Official website of Maj. John "Lucky" Luckadoo of the 100th Bomb Group

The Lucky Legacy Project

About the Lucky Legacy Project

Family and friends of the late Maj. John H. "Lucky" Luckadoo are working to raise $8,000 in private donations for the creation, installation, and perpetual maintenance of an 18" x 28", photo relief cast bronze plaque in his honor. The image shown below is a draft of the plaque design, which we hope to bring to life with your support.

The plaque will be dedicated by family and friends in May 2026 in the memorial garden of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Pooler, Georgia. The plaque will also mark where a portion of Maj. Luckadoo's ashes will be laid to rest.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE or scroll down to the bottom of the page for donation instructions.

Fundraising Goal

Fundraising will consist of two phases:

Phase 1, $4,500: Commissioning and casting of the bronze plaque

Phase 2, $3,500: Installation and dedication of the plaque, and long-term care of the memorial site

Together, these efforts will fulfill our total goal of $8,000 to make this tribute to Lucky a lasting reality.

Lucky's Final Wishes

Lucky shared a deep and lifelong bond with his best friend, Flight Lieutenant Leroy “Sully” Sullivan, RCAF, who was lost in combat during World War II. In keeping with Lucky's final wishes, a portion of Lucky’s ashes will be laid to rest beside Sully’s plaque in the museum’s memorial garden, at the foot of the new bronze plaque the Lucky Legacy Project will be dedicating to honor Lucky's military service in World War II.

About the Plaque

The Lucky Legacy plaque's design consists of 3D photo relief bronze castings of Maj. Luckadoo's 1942 air cadet portrait, unit patches of the Eighth Air Force, 100th Bomb Group, 350th Bomb Squadron, and 351st Bomb Squadron. A facsimile of the hand-painted "Lucky" originally found on Maj. Luckadoo's Type A-2 leather flight jacket also appears in relief below the Eighth Air Force unit patch.

We are working with graphic artists and the 100th Bomb Group Foundation's technical expert Michael Faley to ensure the B-17 that appears is a detailed and historically accurate side profile of "Alice from Dallas II", the B-17G Flying Fortress that Maj. Luckadoo completed his 25th and final combat mission on.

Maj. Luckadoo's plaque will be mounted to a 6' granite monolith standing in the museum's memorial garden. The plaque will be a companion plaque to the one on the opposite side of the monolith that Maj. Luckadoo dedicated in 2022 in honor of his fallen best friend Flight Lieutenant Leroy Means "Sully" Sullivan, RCAF.

Lucky Legacy Plaque Text

“LUCKY”

In lasting tribute to Major

JOHN HAMPTON LUCKADOO

An American Airman

Who served with distinction in the United States Army Eighth Air Force’s High-Altitude Daylight Strategic Bombing Campaign to liberate Europe from tyranny in World War II

Born 16th March 1922, in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Flew West on 1st September 2025, at the age of 103, having been the last living pilot of the original cadre of pilots assigned to the 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbotts, U.K., in June 1943, and one of four out of the original 40 100th Bomb Group co-pilots to have completed their quota of 25 combat missions

“It didn’t really matter how well you performed, or what you did or didn’t do, it was matter of pure luck if you came through.”

“I was incredibly fortunate under all those adverse circumstances to be a survivor. I’m no hero. I’m a survivor, and if you lived through what we did, you were just a survivor.”
-- John “Lucky” Luckadoo

Best friend to Flight Lieutenant Leroy Means “Sully” Sullivan, RCAF, whose plaque resides on the opposite side of this monolith

Dedicated by family and friends with a portion of Maj. Luckadoo’s ashes laid to rest at the base of this memorial

May 2026