Early in 1945 our b29s began fullscale operations against japan. 1500 miles back from bases in saipan, tinian, and guam. Here the bombers concentrated their massive airpower and planned the ultimate crushing defeat of japan, down to the last bomb. Here was the beginning of the end for the road to tokyo. After six months of reoccupation, there were few signs of war along the summer shores of guam. American citizens again, smiling and friendly. Unaware that America America moved mountains of material, equipment, and supplies across the pacific. They changed their dirt roads and broad highways. And nearby new communities of american citizens have set up housekeeping with various types of selfservice. A few laundry problems and no modern inconveniences. Big business under the long arm of on the command from guam, tinian and saipan behind this expanding power was planning. The plan began on the ground with maintenance. Heart stands, ground crews worked a and tonight during the weeks to keep more he 29s on the line. By july the Bomber Command is an efficient well oiled machine of destruction. Heres the final caulk of that machine. Final cog of that machine. Lets find a what theyre going to do, and why, and what. It began 12 hours ago. With a general receiving a report for tomorrows weather in japan. Tomorrows forecast is typical. In the east, tokyo area will be 6 10 of 22, 000, 3 10 at 14,000 feet, closing up after 11 a. M. How the general how will the general solve that one . The old man considers every vital factor and makes his decision. Four wings will strike tokyo at 8 00. They will go in under that weather and bomb and 12,000. Now it is the question of target selection. First priority is number 573. 573 is already three quarters destroyed. At the moment number 574 is still untouched. Operations check the tactical plan for 574. The general oks the target and commences all executive tales to his staff. Operations with his deputy chief of staff and project officer goes to work setting up the changes. The mountain of preparation correlated facts and figures have been distilled into tactical plan 574. Smoke markers will be dropping i lay planes at project assembly point. A wing will carry and 47 incendiary clusters. Fused a quarter second read as altitude of attack, 12,000 feet. The wing will carry capacity fuel loads of possibly 7300 gallons per plane. Calibrated airspeed of will be by all aircraft on the bombing run. 140 east will be the same for all planes to offer a good contrast checkpoint. Three surface vessels to proceed to position ask. Lifeguard duties at positions why. Two on those two stations e. 429s will orbit at the following positions. Each section of the plan is double checked to supervise certain aspects of planning. The Lieutenant Colonel was recently brought over the staff as project officer. This offers as extensive combat experience. He will company this mission to observe new Smoke Signals at assembly point. A field order is dispatched to the wings. Take off time is dispatched to the controller, who coordinates the vast network of communications gathered here at the heart and nerve center of command. Here in the control room panels and a Mission Board are maintained to show at a glance the countless uptotheminute details of all daily operations. Each mission is afforded a flight. One for each wing are laid out to indicate the flightlines. Close to iwo jima, the halfway point. Empress c and proceed to specify the field order of proper targets. A timetable of statistics for each wing is planned and flown as recorded from hourly reports, beginning with take off time. Two veteran crews it is just another days work. One more 1500 mile fall. 15 hours, 7000 gallons, four engines, 11 guys. A water jump across 20 degrees. Destination tokyo. Its like taken off in mexico for targets in canada. Balance of squadrons, of jp bombs, fused accord second nose and tail. 12,000 feet. Planes will carry capacity fuel, of 7300 gallons per plane. Gary airspeed will be flown on bombing run. Radar landfall, 1 40 east to 50 north. Will be the same for all planes. The navy is requested to replenish the following facility for them. Lifeguarded a position why. Two orbits of stations the. Four will orbit at super dumbos at falling positions. Section of the plan is double checked. To supervise certain aspects of planning, Lieutenant Colonel, was recently brought over as project officer. He has extensive officer experience. He will company this message mission, to observe new Smoke Signals at this point. Take off time, is flush to the controller. Who coordinates the vast network of communications gathered here at the heart and nerve center of command. Here in the control room status panels are maintained to show at a glance up to minute details of daily operations and prior to takeoff each mission is set up to see the visual progress of the site. From takeoff to target to return can. The flight lines, pass close to itadakimasu. At halfway point. And proceed a specified for the field order, to the proper target. Other symbols are used to mark air sea rescue. Everything is recorded. Including take off time. Two veteran cruise its another days work. One more 1500 mile hall, running up and down the pacific. 15 hours 700 gallons. Knock on wood, a water jump across 20 degrees of the globe. A continent of oceans. Destination, tokyo. Its like taking off and mexico for targets in canada 314th is airborne, 145 planes one minute apart, 67 tons each. Those b29 takeoffs are tough. That first long moment is the worst. Sometimes it takes luck to beat it. At 10am, 100 miles north, to more b29 wings prepare for takeoff. 134 aircraft from the 58th wing. 100 more from the 300 13th wing. At taipan, the wing lines up for takeoff. 