Transcripts For CSPAN3 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140701

Choices. Getting to the point where you can make peace is never easy because you dont make peace with your friends. You make it with people who are your adversaries. Who have killed those you care about. Your own people or those who you are trying to protect. Its a psychological drama. You have to get into the heads of those on the other side because we have to change their calculation enough to get them to the table. Talk about what we did in iran. Wed to put a lot of economic pressure to get them to the table. That has to be the first step. What we did in pakistan and for getting them at the table for a comprehensive discussion. In iraq today, i think what we have to understand is that it is primarily a political problem that has to be addressed. T the rise of the sunni extremist group, isis is taking advantage of the break down of the political dialogue and lack of trust between the maliki government, the sunni leaders and the kurdish leaders. More with Hillary Clinton saturday at 7 00 p. M. Eastern and sunday morning at 9 15 on cspans book t. V. Each week American History t. V. Real america brings you archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. In the first of a five part look of hollywood directors that made films for the u. S. Government during warld war two we feature frank capra who made the why we fight series. Up next the 14 minute your job in germany for defeated troops occupying the nation. Later we will show you a private training film but first we talk to journalist and film historian mark harris. The book is titled five came back. The story of hollywood and the second wourld war. Thanks very much for being with us. Thanks for having me. As you put together this book and you will see some of the films from these well known directors how much did you know before you researched the topic . Well, my training as a film writer and film historian not as a war historian so for what i was investigating was the gap in the resumes of these five directors. I would look and see that George Stephens made no hollywood movies between 1943 and 1948 or wyler between 42 and 47. That got me curious about their war lives that we often ignore and what it went to them. Capra was known for its a wonderful live but he was also asked to put these films together by general martial. Why question is why did he get to directors like capra and not have the military produce them. Its a really interesting counter intuitive moment. He didnt have the military produce them because he knew and most of the most tedepartments top brass knew that military movies had been terrible. Many were in use since the late 1920s. They were really clumsily made on a communication level. Theres a real question why he did not turn to the makers of news reals to document the entire war effort instead look to hollywood, creators of fiction. I think its because marshall really understood the power of narrative film. He had seen its effect during the Great Depression when, you know, i think his movies were shown often on the sides of trucks to people in the wpa. He understood that movies could really rouse patriotism and fervor in people and he also understood that hollywood directors were better at doing that certainly than army filmmakers and also better than newsreel makers. Of course america formally entering world war ii in december of 1941. What was capra doing friprior t that. He was the most successful and best compensated director in hollywo hollywood. He was on the cover of Time Magazine with the headline columb columbias gem who had turned them into a major force. He had won three Academy Awards in 1934, 1936, 1938 and followed it up with oscars for mr. Smith goes to washington. He was at an extraordinary peek of achievement and representation before the war broke out. Interestingly as an italian immigrant the u. S. Was fighting his country with mussolini in alliance with hitlers germany. Correct. His family was sicilian and they emigrated to the u. S. When he was a shamall boy. He was acutely conscious that his status as an immigrant diminished him in the eyes of Many Americans who saw them as foreigners. If you look at some of the stories that were written about c capra even at the height of his success in places like the saturday evening post, it was not uncommon for writers to sort of compare him to an italian greengrocer. Stereotypes were really in full force and deployed in a really ugly way. For capra, his war help was largely about articulating his patriotism about asserting his identity as an american. Mark harris. Let me ask you about his two bodies of work. First the seven part series titled why we fight. What was behind that . Well, why we fight was the first assignment that marshall gave capra when he was trying to induce him to come and join the effort because capra like all of these directors was old enough to have gotten an exemption from service. The importance of his civilian work would have gotten an exemption even if his age had not. His impottous was to replace a series of very dry and dull lectures that incoming gis were being given about what the war was about and the history in japan and europe had been since the early 1930s and why we were fighting. Capra was asked to make a series of movies that would explain that. The interesting thing is the War Department never quite got around to telling capra their version of why we fight. So the answer to the question why are we fighting was really krocreated by capra and his teaf screen writers rather than an extension of War Department policy. It was a hollywood filmmaker who gave millions of gis that question. As you look at the films, where did the footage come from . What were the sources . Well, this was a real necessity as the mother of invention moment. He was asked to make these movies but he had almost no