National commander to help dedicate memorial to heroes “who had solid battlefield to commemorate.”
During a visit to the hallowed ground of Normandy, France, “Masters of the Air” author Donald Miller noted that no monument could be found there – among dozens that dot the Cotentin Peninsula – to the airmen of the Eighth Army Air Force who flew deadly missions that ultimately led to the liberation of Europe in World War II.
The “Mighty Eighth” flew more than 2,300 sorties on D-Day and suffered more than 47,000 casualties, including some 26,000 deaths, during World War II. Seventeen Medals of Honor were awarded to airmen of the Eighth during the war.
Still, retired Gen. Michael T. “Buzz” Moseley later remarked: “Airmen have no solid battlefield to commemorate.”
On June 5, 2025, that changes. The Normandy Institute, a U.S. nonprofit organization with which The American Legion has worked for nearly 20 years on D-Day anniversary commemorations, is dedicating four life-sized bronze statues by renowned sculptor Benjamin Victor depicting icons of the Eighth Army Air Force at the La Fiere Bridge Memorial site.
Among those scheduled to help dedicate the statues will be American Legion National Commander James A. LaCourisere Jr., a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Four of his branch ancestors – Staff Sgt. Maynard “Snuffy” Smith, Gen. James Doolittle, Col. Donald J.M. Blakselee and Lt. Col. Robert Rosenthal – will be immortalized at the memorial site that is protected from sale or alternative use by a three-way agreement between The American Legion, Amis des Veterans Americains and the City of Ste. Mere-Eglise.
World War II veterans, current U.S. military officers and family members of Doolittle (a life member of The American Legion) and of Rosenthal will be involved in the ceremony.
Masters of the Air was released in early 2024 as a nine-episode mini-series on AppleTV+, as a companion to HBO’s “Band of Brothers” (2001) and “The Pacific” (2010).
Monument sponsor names are engraved on a donor plaque at the site. They include The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin, Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., Hillwood, The Fisher Family, Millstone NJ, Pratt & Whitney, an RTX Business, KHR McNeely Family Foundation, American Airlines, Caterpillar, Inc., FedEx, Shell USA, Inc., The Strauss Family, Kyle and Alexandra Bass, GE Aerospace, The Hitchcock Stephaich Family, The Kahn Family, Linda A. Mars, Allan S. Moller Family, The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Onebrief Inc., Scarff Family Charitable Fund, and Sierra Nevada Corporation.
To learn more about the project, visit www.normandyinstitute.org.
- Honor & Remembrance