20/20 and the “Memphis Belle”

During the run up to launching the campaign to build an exhibition site for the “Memphis Belle” on Mud Island, Hugh Downs of ABC’s news program 20/20 came to Memphis on 30 April 1986 to meet with Robert Morgan, wartime pilot of the “Memphis Belle” and Margaret Polk, the namesake of the airplane as well as USAF Museum officials and members of the Memphis Belle Memorial Association. The interviews and film footage of that visit played on network TV on 22 May 1986 bringing national attention to the “Memphis Belle”. One year later, 20/20 ran a follow up on the program showing the results of that campaign with an overhead view of the Memphis Belle Pavilion and the crowd at the dedication.

You can view the segment at https://youtu.be/rcw0jpaN33I.

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