153 are added to the mission striking course. The last b29s airborne at 1540. The tower of saipan relays this information to the controller back at guam. First and last takeoff times of each wing are recorded here and make up a series of tabulated mission reports. Copies of these reports are dispatched to headquarters in washington and posted on a control room report board. During that first hour the b29 has settled down for the big grind, saving precious gas, cruising 1000 feet off the water, ability, experience, confidence riding each plane. A plan of action for 11 men trained and tested to work as one. Locking island checkpoints. After about four hours of flight the bombers pass closer to iwo jima. A black pretty pork chop, half way, 8000 square miles paid for by our marines. We made some quick changes. Cutting way the sulfurous volcanic crossed and rolling the surface into one enormous flat top. Three big airstrips. No launch for bomber escort over japan. General and his staff a last minute briefing check just to make sure your fighter escort knows all rescue positions. Out on the line the p 50 ones are warming up for the longest fight the p50 ones p51s are warming up for the longest flight on record. About the time our wings are passing iwo jima the p shooters are taking off. Scheduled to join them 3. 5 hours later off the shores of japan. After a rendezvous, the p 51 heads for an assembly point. Reports of the controller back at guam. Pilot to crew. We are to start our climb. Check oxygen equipment. Tell buck he better get out to his doghouse. The crews prepare for the vital business ahead. Until they come off target and head home it is all business. The central fire control system is warmed up. Super human brainpower at the flick of a switch. Each gunner flexes his sites and tries a coordinated fire control with a few short bursts to clear the guns. After pushing up the bombers arrive close to assembly point. Oxygen masks are adjusted and ready for instant use. Which now turn off to wait for the fighters to return on rally point. Lead bombers begin to circle, dropping the new smoke markers for assembly. The project officer observes this tactical plan in action. From various zone positions, the group separates. And form on their lead ships. Which head for an initial point. The big parade is on. Landfall is picked up, along with the first burst of enemy coastal batteries. It becomes heavier and more accurate. Japs appear diving head on to the formations. Other jet fighters drop bombs, set to explode on the oncoming b29s. Our p51s go after them. Their job is to protect the b29s, for some of those fighters, they will meet the blast of bomber guns. From the turn at initial point they get ready for business. Fighters falloff. But those clouds are beginning to close in and it looks worse ahead. The tokyo area breaks clear. The bombardiers begin to draw a beat on 574. The planes sit tight for the bombing run. Heres where we pay off. Z n8 their devastation to the smoking targets. The bombers turn and go downwind across the acres of tokyo. Closeup camera shows the skies of the spectacular fire strikes last march. 51 square miles of treatment. Across the bay this is fighter country. With the big bombers homeward bound, our p51jobs go down for rounds. The fighters then go to work cutting vital blasts and hit communications, radio installations, power lines. Swooping down on enemy transportation. Then on the shipping target, harbor and coastal, it is the same enemy. Fighter spirits began to rise. They zoom in once over for each and me killed. Royal after the last fighter groups are in, all hands bring in the first b29s. That runway is a beautiful site, low in gas and beat up by flak and fighters. You can understand why they even named their planes after those marines. Iwo still has its hazards. Fog and overcast block the airstrip during these periods. With luck, a b29 might drop in. From here, you can see how the cloud cover up their smothers the runway and realize what one pilot went through. Sometimes a battle scarred bomber is taken back only to flatten out at the last heartbreaking second. By some miracle, the whole crew got away from their stations to safety, before 2000 gallons of flaming gas enveloped them. Firefighters risk their lives to save the ship. This also takes courage beyond the line of duty. Exhausted crews wait out the last endless hour when time seems to stop. The position is radio in. music at last, the familiar appear on the horizon. The bombers fly across and turn into the landing pad. 15 hours ago they left the other end of that runway. It is a pleasure to be back, a pleasure to roll on solid familiar blacktop. It is good to feel the sudden heat, to be among the living, swapping details with the ground crew. Flak, fighters, the close calls, the one that got away. Some of those b29 crews wont be able to talk it over today. 11 men on a bomber that didnt quite make it. sirens the rescue squads tear away the hot metal. Somewhere in that wreckage, a man has lived. One life saved and 10 lost. That is part of todays total. There were many other days and nights that took their toll of Young American lives in the service of our relentless expanding airpower. By the end of july, our b29s had all but obliterated the enemies. Thousand plane missions were going to hit japan with twice the monthly tonnage. The question was, how much longer when a beaten japan hold out . While great land, sea, and air forces gathered, our b29s dropped 2 atomic bombs. Which hastened the surrender of japan and saved untold thousands of american lives. music the mission of our air forces, which began nearly 40 years ago, was accomplished. Xt hiroshima, japan, which ended in a news real on how the atomic bomb evolved. Both sides and the decision to use it. As followed by discussion on how president harry truman came to order the years of the atomic bomb during world war ii. Part of what you will see every weekend during American History tv here on cspan three
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