LA FIERE BRIDGE, NORMANDY, France -- In recognition of the heroic actions of the Eighth Air Force during World War II, The Normandy Institute dedicated the Eighth Air Force Memorial as part of an unveiling ceremony at La Fiere Bridge in Normandy, France, June 5, 2025.
“I am grateful to The Normandy Institute for ensuring the Eighth Air Force legacy, is preserved through the dedication of this monument,” said Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost, commander Eighth Air Force and Joint-Global Operations Strike Center.
On Dec. 8, 1941, the U.S. formally entered WWII and in the subsequent years, the Eighth Air Force became the largest air armada in the world comprised of bombers and fighter aircraft groups.
The Mighty Eighth was able to send more than 2,000 bombers and more than 1,000 fighter aircraft in a single mission. By May 1945, the Eighth Air Force had flown more than 600,000 sorties and dropped over 670,000 tons of bombs.
“Victory would not have been possible without supremacy of the skies, a supremacy earned through valor, innovation, and sacrifice of the men of the Eighth Air Force,” said Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa deputy commander. “The Eighth Air Force taught us that freedom is not free, that air superiority is earned through sacrifice, and that every generation must guard the cause of liberty.”
Planning for the monument began in 2023 after Don Miller, the author of ‘Masters of Air,’ who was visiting The Normandy Institute at the time, commented that there was no monument to the Eighth Air Force in Normandy.
“We stored that away in our minds and when the series was being filmed, we started working on the project of the monument,” said Countess Dorothea de La Houssaye, founder and chairman of the Normandy Institute.
The memorial sculpture features different aspects of the Mighty Eighth through the four life-sized depictions of Gen. James ‘Jimmy’ Doolittle, Col. Donald ‘Don’ Blakeslee, Lt. Col. Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, and Sergeant Maynard ‘Snuffy’ Smith.
“The four Airmen depicted in the monument sum up the collective courage and fighting spirit of the Eighth Air Force,” said Houssaye.
Dolittle gained notoriety when he led the Doolittle Raid and then later led the VIII Bomber Command in 1944 where his leadership was instrumental to the Allies gaining air superiority over the German air force prior to D-Day.
Blakeslee was fighter pilot and is considered one of the greatest U.S. fighter pilots ever. He led the 4th Fighter Group during WWII and achieved more than 1,000 combat hours when an average fighter pilot garnered 250 combat hours.
Rosenthal was a lawyer-turned pilot who had been shot down twice and returned to duty both times. At the end of the war, Rosenthal served as an assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials.
Smith, a ball gunner on the B-17 Flying Fortress, was the first-ever enlisted Medal of Honor recipient in the U.S. Army Air Forces in WWII.
“Each of these men’s bravery and courage under fire embodies the warfighter mentality that all Airmen strive for today,” said Armagost.
By the end of WWII, 26,000 Eighth Air Force Airmen were killed in action and additional 28,000 were prisoners of war. The Mighty Eighth earned 17 Medals of Honor, 220 Distinguished Service Crosses and more than 420,000 Air Medals.
Future visitors to the monument will be able to learn more in depth about the role of the Eighth Air Force in European theater, the Airmen represented and their stories.
“There will be an accompanying short documentary made by the producer of Tom Hanks, Kirk Saduski, together with Mark Herzog who produced the documentary The Bloody Hundredth for Apple TV,” said Houssaye. “We are planning to organize an Air Power conference every year in Normandy to teach the leadership lessons of the Eighth Air Force.”
“From past to present, the history of the Mighty Eighth is riddled with countless tales of heroism and today, we carry on their legacy,” said Armagost. “It is my honor and privilege to be a part of this momentous occasion. I am proud to represent the Eighth Air Force and to lead this historic numbered Air Force into the future.”