This stunning new tribute to the US 8th Air Force was unveiled in June 2025 around the 81st anniversary of D-Day and stands near to La Fiere bridge – one of the most fearsome battlegrounds of the early Normandy campaign.
It takes the form of four life-sized sculptures of iconic airmen from the ‘Mighty Eighth’ who flew more than 600,000 sorties during the Second World War.
By the end of WWII, 26,000 Eighth Air Force Airmen had been 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.
From left to right, the monument features Sergeant Maynard ‘Snuffy’ Smith, Lt. Col. Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, General James ‘Jimmy’ Doolittle, and Colonel Donald ‘Don’ Blakeslee.
‘Snuffy’ Smith was a ball gunner on the B-17 Flying Fortress – part of the 306th Bomb Group - and was the first-ever enlisted Medal of Honor recipient in the US Army Air Forces in WWII.
Distinguished Service Cross recipient Rosenthal was a lawyer-turned pilot who was 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.
Medal of Honor recipient Doolittle 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 US 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 around 250 combat hours. His service earned him the Distinguished Service Cross.