The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Pooler, GA, will host a presentation on March 7 at 11 a.m. as part of its monthly Mighty Talks program, focusing on a notable moment in the history of the Eighth Air Force during World War II. The talk will be delivered by museum trustee John J. O’Neil III and will look at the first American B-17 crew credited with dropping bombs over Berlin on March 4, 1944. The event will take place at the museum and is open to the public at no charge, although advance registration is requested. Click HERE to register for the event.
O’Neil’s presentation will focus on the ten-man crew led by Lt. William V. Owen of the 482nd Pathfinder Bomb Group’s 813th Bomb Squadron. Their mission on March 4, 1944, marked a key moment in the air campaign over Europe as Allied forces extended their strategic bombing operations deeper into German territory.
O’Neil has had a long connection with the museum and the history of the Mighty Eighth. He previously served as chairman of the museum’s board of trustees and has been involved in leadership roles there since joining the board in 2007. His interest in the subject dates back to childhood. His father, John J. O’Neil Jr., served as a B-17 tail and waist gunner with the 95th Bomb Group on Lt. Owen’s crew before later transferring to the 482nd Bomb Group, where he helped develop early radar bombing techniques.
Over the years, O’Neil attended numerous Bomb Group and crew reunions with his father and has written and spoken extensively about radar bombing operations in the Eighth Air Force as well as the March 1944 Berlin mission. Outside of his work with the museum, O’Neil spent 38 years with UPS in a variety of operational and executive leadership roles in the United States and Europe. He retired as vice president of corporate global workforce planning and strategy and is a graduate of Fairfield University. An optional lunch will follow the presentation. The meal costs $10 for members paying cash or $12 by credit card, while non-members pay $15 in cash or $17 by credit card. For more information and to support the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, click on this link: www.mightyeighth.org.