budget. Something like 450s to make 50 movies. Certainly he didnt have the budget to shoot film so after seeing lenny refenstalls propaganda film, he came up that all of the axis propaganda film making could be incorporated into these why we fight movies and in a way, the enemies propaganda could be turned against them and between that and his very innovative idea to have animation in the movies. Animated maps showing, you know, black ink spilling across europe or a crap like pincher or october abuts like tentacles to grab other countries were two innovative ways to get ash trou the fact that he didnt have the money to film battle scenes. This is a 14 minute document titled your job in germany. Mark harris, who was the audience . The audience for your job in germany was the group of soldiers who were stationed in germany after we won. The Occupying Forces. It was essentially a training film for them to tell them how to deal with and how not to deal with the german people who had been defeated. As youll see, it contains some very, very tough material and unsentimental instructions in that regard. You spent a lot of time researching this for your book five came back. What surprised you the most about director frank capra . Um, his politics were really complicated and they are impossible to track through his entertainment movies. Everybody sort of sees him because of the popularity of films like mr. Smith goes to washington as a great populace man of the people. He was actually a conservative republican who boasted that he never voted for fdr in any of his four president ial ooer leel and he thought he was being overtaxed by the government and he really disliked unions. So his politics were kind of all over the place at one point he was really enfat uated with mussolini and doing this book made me realize that war kind of crystallized his politics into patriotism. It was the time of his life where i think capper was actually the clearest about what he felt about america and when his patriotism really overrode any political leanings he might have. Mark harris. With that background we thank you. And now written by frank capra, here is a 14 minute training film, titled your job in germany. The problem now is future peace. That is your job in germany. By your conduct and attitude while on guard inside germany, you can lay the ground work of a peace that could last forever or you could lay the ground work for a new war to come of the just as american soldiers had to do this job 26 years ago, so other american soldiers may have to do this again another 20 years from now. Germany today appears to be beaten. Hitler is out. Swaufticcas, gone. Nazi propaganda, off the air. Concentration camps, empty. You will see ruins. You will see flowers and mighty beautiful scenery. Dont let it fool you. You are in enemy country. Be alert and suspicious of everyone. Take no chances. You are up against something more than tourist scenery. You are up against german history. It isnt good. This book was written chapter by chapter not by one man, not by one feror, it was written by the german people. Chapter one, the title blood and iron. The armies german. Under the prussianbi empire bui itself by war in austria, france. It became in 1871, the mightiest military power in all of europe. Enough conquest for a while. Time out. Europe relaxes. The danger is over. Nice country, germany. Tender people the germans. And very sweet music, indeed. Chapter 2, a new furor. Kiaser, germany over all and the same tender german people smacked us with world war i against serbia, russia, france, belgium, italy, britain and the United States of america. It took all of us to do it but we finally knocked him out. Defeated the german armies. Second chapter ended. We marched straight into germany and said why these people are okay. It was just that kiaser we had to get rid of. You snow this know . This is really some country. When it comes to culture, they lead the whole world. We bit. We poured in our sympathy. We pulled out our armies and they flung Chapter Three in our faces. Number three, slogan number three. Today germany is ours. Tomorrow the whole world and the tender rependant sorry german people carried the torch of their culture to austria, poland, czechoslovakia, france, england, norway, holland, denmark, belgium, russia, o ugoslavia, greese, and the United States of america. Over the shattered homes, over the broken bodies of millions of people who had let down their guard. We almost lost this one. It took everything we had measure the cost in money, there isnt that much money. Measure the cost in lives, we can only guess at that figure. It took burning and scolding, drenching, freezing. It took legs, fingers, arms. It took them by the millions. It cost hours, days, years that will never return. We threw in our help, our wealth, our past and our future. It took every last ounce of our courage and guts. Now what happens . Oh, hell this is when we came in. Yeah. This is where we came in. And chapter 4 . It could be. It can happen again. The next war. That is why you occupy germany. To make that next war impossible no easy job. In battle you kept your wits about you. Dont relax that caution now. The nazi party may be gone but nazi thinking, nazi training, and nazi trickery remain. The german lust for conquest is not dead, its merely gone undercover. Somewhere in this germany are the ss guards. The gustapo gangsters. Out of uniform, you wont know them but theyll know you. Somewhere in this germany are storm troopers by the thousands. Outofsight, part of the mob but still watching you and hating you. Somewhere in this germany are two million exnazi officials out of power but still in there thinking. Thinking about next time. Remember that only yesterday every business, every profession was part of hitlers system the doctors, technicians, clock makers, post man, farmers, house keepers, toy