WIX Archives

Memphis Belle moving?

Posted by B Darnell on Tue Dec 02, 2003 03:43:50 PM



Once a rallying cry, Memphis Belle now met with indifference
Faded glory

By Blake Fontenay
Contact
December 2, 2003

To some Memphians, it might seem as unthinkable as someone loading Graceland onto a truck and shipping it to Las Vegas.

Nevertheless, Charles Crawford doesn't have any trouble imagining a day when, to see the Memphis Belle - once one of the city's proudest symbols - people might have to plan a road trip to Dayton, Ohio.





The worst part, in Crawford's view, is that Memphians don't seem motivated enough to keep the artifact that bears the city's name here.

"I don't think people really identify it with the city of Memphis," said Crawford, who teaches history at the University of Memphis.

The Belle, an aircraft that seemed invincible during its storied run of World War II bombing missions, has fallen on hard times lately.

For more than two years, efforts to raise funds to build a permanent museum for the Belle in the Memphis area have sputtered and stalled.

And when the vintage B-17 bomber was moved from its high profile perch on Mud Island to a hangar at Millington Municipal Airport this year, few in the community even noticed.

The United States Air Force Museum near Dayton stands ready to take custody of the Belle if the aircraft can't get the care it needs in Memphis.

The Belle is one of only 15 remaining B-17s owned by the museum. According to a Web site run by Aero Vintage Books, an organization that sells books about aviation history, there are 43 complete B-17s left around the world.

Terry Aitken, the museum's senior curator, believes the Memphis Belle Memorial Association, a local group entrusted with the airplane's upkeep, is committed to building an enclosed exhibit space that's considered a must for effective preservation.

But Aitken notes the association needs the community's help to raise money for the project, which has been estimated to cost $10 million to $15 million.

"Quite frankly, thus far we don't see the necessary support in the community," Aitken said.

To some, the seeming indifference to the Belle's plight is a bit mystifying.

Frank M. Norfleet II, a retired auto parts wholesaler, served in the Army during World War II and appreciates the airplane's contribution to the war effort.

"It's certainly a wonderful symbol of World War II," said Norfleet, 85. "Yet it has never been well-received or given the recognition it's due. I'm not sure exactly why. It just doesn't ring a real nostalgic bell with people."

Fame has become fleeting for the Belle, which was once used to rally the American public behind the war effort somewhat like the Jessica Lynch rescue did in the Iraq war.

The Belle was the first of America's "Flying Fortresses" to complete 25 successful European missions with its original crew.

The publicized romance between the plane's pilot, Robert Morgan, and Memphian Margaret Polk, the woman for whom the plane was named, brought the Bluff City a measure of reflected glory.

Several factors may explain why a local "Save the Belle" movement has never gotten off the ground.

Gayle Rose, a local philanthropist who has been involved in other historic preservation projects like the Hunt-Phelan Home, said the Belle's backers haven't really instilled in the public a "sense of urgency" that the airplane could one day be shipped out of town.

"I'm not sure that has been articulated in a manner that captures the imagination of the community," Rose said. "I would hate to think Memphis is indifferent to its own history."

Crawford, the history professor, said it was hard to get people fired up about preservation projects in general.

"You're dealing with something that happened 60 years ago," Crawford said. "This does not have the immediacy people need to get involved."

Brent Taylor, the City Council's chairman, would like to see the Belle remain in Memphis. But Taylor thinks funding for the museum needs to come from private sources, not the government.

Taylor is among those who are unconvinced the Belle might be moved to another city.

"The Memphis Belle only makes sense in Memphis," Taylor said. "It's not the Cleveland Belle or the San Antonio Belle."

Another problem has been a lack of consensus about where a Belle museum should be located.

W.S. 'Babe' Howard, a member of the Millington Municipal Airport Authority, thinks the plane should remain in his town after an expected two- or three-year restoration project is finished.

"I look at it as representing all World War II personnel, not just the ones from the town of Memphis," Howard said.

Morgan, the former pilot, comes down on the side of keeping the plane somewhere in the Memphis city limits.

Morgan, a retired Air Force colonel, said the museum project might be further along if not for a lack of coordination between the Memphis Belle Memorial Association and the separate Memphis Belle War Memorial Foundation, a group formed in 1999 to raise money for the project.

"If the two groups can get their heads together, I'm optimistic they'll be able to raise the money," said Morgan, 85, who lives in Asheville, N.C. "If this constant bickering between the groups goes on, I think they'll have trouble raising the money."

Andy Pouncey, a board member for the memorial association, said his group hopes to have a business plan outlining the Belle's future ready by the beginning of the new year.

That plan will outline a strategy to raise money not only for the renovation work at the Millington site, but also for the permanent museum - wherever it might be located.

Pouncey, who is also Germantown's assistant city administrator, said the association plans to launch a public awareness campaign about the Belle's past, present and future.

That campaign will include a Dec. 7 dedication ceremony at the hangar where the Belle will be restored.

"You have to make people aware of your commitment and your seriousness to restore and find a permanent home for the Belle," Pouncey said. "This doesn't just speak to those who were involved in World War II. It speaks to all generations."


- Blake Fontenay:

529-2386

Memphis Newspaper

Follow Ups: