Smick and Smudew » The Mighty 8th

1 – The Mighty 8th

Smudew — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:00:25 +0000

Don (Smick) has worked along side a very nice man named Henry Hughey for many years. Henry was in the 8th Air Force, 838th Squadron, 487th Bomb Group and was stationed in Lavenham, England during World War II.

Through the years, both the 8th Air Force and the 487th Bomb Group have had reunions, meetings, parades, etc., and Don and I would help with Banquet Programs, Tickets, Signs, Banners and things like that.

In 2007, The Mighty Eighth Air Force Celebrated it’s 65th Anniversary in Savannah, Georgia, the birthplace of the 8th during World War II. Don and I were invited as the guests of the 8th. We were tickled pink and of course, we went. During the three day event we had a blast and we also learned a lot about these wonderful people and the 8th Air Force.

After we were back home, as a thank you to Henry and the other gentleman in charge, Albert MacMahan, we put together two beautiful photo albums and a really nice video of the whole event. Luckily for us, The Memphis Belle had just been on TV, so we used alot of the B-17 footage you will see in all the videos from that movie.

Don took the albums and DVD’s in to work to give to Henry and Albert and he said that Henry couldn’t hardly wait to leave work so he could get home and see the DVD.

Henry called me later that evening and told me how much they had enjoyed it. During the next few weeks we had to make about 50 more copies for other folks. Then Henry said to us, “Ya’ll are coming to the Charleston Reunion!”

So, our fate was sealed.

We have been to several events and we do all the Portraits, the Memory Books and DVD’s and all the proceeds go to either the 8th Air Force, the 8th Air Force Historical Society or the 487th Bomb Group.

We really like all these people and we love Henry and his wife Jean and Albert and his sister Carolyn. They are like family to us.

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2 – Savannah 2007 – The 8th Air Force 65th Anniversary

Smudew — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:10:06 +0000

This is where it all began. We were invited to the 8th Air Force 65th Anniversary in Savannah, Georgia. In this video you will see a lot of young people. They are members of the Chatham County Youth Commission. They were a big part of this anniversary celebration. In the first section, you see some of them dressed up in WWII nursing uniforms and in the theatre section, they put on an old time radio show for us! They were great!
We also visited the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum, located in Pooler, Georgia. It is a beautiful place and the vets are very proud of this achievement.
All during this celebration, The Vintage Vocals entertained us. They are three very talented ladies. At the banquet you will see that they gave Steve Miller, Glenn Miller’s son, a real workover!
It was a wonderful three days and we thank them for inviting us!

2 – Savannah 2007 – The 8th Air Force 65th Anniversary

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3 – Charleston 2007 – The 487th Bomb Group Reunion

Smudew — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:07:18 +0000

Later that same year, we were invited to the 487th Bomb Group’s Reunion in Charleston. Again, we had a great time. One day we all went on a Riverboat ride, another day we went to The Citadel. At the citadel, it was amazing! They were doing their dress parade and were also honoring the 487th Bomb Group and another group that was from the Vietnam era. There was this boy right next to where we had set up our cameras. He was about 5 or 6 years old and dressed up in full uniform, complete with a toy sword. I was filming the dress parade and here goes this little boy, beating on his toy drum … and of course I am thinking, “Oh Great! – this is gonna be on the video! – I’m gonna have to move away from this!”

Little Drummer Boy

But it wasn’t long until we were all mesmerized by this little fella. He knew the whole parade routine by heart. He knew every drum beat and he kept right up with the cadets all the way! His grandparents said he had been coming every Friday, when they do the Dress Parades, since he was two and he just loved them and wanted to be one of them. He was an amazing little boy!

We were also going to be doing Portraits this time, so we wanted to see the Banquet area and see what the set-up was, etc… but another funny thing happened. American Idol was doing Try-outs there and they had half the hotel blocked off. NO ONE was getting thru to that area!! So we just had to wait until the actual afternoon of the banquet before we could see where and how to set up for the Portraits. That evening of the Banquet, it turned out that The Air Force Ball was right next door to us. When they found out that the Vets of the 487th Bomb Group from WWII were right next door, they came over and officially honored them! It was Great! and it made me cry – in fact, I am crying now as I write this. Just makes you proud to be an American!

3 – Charleston 2007 – The 487th Bomb Group Reunion

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4 – Kalamazoo 2008 – The 487th Bomb Group Reunion

Smudew — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:18:30 +0000

My red HHR looks like a baby next to the van!

Kalamazoo, Michigan is a LONG way from Georgia!! We all decided to drive and make a vacation out of it. Henry and Jean, Albert and Carolyn, and Don and myself all went together in a huge van we rented!

4 – Kalamazoo 2008 – The 487th Bomb Group Reunion

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5 – Savannah 2009 – The 8th Air Force Historical Society

Smudew — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:37:56 +0000

We went along with the 8th Air Force Historical Society to Savannah. This is the same group that holds meetings every month in Atlanta and we go to some of those. Going to this meeting was very special because the Mighty 8th Museum had just FINALLY got their B-17!! They have been working on getting one for a long time and now it is here. In this video, they had just received it and were literally putting it together. You can hear the drills and hammers going in the background. Henry is so proud he can hardly stand it!! We also went to “The Lady and Sons” restaurant – you know – Paula Dean – the “Ya’ll” and butter lady! The food was very good .. but Paula wasn’t there that day!

One evening we had a Sing-a-Long, led by The Vintage Vocals. And during the banquet, The Vintage Vocals got all the Ladies up on stage and they all did a routine to “Sisters”! Everyone had a blast!! It was a good trip!

5 – Savannah 2009 – The 8th Air Force Historical Society

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6 – The Mighty 8th Museum

Smudew — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:12:04 +0000

We did this Museum tour for one person. Henry’s friend Jimmy was his tail-gunner during the war and he is sick and unable to visit the museum. Henry wanted him to be able to see it and the new B-17! So we put together this Museum Tour.

There are two places that you may want to fast forward. They are deliberately slow so that they could be read by Jimmy.

6 – The Mighty 8th Museum

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