makers, barbers, cooks, dock workers, practically every german was part of the Network Guard particularly against this group. These are the most dangerous. German youth, children when the nazi party came into power. They know no other system than the one that poisoned their mind. They are soaked in it. Trained to win by cheating. Trained to pick on the weak. Theyve heard no free speech, read no free press, they were brought up on straight propaganda, products of the worst educational crime in the entire history of the world. Practically everything you believe in, they have been trained to hate and destroy. They believe they were born to be masters. That we are interiors, designed to be their slaves. They made deny it now but they believe it and will try to prove it again. Dont argue with them. Dont try to change their point of view. Other allied representatives will concern themself with that. You are not being sent into germany as educators. You are soldiers on guard. You will observe their local laws, respect their customs and religion and you will respect their property rights. You will not ridicule them. You will not argue with them. You will not be friendly. You will be aloof, watchful, and suspicious. Every german is a potential source of trouble. Therefore there must be no fraternization with any of the german people. That means making friends. The german people are not our friends. You will not associate with german men, women, or children. You will not associate with them in familiar terms in public or private. You will not visit in their homes nor will you ever take them into your confidence. However friendly, however sorry, however sick of the nazi party they may seem, they cannot come back into the civilized forward by sticking out their hand and saying im sorry. Sorry . Not sorry they caused the war. They are only sorry they lost it. That is the hand that heiled hitler. That is the hand that dropped the bombs on defenseless roterdam, brussels. That is the hand that destroyed the cities and homes of russia. That is the hand that held the whip over the polish, slavic, french, and norwegian slaves. That is the hand that took their food. That is the hand that starved them. That is the hand that murdered, massacred, greeks, czechs, jews. That is the hand that crippled american soldiers, sailors, marines. Dont clasp that hand. Its not the kind of hand you can collaplasp in friendship. There are millions of people. There must be some okay. There may be but one may cost you your live. Some day the germans may be cured of their disease. The superrace disease, the world conquest disease. They must prove they are over their disease. Until that day, we stand guard. We are determined that their plan for world conquest shall stop here and now. We are determined that they shall never again use peaceful industries for war like purposes. Our determined that our children will never face this terror. We are termed that the vicious cycle of war, peace, war, phony peace, war, phony peace shall once and for all time come to an end. That is your job in jegermany. The film your job in germany from 1945, director frank capra. Joining us from new york is author mark harris who has been researching this topic. Put the timing of this film, 1445 and the audience into per r inspective if you would. Well, your job in germany was a post war film. It was made to be shown not to general audiences but to soldiers. They were the you in the title your job in germany, Occupying Forces in post season germany who were trying to deal with a recently defeated germany popula populace. At the time frank capra recruited dr. Sues for army week he was a left winged editorial cartoonist in new york. He was strongly antigerman. It was the product of a dispute that was really prevalent in the War Department near the end not just germany but japan as well. There was a question how much should the civilian population as opposed to the military leaders or the emperor of japan or hitler in germany be blamed for what happened . Concurrently how much c reconciliation with ordinary germans should there be after the war. He was very much of the belief that the german people were should shelter a large portion of the blame. Capra was in agreement with that. He was very strident about the idea that there was something in the german character that made them worship these supermen. These ideal leaders and that there was a great danger in trusting or befriending or reaching out to or even forgiving the rank and file of just german citizenry. Tone saying to american soldiers these people arent your friends, dont trust them, dont be cruel to them and dont be abusive to them, but dont extend your hand in friendship, dont socialize with them, dont go to their houses. One quick followup because your points really came through in the film providing audience at the time some Historical Perspective on germanys role throughout europe and certainly by todays standard it wasnt politically correct. Oh, absolutely not. I mean, you know, there was real belief that there was a real belief in enemies at the end of world war ii. You know, there was a film made under capras authority about japan sort of the equivalent of your job in germany about japan, a film that evolved from a movie called know your enemy japan that was deemed so brutal and so incendiary when it arrived in japan after hiroshima and nagasaki, mcarthur refused to show the movie. While were talking about frank capra i want to ask you about private snafu. 