Meet Chatham County’s Veteran of the Year

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - If you’ve been to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, you may have seen veterans working behind the scenes.

One of those veterans is Retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Samuel L. Currie, whose love of flying, history, and service are some of the many reasons he’s this year’s Veteran of the Year.

Even though Currie has spent half of his life in an airplane, he still lights up as he takes us through the restored Spirit of Savannah, B-17 bomber in the Mighty Eighth.

He tells us that flying and fighting in WWII was tough, “They were smart, they were smart back then.”

He’s referring to the small window of accuracy shooting out of the bomber. He was the project manager.

“It’s pretty, it really is, and my first job was to finish out the flight deck and that was fun to me because who doesn’t like a challenge.” Currie said.

Currie began working at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum less than a year after retiring from the 165th Airlift wing with 38 years of service and nearly 12 thousand flying hours under his belt.

“A lot of that was humanitarian.” remembering his service. “We got to go and bring food and equipment and stuff to people that had been in need. People were starving in the Balkans; we were airdropping or bring food to them, or hurricanes, earthquakes. We were doing all of that stuff to bring them supplies so they could subsist. That to me, every time I offloaded, I said, ‘Let’s go get another one. Let’s do it again; let’s do it again.’”

His urge to serve is matched by his urge teach, and keep the torch burning for history.

Currie says, “The accurate history is something we’ve lost because a lot of people put their own spin to it. And our one thing is, they bring the STEM kids in, and they’ve got 25, all we hope is that we can get two to turn the light bulb on, to where they want to continue and they want to learn.”

Currie’s passion is just one of the reasons he’s Veteran of the Year. He’s held multiple leadership positions at the American Legion Post 135 and is a member of even more military and veterans organizations.

“Oh it’s really an honor; never expected it.” Currie blushes.

Humble and still delivering, be it knowledge or a message on this Veterans Day:

“These veterans did something for you, and that was to secure your right and the freedoms we have now and we are proud of doing that and continue the United States as it is.”