Items for sale

Knotty Pine desk w/chair, good for student $50. 4 wood kitchen chairs $80. HD wood stair rails for outside steps. $20 pair. Call 748-8101.

‘03 Nemesis Competition Series Go-Kart... Ready to race! New clutch, new tach, with cart! $1500 or best offer. Call 826-0898.

4 - Eagle Alloys 18” wheels and 3 Yokohama 255/55R18 AVS S/T tires, good cond. Fit 99 Honda Passport, Isuzu Rodeo, others. $700 or best offer. Call 657-3998.

16’ flatbed utility trailer, dual-axle. $1000 OBO. Call 912-604-0252.

First $150 TAKES IT! 2 months worth of Nutri-System Foods, unopened and good thru 5/08. Call 728-9199, Guyton.

THE SPIRIT WORKS!

"A Brush with Destiny"

"A Brush with Destiny," an art exhibit featuring work from artists who served in World War II recently opened in the Colonial Group Inc. Art Gallery of The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler. The exhibit will be at the Museum through October 31st of this year and features 23 pieces of work in a variety of media, depicting a wide range of events and experiences during World War II.

Three of the featured artists served in the Eighth Air Force and were held as Prisoners of War in Nazi Germany for periods ranging from 10 months to nearly two years. Over all, 17 of the "A Brush with Destiny" artists are World War II veterans and 15 of them were members of the Eighth Air Force, including one who served in the last Bomb Group to be activated in the Eighth. Four of the artists served in the 303rd Bomb Group stationed at Molesworth, England.

Also included in the exhibition are two large drawings by Milton Caniff, creator of the "Terry and the Pirates" and the wartime "Miss Lace" comic strips. "A Brush with Destiny" showcases seven oil paintings, four watercolors, four acrylics, and a stained glass piece of a B-17 Flying Fortress.

The featured pieces include:

An 11 x 17 watercolor on paper of a row of P-47 Thunderbolts lined up for takeoff by Byron Morrell. The piece was painted while Morrell was a Prisoner of War for 19 months, his P-47 ran out of fuel and crashed while on a mission.

A 24 x 36 oil on linen by Benjamin Napolitano depicting the explosion of a bomb dump at his base on July 15, 1944. Napolitano, who was recovering from frostbite suffered during one his 35 missions as a tail gunner, painted his recollections in 2004.

A 22 x 30 portrait of a Royal Air Force Spitfire in flight, done in 1943 by Donald Allen. Allen was a member of the ground crew for the 334th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Group and painted the nose art on over 30 P-47 Thunderbolts.

A 14 x 18 watercolor and graphite on paper illustration, Country Draft Board 1943 by famed illustrator Kerr Eby, depicting six men and a woman reviewing local records.

A 22 x 28 print of The Greatest Team In The World, by Charles Baskerville showing a flightline mechanic and a fighter plane pilot shaking hands. Baskerville won several medals in WWI and was the official portrait painter for the U. S. Army Air Force during WWII.

The Witch and Friend, a 17 x 13 acrylic on canvas by nose-gunner J. C. Perryman showing the famed B-24 Liberator Witchcraft with a fighter escort. Witchcraft holds the record for B-24s with the 467th Bomb Group of 130 missions without having to turn back to base for mechanical or personnel reasons.

A 24 x 18 acrylic on canvas of a B-17 by James Cates, a togglier/bombardier with the 337th Bomb Squadron of the 96th Bombardment Group. Cates was awarded the Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters, the European Theater of Operations Medal with two stars, the American Theater Medal, and the Victory Medal during his service in WWII.

A 10 x 13 acrylic on canvas by Charles Doyle depicting a B-24 Liberator battling two Messerschmitts over the English Channel.

A 28 x 22 assemblage, 303rd Bomb Group Memories, created by bombardier Robert Hand, who flew in the 360th Bomb Squadron of the famed Hells Angels unit. Hand flew 35 missions in four-and-a-half months and was awarded the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters.