26 cartoons we should point out not designed for children. Whats the story behind it . Right. They western designed for children and werent designed for adult civilians either. These were adult only cartoons that were meant to be shown to service men. And they were technically instructional films and in private snafu who is this kind of screw up private as youll see he looks a lot like elmer fudd because he derives from early drawings of elmer fudd. He was meant to give soldiers instructions on everything from the danger of consorting with prostitutes in Foreign Countries to how to protect yourself against malaria, to the importance of not gossiping or passing along secrets. And usually these five minute movies, many of which were also by the way written by the same author and sound like dr. Seuss material, usually the instruction was by negative example. Private snafu would do something wrong and he ended up dead or being blown to bits in about a third of them only to come back in the next installment a couple of months later. Mark, harris thanks very much. Now from the u. S. Army, titled going home as private snafu used by the army. A soldier returns from the global grind. Home is ahead. His home town is proud. Look at that brass band. Look at that crowd. Our returning hero has, no doubt, a million things to talk about. Safe at home, away from battle, restricted stuff makes harmless prattle. Our out fit is 999. We hold the center of the line. The british hold the west. Machine gun this. 200 million tanks. You got that off your chest, why not go out and blab the rest. A landing field. Boy is that sweet. It measures 15,000 feet with nine new runways all concrete. Those new jap tanks pack a punch. They knocked out bat erie b. If they start to push they will shove to us the sea. The news of the day. A new secret weapon did this to the fold. What hit you . Wouldnt you like to know . I know what indict. What made the big hole. A new flying bazooka with radar control. I know all about it. I was the light. The propelling charge is attached and the booster adapter sets off the fuse. Therefore giving it power to the spark plugs. Our very next mode, this is straight from the boss. Naturally it concerns not only about what we have but speaking of convoys you know when i sailed with the 999th a single ship from tent us, why the tanks we saw, the places we went. Now this is strictly confidential. And youll treat it so, i hope. But strictly confidentially heres the latest. Coming in at 74 degrees we placed our guns might just as well write it all over the sky. Ladies and gentlemen, the War Department regrets to announce that due to recent leaks on Restricted Military information our entire 999th division has been annihilated by the enemy. My outfit. Some guy shot his mouth off. Any guy who does that ought to be run over by a street car. Joining us from new york is author mark harris, his book is titled five came back a story of hollywood and the Second World War. As we conclude our discussion on director frank extra how did world war ii and postwar years change this director well, of all five of the directors i write bcapra was the one who expected to come back, i think, and have the best career in hollywood after the war and instead he had the worst. He came back and founded a company with two of the other directors i wrote about, William Wilder and George Stevens called liberty films. This was in a way one of the First Independent Movie Companies that was meant to get powerful directors out from under the oppressive restrictions of movie studios and give them some autonomy over what material they chose and how it was made and budgeted. Originally the plan was for each of the three directors to make three movies but the Company Never got past the first movie which was capras film its a wonderful life. Although we now consider that movie, you know, a classic. Its a wonderful life was not a Financial Success when it came out. It was not a particularly popular movie. It was overshadowed by the best years of our lives, and it bankrupted the company. Capra was so shattered by that failure and by the loss of liberty films that his insecurities about having lost his status in hollywood and his unerring instinct for what would work for audiences overcame him. He only made about five more movies for the rest of his career, and none of them were successful. His career, as we know it, was essentially over after 1946 when its a wonderful life was released. Mark harris joining us from new york, his book five came back, a story of hollywood and the Second World War. Thanks for being with us here on cspan 3s American History tv. On the next washington journal a look at the supreme courts ruling of the contraception mandate in the federal health care law. Our guests are ed whelan and elizabeth wydra. Later Greg Whitlock from the Washington Post on the year long investigation into the safety of american drone use. Washington journal is live every morning at 7 00 eastern on cspan. You can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. 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Each week American History tvs reel america brings you archival films that help toel story of the 20th century. In the second part we feature George Stevens who was with the invading army 70 years ago on june 6th, 1944, to document dday. Stevens assisted in production the film the true glory which includes extensive dday footage and do you wanted the horrors of nazi concentration camps creating films that was used as evidence in the neuremberg trials. First we talk to mark harris. The book is titled five came back a story of hollywood and the Second World War and one of the directors featured by author mark harris is George Stevens. Mark harris is going us judge new york. Thanks very much for being with us. In your book these five directors putting their careers on hold to thips haerm and the military during the height of world war ii, why did George Stevens get involved . Stevens had been a director of some of the most successful light come disand escapist movies in hollywood throughout the 1930s. He actually came up doing laurel and hardy silent shorts and when sound came in he did everything from swingtime one of the best fred astaire and Ginger Rogers movies to woman of the year with tracy