Page 32 - aruba-today-20190506

A32 FEATURE
Monday 6 May 2019
Restored WWII bomber Memphis Belle makes public debut

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

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