Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 18 May 2018

Restored WWII bomber Memphis Belle makes public debut

By MITCH STACY plete 25 missions and return
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Rob- to the U.S. at a time when
ert K. Morgan Jr.'s voice wa- most crews in the strategic
vered with emotion when daylight bombing cam-
he talked about seeing the paign were lucky to make
Memphis Belle all put to- it to a dozen.
gether for the first time in 50 The Belle wasn't the first
years. B-17 to make the requi-
His father, Robert Sr., had site 25 missions, it just hap-
flown the legendary B-17F pened to be the one that
on 25 perilous bombing became famous, thanks to
missions in World War II and newspaper reporters and
worked the rest of his life to Hollywood director Wil-
make sure the airplane was liam Wyler, who decided
preserved. to build a documentary
The famed "Flying Fortress," around the last mission.
looking better than new, A wildly successful 32-city
was put on public display war bond tour around
Thursday morning after a America in the summer of
restoration project that 1943 made national ce-
took more than a dozen lebrities out of the airplane
years and 55,000 hours of and crew. Wyler's 1944
labor at the National Mu- documentary cemented
seum of U.S. Air Force. the legacy, and a 1990
"Dad would be so proud," movie introduced it to a
said the 72-year-old Mor- new generation.
gan, who lives in San Fran- The Belle, with the leggy,
cisco. "I wish he were here. swimsuit-clad pinup girl
It means everything to me freshly repainted on both
and my family. He's here in sides of the nose, is dis-
spirit." The Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress," is displayed for private viewing at the National played suspended above
Morgan traveled to Ohio Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wednesday, May 16, 2018, in Dayton, Ohio. the museum floor as if in
along with families of the Associated Press mid-flight, with bomb-bay
other Memphis Belle crew doors wide open.
for a private unveiling of at 9 a.m., hundreds of peo- displayed outdoors in its that the plane was going James P. Verinis, 48, came
the plane Wednesday ple gathered around the namesake city for decades to come to the museum, from South Kingstown,
night and the public open- exhibit trying to get the best after the war and was in he knew that we couldn't Rhode Island, to see the
ing of the exhibit Thursday angle of the famous plane bad shape due to weather keep it in Memphis. And he Belle. His father, Capt.
at the sprawling museum for cellphone photos. and vandalism. knew it would be preserved James A. Verinis, flew mis-
near Dayton. The Memphis Belle was "I promised him when he here, he knew it would be sions on it as co-pilot and
The debut came on the trucked to the museum in was dying 14 years ago restored here. He was ex- later commanded his own
75th anniversary of the corroded pieces in 2005 that I would do anything I tremely glad that it would B-17.
Belle's 25th and final com- after efforts to restore it in could to keep the plane be here." "I look at it," Verinis said, "and
bat mission of the war. Soon Memphis ran out of money alive," Morgan said. "He The Memphis Belle was fet- I wonder if it ever it ever
after the museum opened and steam. It had been knew before he passed ed as the first B-17 to com- looked this beautiful."q

Visitors gather under open bomb-bay doors during a private viewing of the Memphis Belle, a Boe- Visitors gather for a private viewing of the Memphis Belle, a Boe-
ing B-17 "Flying Fortress," at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wednesday, May 16, 2018, ing B-17 "Flying Fortress," at the National Museum of the U.S. Air
in Dayton, Ohio. Force, Wednesday, May 16, 2018, in Dayton, Ohio.
Associated Press Associated Press