hepburn. For stevens who like all of the directors was old enough so he could have gotten a civilian exemption from the war really wanted to what he called a seat on the 50 yard line of history. He felt that it was a patriotic duty to go. He had been chafing in hollywood, he felt he was pigeonholed because he wanted to make films with more coninformation rather or war related content and when he was wasnt able to do it at rko or columbia he jumped at the chance to do it in the army and for the army. Interestingly, of the five directors, stevens is the only one who never made a sort of Free Standing documentary during the war that was shown to civilian audiences, but his work in the war which ranged from restaging battle scenes in north africa to becoming the first major american filmmaker to enter the camps after they were liberated and his films there actually provided evidence for the neuremberg trials. His work on the war was the most wide ranging and in some ways historically significant in terms of the camp footage of any directors during the war. Let me follow up on that point because he was a member of the u. S. Army signal corps under the leadership of general eisenhower who was responsible for the historic invasion on dday 70 years ago this year. Where was George Stevens during that time in june of 1944 . Stevens was right there at dday. You know, just as john ford was at dday supervising the filming effort made by the navy, stevens was there overseeing the shooting done by the army and of all the major battles and turning points in the war, dday was the one that allied film makers had the longest and best opportunity to prepare for. This was a filming effort that involved hundreds of cameras, both stationary and manned, and dozens of cameramen. And stevens, you know, as the war progressed, often his function was to coordinate some film making efforts with the allies. Particularly the british or canadians, and that was one of the things he did at dday, ford asked if stevens wouldnt mind working with the british to help shore up their dday film making effort and i believe the ship stevens arrived on dday was a british ship. The Library Congress listed his work as the essential via sue sal record of what happened in word war ii, not only the american success on dday but also the concentration camps. I wonder if you can talk a little bit about that including what he saw in dacha. After dday, stevens stayed with the troops and filmed all the way through the push into france and the liberation of paris, which was, you know, absolutely some of the most historically important footage of the war. His work in the camps, in dacha was really devastating. They got there just days after liberation. And whats remarkable is that even without official instructions, stevens instinctively understood that his job had at that instanting changed, that he was no long ear documentary person and no longer a propagandaist but a collector of visual evidence. His job at dachau was literally to document, to film the devastation that had been wrought on the bodies of these people, to film bodies, to film things that still when we contemplate the horrors of what was done in the death camps, its the images that stevens shot that give us our via saul understanding, the language we use comprehend those atrocities, and it was for him an absolutely devastating experience. He spoke with it afterwards and, you know, stevens was a great director after the war. He went on to make movies like a place in the sun but never direct ad comedy and he felt that dachau had robbed him of his ability to be funny, to be light hearted. Among his work, the film the true glory, im going to show the first 25 minutes of that film, this was an American British coproduction. What can you tell us about it, mark harris . Well, the true glory was in a way very typical of a friendly tension that arose between the United Kingdom and the u. S. England, of course, was in the two years before the u. S. Was. And they were sort of perpetually two years ahead of the u. S. In the vigor and intelligence and passion of their war time film making efforts. So there were some uneasy collaborations between us and the british, coproductions in which the really good footage from england was used to prop up some inferior footage from the u. S. , but the true glory was not one of those case. The true glory was an instance in which england had a vvery good director, carol reed who went on to make the third man and olivier and the u. S. Had a good screen writer, padd Paddy Chayefsky who worked on the true glory and then went on to write a great many teleplays including network. Stevens job was to step in briefly to make sure that everything was going smoothly between the brits and the americans and thats what he did on the true glory. This is a nearly 30 minute film. Well begin with an introduction by general dwight eisenhower. I have been asked to be the spokesman for this allied Expeditionary Force in saying a word of inintroduce ducktion to what youre about to see. Its a story of the nazi defeat on the western front. So far as important, the editors have made an account of the really important men in this campaign. I mean the enlisted soldiers, sailors and airmen that fought through every obstacle to victory. Course to tell the whole story would take years. But the theme would be the same. Teamwork wins wars. I mean teamwork among nations, services and men. All the way down the line from the g. I. And the tommy to west hats. Our enemy in this campaign was strong, resourceful and cunning but made a few mistakes. His greatest blunder was this, he thought he could break up our partnership. But we were welded together by fighting for one great cause. In one great team, a team in which you were an indispensable and working member. That spirit of a free people working, fighting and living together in one great cause have served us