A 28 x 22 graphite on paper by Peter Giaquinto of the B-17 Fletchers Castoria, named after its pilot William Fletcher and using word-play on a well-known over-the-counter nostrum of the period. Fletchers Castoria was part of the Bloody 100th Bomb Group and

crash-landed near Amsterdam in February 1944. Giaquinto served 15 months as a Prisoner of War until liberated.

A 22 x 29 acrylic on canvas by Ben Smith of the B-24 Teggie Ann, considered the 93rd Bomb Group's lead aircraft. Smith, who has served on the Executive Committee of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum for many years, was a radio operator on the aircraft and painted ?Return from Ploesti after the famed low-level raid on the Nazi-held oilfields.

A 21 x 28 oil on canvas of She's A Honey by Dale Remaly, showing the B-17 taxiing into take-off position with other aircraft forming up overhead. Remaly was a member of the 305th Bomb Group, one of the most decorated USAAF units in the European Theater of Operations.

A 12 diameter oil on leather, Little Joe II, was cut from the back of Edward Smith's bomber jacket. Smith was a waist gunner/togglier in the 336th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group on the ?Little Joe II?, stationed in England from January to July 1945.

A 20 x 16 oil on canvas, Lady Luscious, by Merlin D. Miller. Miller was a tail gunner with the 427th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group on the ?Lady Luscious?. The aircraft flew in the Schweinfurt raid on Nazi ball-bearing plants and was badly damaged. After repairs, the aircraft was reassigned to the 301st Bomb Group for the duration of the war.

A 24 x 17 oil on canvas of the Headquarters for the 493rd Bombardment Group (H) in Debach, England on January 4, 1945, painted by Raymond Gurga. The 493rd had the double distinction of being the last group to become operational in the 8th Air Force and flying its first mission on D-Day.

A 40 by 28 leaded stained glass of a B-17 surrounded by other elements, created by Robert Slane. Slane was a member of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, whose aircraft was shot down on October 14th, 1943 on a bombing mission to Schweinfurt. During his 19-1/2 months in captivity at Stalag Luft III, he escaped four times only to be captured each time and returned to the camp. He was liberated by General George S. Patton?s 3rd Army.

A 32 x 42 oil on canvas, Hi Buck based on Bugs Bunny and attributed to Fred Kuhn. It was in the foot locker of 303rd Bomb Group bomber pilot and squadron leader Glenn Hagenbuch, killed when his aircraft crashed. At the time, he was on a mission carrying documents from Molesworth Air Base to a higher headquarters in England.

A 28 x 18 watercolor and acrylic on paper, Of Kindred Spirits by Jim Balletto. The artwork shows the Command Aircraft The Flying Dutchman taking off from Robins Air Force Base for a mid-air refueling mission. Balletto painted the nose art on the Boeing KC135R when it was used by Lt. Gen. E. G. Buck Shuler, Jr. while he was vice commander of the Strategic Air Command's 19th Bomb Wing at Robins. After retirement from active duty, Shuler became the second President of The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

Two 36 x 48 caricatures by famed cartoonist Milt Caniff. One is of his famed hero Steve Canyon, who appeared in newspapers from January 7, 1947 until June 6, 1988.? The other is Miss Lace, the featured character in Male Call, a war-time civilian version of the special version of Caniff's comic strip Terry and The Pirates that was distributed only through military publications.

For more information on the A Brush with Destiny Exhibit, contact Dr. Vivian Rogers-Price, Director of the Roger A. Freeman Eighth Air Force Research Center at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, 912-748-8888, ext. 108 or email oralhistories@mightyeighth.org.

Activated in 1942 in Savannah, Georgia, the Eighth Air Force was an important strike element in World War II and remains an active force today. The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum honors the Mighty Eighth's proud legacy by preserving the stories of courage, character and patriotism embodied in the men and women of the Eighth Air Force from World War II to the present. It is recognized by the State of Georgia as a Designated Center for Character Education and teaches these values for all generations.

Located minutes from Historic Savannah, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is open daily from 9AM until 5PM except New Year's, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For more information, please visit www.mightyeighth.org or call 912-748-8888.