The Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Center, Inc

I am the daughter of WWII veteran James E. Rung.  My dad was a navigator who flew 35 missions out of Kimbolton, England from June - December 1944.  Dad was assigned to the 524th Squadron of the 379th Bomb Group in the Mighty Eighth Air Force.  The 379th Bomb Group was one of 12 heavy bombardment groups in the 1st Bombardment Division.  All of these planes were painted with a triangle and letter combination on their tail.  The combination for the 379th was a yellow triangle surrounding a letter "K" and so the group was known as the "Triangle K" group.

As noted in the Group's history found at www.379thbga.org/history, the 379th Bomb Group is the only unit ever awarded the 8th Air Force Grand Slam, consisting of:

1.  Best bombing results (% of bombs on target)
2.  Greatest tonnage of bombs dropped on target
3.  Largest number of aircraft attacking
4.  Lowest losses of aircraft
5.  Lowest abortive rate of aircraft dispatched.

The 379th also received 2 Presidential Unit Citations for its accomplishments in combat.

When the 379th veterans were alive and in good health, they held annual reunions at locations around the United States and did return, at least once as a group, to Kimbolton. Part of the mission of this association of veterans was to document the group's history in the form of video interviews, photographs, and newsletter stories so future generations had access to this primary information. 

Sadly, the 379th veterans association closed in 2016 and most of the groups veterans have passed away.  But, their history lives on in the Association's archives which were donated to the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Pooler, Georgia outside of Savannah.  Most of this history is not yet digitized for easy access by researchers and family members.  I want to change that!

I would like to raise at least $5,000 for the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force so they can begin digitizing the 379th Bomb Group's archives.  This money will be used to digitize archives in the following order:

1.  Video - Transition from VHS tapes to digital format in order to prevent further degradation of video quality and ensure long-term access to the important interviews on these tapes.  There are approximately 16 VHS tapes filled with the memories of 379th veterans which need to be digitized.

2.  Paper - Digitize "Mission Reports," aka Field Orders, of all 330 missions of the 379th.  The field orders in the 379th Archive are reproductions of the full reports available at the National Archives.  These field orders are not yet digitized, even at the National Archives, and consist of thousands of pages of primary source information.

3.  Photos - Many of the veterans contributed personal photographs to the 379th's archive.  Some of these photos were taken by official Air Force photographers and sold as mementos to the men on base.  Others were taken by the veterans themselves and have never been seen outside of the 379th Archive.
Many of these will not be found even at the National Archives.

4.  Newsletters - The 379th Association published a newsletter at least 3 times per year that contained veteran memories of the war as well as historical articles about the war or the bomb group.  The newsletter also contained photographs and member news (celebrations and deaths) that are valuable to any researcher or family member.

In December 2019, back in those heady pre-pandemic days, I visited the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force and spent 3 days exploring the museum displays and researching information relevant to my father's service.  I was amazed by the number of people I met or overheard talking who were there to learn more about a family member or friend who had served in the Mighty Eighth.  The amount of research material available in the Roger A. Freeman Research Center is truly astounding and is led by a professional and very experienced research library staff. 

I know this money will be well-spent helping to preserve the history of the 379th Bomb Group and the memories of its veterans for future generations.  Please donate today to make digitizing the 379th's archives a reality.

THANK YOU!


More information about National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum): The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum preserves for all Americans, the stories of courage, character, and patriotism embodied by the men and women of the 8th Air Force from WW II to the present.  The Museum treasures and uses its unique collections and resources to teach values to the Nation's future generations.