well on the western front. We in the field pray that that spirit of comradeship will persist forever among the free peoples of the united nations. To you who now live for hope who sense a future in the surrounding air this testament is offered. Here you may look on the violent fragments of our age and the once thinness of the little thread that made us then the citizens of freedom. Dark was europe and the face of man when this begins. A nation that had gone mad and struck out every where the compass knew. Yet tired of our way and left its wreckage on a hundred coast. German cast its fires about the globe. His strength lay in our weakness. At last his conquest smoldered behind the barriers of his arms. Along the channel where the sea strikes france stood the west wall of concrete stone and steel to mock the frail hopes of the petty free. Wounded hard pressed and wasted in our strength almost like madmen then we planned to breach the wall and the wall and smash the german smite. We searched the coast of europe, between low flashing and the assault. Exits in title range. Sand of the wind cancelled the belgium coast. The beaches were too small and barred the approaches. Quarter turn, too narrow. Heavily defended. All resolved on normandy. Airplanes would land on the dpround. Tides had a good range. So five miles of unblooded sand, the course would be sailed by armored nations. Now our people bent to the construction of a steel array and took the builders hammer in their hands. Seemed as though the sun stood still full of range and power through the air the sphere of war. This is our peoples story in their words. I suppose if the battle of the north atlantic hadnt gone right, things might have been considerably different. Its an ugly time for all of us. Naval escort, air patrol, i guess i had my share of bad luck. I lost three ships and some good friends. I remember reading somewhere that when a sea gull comes down on a patch of oil its feathers stick together and cant get off the water again. There must have been a lot of dead sea gulls around the north atlantic. Of course, we only saw it happening on the map. Yet it was, well, quite real. When i started there, those markers we used might have been toys out of a childrens game. Soon they were ships carrying cargo and weapons and supplies and men to use them. I remember coming over the worst thing about the trip was you didnt know where you were dpoing. Wherever it was, you would be a stranger and nobody likes that. That ship was loaded from stem to stern with sad sacks. Third day out, were all on the same boat. A comic. Finally we got to liverpool. They had a band to play us in. An english army band full of chimes. Im dreaming of a White Christmas they played. It was a nice gesture. Funny thing, on the way over, you felt like you were the whole works. All over the uk you saw things that made you begin to realize you were just part of a big proposition. All kinds of things. I was a premed student. Now i do know a Little Something about anatomy. And i say it is scientifically impossible for the human body tostand stand up to the training we received. An absolute impositive blt. Muscles and tendons and bone structured is not designed to withstand that battering. Dont ask me how we did stand up to it. It has no scientific explanation. Here, listen to this. One of those army captains. To a young man, soldiered in the army of today offers exceptional advantages and opportunities such as physical training, foreign travel, sport, and many other facilities which are normally denied to those engaged in civilian occupations. The majority of occupations in civil life become to say the least. But in the army, life is so varied that theres little or no prospect of a monotonous or irksome time. Guard it with our highest honor, and while they earned the lethal arts of war in small and secret rooms, the planets met to watch their work mature. Beyond our view, the german proud and confident stood calm on the armored coast. The war was not yet one of men and blood, the weapons were the factories speaking in the hidden light. Season by season, all our plans advanced and those few men on whom the massive war rested work ed ceaselessly. I used to wonder whether the millions of people doing their various jobs realized they were part of it all, paving the way for the invasion. We kept bashing away at german targets, hamburg, battle of berlin. Things were getting tougher every trip. More crews not coming back. We got away early in the morning. Sometimes wed see land casters coming back. Sometimes we took up the same targets they did. It was a service day and night, 24 hours a day. We dropped agents over france. Must be awful to have to keep it secret. One man submarines. We used them all to bring back cups full of sand for analysis. It had to be quick drying with a solid clay foundation. It would have to support 30on to tanks. I must have photographed every field in france. We dropped stuff armed, ammunition, sabotage materials and so upon then taught them how to use it. We hadnt the least an idea what kind of gadget it was. It was vital to know about the same tides and retrain to negotiate the tides and Landing Craft. German sea power in preparation for the day. The special study of the weather along the coast. Miles of beaches, 7,200 per day. With an underwater pipeline to carry to france. White stars the emblem. New ships pouring from the stocks. Old ships adapted. Listening to the german radio output for fresh intelligence. It was just part of the preinvasion work. By december 43 the plan was set and we took it for final discussion. Our Russian Forces advancing from the east and invasion from the west. And then the date was set. I assume command is safe with the best all around team for which a man could ask. Some have already been working for months in england. Others i brought with me from the mediterranean. We adopted