. It is a great museum.

Jim

[Teamski]

Good question on whether or not the the glass over the medals is UV shielded. Since they were donated by a collector, I would guess they are but don't know for sure.

 

As for the stained glass, I believe they are original and were created for the museum chapel. Don't know for sure but I suspect they were financed with donations from members and veterans of the various units.

 

It's not the glass I am referring to. The lighting used within the case is UV and will fade the ribbons big time. If they covered their bases, they should have a UV cover over the lights that protect what is being displayed. I discussed this with Chief McVicar at Gunter. He showed me how he cut out pieces of specially made semi-clear UV protective panels and laid them out below the lighting at the top of the case.

 

The RAF Museum reference I was talking about was the fading of a complete display of big-time Battle of Britain medal group ribbons back in the 1990's. These included Bader's, Robert Stanford Tucks and many other groups. They eventually shut off the lighting until some alternative could be found. But the damage was already done. Really sad.

 

-Ski

[bobgee]

Great museum and great pics, Bill! :bravo: Made it there years ago and now I want to see it again......up dated! Thanks for posting. Happy Thanksgiving! Bob

[USMCRECON]

Great museum and great pics, Bill! :bravo: Made it there years ago and now I want to see it again......up dated! Thanks for posting. Happy Thanksgiving! Bob

 

Happy thanksgiving to you too, Bob.

[USMCRECON]

It's not the glass I am referring to. The lighting used within the case is UV and will fade the ribbons big time. If they covered their bases, they should have a UV cover over the lights that protect what is being displayed. I discussed this with Chief McVicar at Gunter. He showed me how he cut out pieces of specially made semi-clear UV protective panels and laid them out below the lighting at the top of the case.

 

The RAF Museum reference I was talking about was the fading of a complete display of big-time Battle of Britain medal group ribbons back in the 1990's. These included Bader's, Robert Stanford Tucks and many other groups. They eventually shut off the lighting until some alternative could be found. But the damage was already done. Really sad.

 

-Ski

Thanks for the additional comments. Perhaps we're thinking of different displays. If you're talking about the display of the collections of medals near the end of the thread, there are no lights in the medal cases themselves. The only light is the ceiling fluorescent lighting above the medal displays. I'm pretty sure the glass over the medal cases is UV protected glass but I don't know the answer to the question about UV shielding for the overhead lights, themselves. If you're talking about medals displayed in other cases down on the museum floor, I'd guess the lighting in those large display cases are not protected.