8th Air Force
Historical Society
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Oregon Chapter 8th Air Force Historical Society |
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The chapter consists of many people who flew in combat over Europe in the 8th Air Force. Additional combat veterans of WW II are in the organization as well as members who saw combat on land, sea and air from military conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, and Iraq / Afghanistan.
Greetings to Adolf Hitler from the bombay of an
8th AF
B-24!
Not all chapter meeting presentations are directly about 8th. Some meetings we have the presenter talk about ground combat and how air power affected them on the ground. The chapter also welcomes talks about air combat in other wars and how similar or different it compares against the 8th's combat experiences in order to put World War Two air combat it in context . Some tactics used in modern wars were pioneered by the Eight Air Force in the NAZI owned skies over Europe.
T/Sgt Don Malarkey, E Co 506th PIR, 101st
Airborne
Division seen
speaking at the November
2004 quarterly meeting.
Amy Strebe who wrote a book called “Flying for Her Country.” The panel will consist of two WASPs - Women Airforce Service Pilots - Jan Goodrum and Isabelle Van Lam who flew bombers and fighters around the US during the war. Amy’s web site is: www.AmyGoodpasterStrebe.com
Meetings are held on the first Saturday of the first full week of February, May, August, & November.
The doors to the room opens at 10:00 AM on Saturday and the social hour to meet and talk with others starts at 10:30. The quarterly meeting lasts officially till 2 PM at the Elk's Lodge.
Meeting program starts at 11:30 A.M. and lunch is served starting around noon. The speaker for the current meeting will then start their presentation around 12:30 and lasts usually 50 minutes.
Our Oregon Chapter Poster (PDF) can be downloaded and printed out to help advertise the chapter. An Oregon Chapter informational flyer is also available.
| Beaverton Elks Lodge |
| 3500 SW 104th Avenue |
| Beaverton, Oregon 97005-1941 |
| http://www.beavertonelks.org/ |
— right off of Canyon Road (Highway 8) at 104th Street.
"Twenty-five doesn't sound like much until you start
flying them."
— Capt Robert Morgan of the Memphis Belle
After the speaker another open social time happens which allows you to discuss planes, pilots, tactics, statistics, ideas, operations, missions or most anything else that you have a question on concerning the Luftwaffe, Italian Air Force, Russian, British, French, Czech or any other nation that had units operating at one time or another as part of the 8th or against it.
Lunch can be purchased at the meeting. Current price is $9.50 per person.
If you are interested in joining print out the membership application. Annual dues for the local chapter is $10 a year. You must also join the National chapter each year. (Info on the form.) People living in , Washington, Idaho, California and Alaska are welcome to join our chapter (or join the Washington Chapter if you are closer to Seattle).
The organization is open to anyone who has an interest in World War II aviation. The chapter is dedicated to preserving and passing on the knowledge of what the people in this Army Air Force Unit performed in air and ground combat over Europe against NAZI Germany including combat missions to North Afrika, India, Balkans, India, and Russia and Japan during World War II.
Our chapter is geared toward preserving and learning about "The Mighty Eighth" however we have members from the 12, 15, 5th ,9th, 11th, 21st Air Forces, Naval members, Army etc. The mission is to remember and learn about the 8th, but all others are also welcome and we do not limit ourselves to learning JUST the 8th. We’ve had a Navy sub commander speak, Don Malarkey from the Band of Brothers, Women WASP pilots, Woman Russian Pilots, POWs under both Germany and Japan and many other interesting speakers.
All presentations are either transcribed, videotaped or both, and can be checked out to watched later on or purchased.
'Consider yourself dead. Some of you won't come back from this. Some of you will, but you'll be the lucky ones.'
Briefing officer, 97th BG, 15th AAF, Foggia Italy, to B-17 Navigator Lt. Mike
Scorcio and crew before a mission to Germany.
The 97th was originally part of the 8th and was sent to North Africa as part
of Operation Torch then later assigned to the 12th AAF. After a year
it then moved to Italy and became part of the 15th AAF.
Over 90 members are WW II combat veterans of the 8th. To help preserve and pass along what they went through and accomplished the chapter has an online research archive of material donated by members. Items range from a single 1 page sheet, to a complete book.
Examples of what is included in the archive donated by member's include mission orders, ration books, combat losses, diaries, and many other original research items in the collection.
These materials are being scanned and placed onto the web site in Version 6 of Adobe® PDF for others to use in research and learning in accordance with the wishes of the members as far as copyright issues are concerned. The vast majority of items are free to use and copy as long as credit for the original owner is given.
In the 392nd's mission files at the National Archives for 8 June 1944 was this message:
8 AF teletype D 69514 signed Doolittle is quoted for your information and compliance.
"The Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force has directed that the following instructions be brought to the attention of every member of air crews fighting over Europe: Humanity and the principles for which we fight demand that our pilots be scrupulous in avoiding any but military targets, nothing must be done which will betray the trust vested in us by the oppressed peoples in Europe or prejudice our good name in the eyes of our friends still dominated by Nazi tyranny.
Enemy airmen escaping by parachute are not legitimate military targets and may not be deliberately attacked."
---HODGES---
To support the purpose of the National Eighth Air Force Historical Society, (8thAFHS), namely, to perpetuate the history of the Mighty Eighth Air Force from 1942 to the present; to revere the memory of lost comrades; and to provide social events for 8thAFS members who reside in Oregon or Southern Washington.
THE OREGON CHAPTER OF THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. is a registered nonprofit corporation in the State Of Oregon license number 319961-84 since 1992.
All images and documents © Copyright 2014 by Oregon 8th AFHS unless otherwise noted.