first a master plan and then had to coordinate every last detail of the ground, sea and airplanes. While this was going on, we led off with an air show designed to make the landing points as soft as possible to batter the German Communications and to make certain wed have control of the air. It was quite a show. Those airmen did a magnificent job. We had polish, czechs, the only way they could make up was marshaling the arts. We used to ask each other, have you cut any good bridges lately . Finally there was only one bridge left between paris and the sea. Down in the late spring through the wounded towns of england moved the mass made by our patients. Two precious years of plans were put away. The offices were empty. All the maps were on the walls. Paper had come alive. Across the channel, our resolve the germans stood beside our guns. They were prepared, their might was poised. They looked across the sea and grinned. They would on the beaches and even death himself would stand amazed. Yet faint across the groaning of the sea came the thin thunder of a massive power. Drawn from the great peoples of the earth, it gathered in the ancient ports of england. It was a funny sort of feeling marching down to the ships. We had done it plenty of times of course, on the scenes and that sort of thing. They didnt tell us this was the big show. Might have been another exercise. Some of the chaps cracked gags. I think we all guessed. The general feeling was get in there and get it over with. Even waiting for a bus, never could stand it. Well, after a bit our ship found its place in the middle of all the rest. There we stayed for days. They gave us the final briefing then. We knew what to do and how, they told us where and when, thats a briefing. I listened to every word. Wrote it down in my head like a record and it kept playing over and over again. Beach in the morning. Ever since i became a soldier, they were getting me ready for this. Protect i protecting me. Now the time had worn away and there were only a few hours left. In the morning i would have to face it. I had tried to imagine how much i would have. I suppose everybody else was wondering the same thing. Nobody said anything official, but all of a sudden the ship got much busier. And over the amplifier the chaplain said he would be saying mass at 1830 hours. I dont think i ever believed that the invasion was going to come off. And a voice in the loud speaker said, men who wish to take their antisick sea pills should take their first one now. That did it. I was tugging a glider. Three airborne division. Just before the glider pilot cast off, they wished us good luck over the radio. Seemed inadequate thing to say. As supreme commander, let me break in at this point to say just a word about the navy. From the moment of em bar indication, the full burden fell upon the navy and our fleets. They had to sweep the mines, bombard the coastal batteries, protect the transports along the coastline, and finally, man the small boats that carried the soldiers to the beach. On that day, there were more than 8,000 ships and Landing Craft on the shores of normandy. It was the most intricate task and a vital one for the success of our plans. The courage, fidelity and skill of the american navies have no brighter page in their histories than that of june 1944. Back in london, only a few people knew. It was a world kept secret. Around daybreak, we told correspondence and they told. They called our beach omaha. Dont ask me why. I never been to omaha, in nebraska i mean. If its anything like omaha, france, you can have it. I understand omaha was the roughest spot. We lost some good men, took a few prisoners. It was a lousy trade. Weve been told what to expect so it wasnt like a surprise or anything. It just, well, when it really happens, its different. For awhile, they were pinned down. The other beaches were going better so we got a little more than our share of the old teamwork. Navy come in and the air guys and finally we got moving good. We hear a lot about how long it takes to make battle hardened soldiers out of green troops. I got to be in one day. That day. So they lurked and reached the roads. Rich green pasture, the three airborne divisions. And loud across the crater face of france came german reenforcements. A voice cried out an ally before another day burned a hole in history. The armies clashed. Our first objective, then, was to merge all into one and 50 miles of men drive on together beyond the red sands through the broken wall. It wasnt too bad getting ashore. For keeping it like youd been told. Chucking a few hundred grenades and rush them. We would kill more than them. They were regular fortresses. Our own men while they would wait for artillery support. The navy was still with us too chucking in shells ahead of us. In the days, we advanced seven miles. Then we were told to stand fast and dig in. Next morning they heard the news from the bbc. It sounded great. We joined up all along the bridge head. There was 45 miles of it. We had got a foothold. We were in. A portion of the film true glory and joining us is mark harris who has been researching the directors from this period. As you look back at that film, what are your impressions . You know, the english film makers, the men in the British Army Film unit were really pureless at putting together these documentaries. Not only did home front audiences in england find them very stirring, but they played well in america too. The england had a head start on the film making effort in the war and their documentaries including early ones like desert victory really sparked a sense of competition in u. S. Film makers. There was a lot of open discussion in the War Department and with people like frank capra saying why arent our movies this good . Why isnt the material were getting as strong as this british material . So the true glory in the hands of carol reid, a really