The Mighty 8th Air Force Museum will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the 8th Air Force in Savannah on Jan. 28. Exclusive guided tours of the Museum will be offered at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. History will come to life as World War II 8th Air Force veterans will be meeting and greeting visitors.

Free children’s introductory model airplane building classes will be held at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Participants will also receive a free child’s admission to the museum with the purchase of their model airplane. World War II models are on sale for $12 in the museum’s gift store. Spaces are limited so to save your spot in the building class please contact Heather at (912) 748- 8888 or at education@mightyeighth.org.

The museum will be presenting the History Channel’s, “World War II in HD – The Air War”. The showing will take place at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the DeCicco Theater included in the Museum’s admission rate.

Told through the gripping, first person accounts of three American airmen and Stars & Stripes reporter Andy Rooney, The Air War showcases breathtaking aerial combat — original, color footage, never before seen by most Americans — of the B-17s Flying Fortresses, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs on missions such as Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Berlin.  Never-before-seen 8mm footage of the airmen on the bases, the devastation in Germany, and the Luftwaffe perspective is also highlighted. Flying 25,000 feet above the earth in oxygen-devoid air, and temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero, the 8th Air Force fought a war unlike anything ever before experienced. By the end, they would suffer more than 26,000 combat deaths.

Seventy years ago this month, the 8th Air Force was activated in Savannah in what is now the American Legion Post on Bull Street at the south end of Forsyth Park. A historical marker marks the founding. The 8th Air Force was a critical strike element in World War II and remains an active force today.