great director, is a good example of how the english knew what they were doing on this front. In setting up our conversation about this film, we touched briefly about the concentration camps and what George Stevens saw throughout germany. He put a film together on the concentration camps. What did you learn about that . Yeah, stevens did not go home quickly after the war was done. He lingered in germany and he was in uniform and on duet. His traffic was to prepare two films to be shown at the trials later that year. One of them was called thety plan, which was intended to demonstrate that, in fact, this was a well calculated, systemic effort. In a way to prove intent and conspiracy and the other film nazi concentration camp was to document the atrocities that stevens and his men had seen when they went through the gates and filmed there. I, george p. Stevens, colonel, army of the United States, hereby certify that from the 1st of march, 1945, to the 8th of may, 1945, i was on active duty with the United States army corps. Both of the movies were shown at the trial themselves and since the defendants were, you know, were present, they were forced to watch these movies. By the accounts of people who were there, it was really a fascinating experience that at first they didnt understand that the crowd that the room was horrified by this. They were so infatuated with the footage of hitler that one of them said, you know, after this even the americans will want to join up. The films, in fact, had just the opposite of the impact that the german defendants had hoped. They so repelled and horrified the room that afterwards some of the defendants lawyers said they found it almost impossible to be in the same room with the people they were representing. By the time the second of the two films was shown, the defendants really understood that it was over for them. That the films had provided evidence that was more damning and more painful than any spoken testimony could be. Finally, George Stevens left the army in 1946. What was his post world war ii career like . Stevens post world war ii career was great. It did not include comedies because he felt incapable of making funny films after what he had seen. He became a very serious director who was hugely respected throughout the 1950s for movies like giant and a place in the sun and the diary of ann frank. The interesting thing was stevens felt that the closest thing he had made to a world war ii movie after the war was actually not a war movie but a western. It was shane. And shane was inspired because stevens when he was in post war germany was horrified to see little children running around in cowboy outfits shooting cap pisto pistols. He wanted to make a movie that made audiences aware of what a bullet really did. What the impact of shooting someone really was and he said that in the movie, i believe the words he used was for our purposes in this movie, a single shot is a holocaust. And even today, shane stands as one of the most sober and painful westerns from that era. George stevens, one of the five directors featured in the new book out by mark harris titled five came back. Joining us from new york city, here on American History tv, thanks very much for being with us. Thank you. Each week, American History tvs reel america brings us films that tell the story of the 20th century. In the third of a fivepart look at hollywood director who is made films for the u. S. Government during world war ii, we feature director john ford. In the 18minute documentary he made for the u. S. Navy about the june 1942 battle of midway. The film presented a victory in vivid color to an American Public eager for good news in the year following pearl harbor. But first, we speak with author mark harris about john ford. In his book, author mark harris focusing on hollywood and the Second World War and five leading directors at the time including john ford, who serve ed in the u. S. Navy during world war ii. Mark harris, thanks very much for being with us. Thanks for having me. What can you tell us about the work of john ford . Ford was one of the most respected directors in hollywood. Probably thee most respected before the war. Between 1939 and 1941 he went on kind of an unmatched tear in hollywood making the grapes of wrath, stagecoach one of the first important westerns, young mr. Lincoln, just a set of movies that gave him the reputation as one of the most intelligent and seriousminded directors. He was also the most presentation of the five directors i write about in realizing that war was inevitable. In fact, three months before pearl harbor, ford was already in uniform. He felt that war was coming and that he also understood that hollywood really needed to be prepared. He had gotten the navy to agree almost a year before the war to let him create something that came to be known as the field photo unit. It was a sort of intended as an axillary in which he recruited cameramen and soundmen and film editors from Hollywood Studios who would spend their weekends and nights training to do things like develop film on a listing ship and, you know, shoot film under wartime conditions. In some ways, it was kind of a lurk. Forward really loved ceremony and military procedure and dressup, but this unit became absolutely crucial during the war when it was called into action to shoot documentaries. Two of the most significant events, dday where john ford witnessed the events unfold on omaha beach and the battle of midway in which he was wounded, correct . Yes, the battle of midway was the first time that a major american film maker was there to film engagement. It was the middle of 1942 the war in europe was not happening yet as far as the u. S. Was concerned. So all of the news, all of the concentration, all of the effort was spent in the pacific trying to hold off the japanese in various places while the navy attempted to rebuild its fleet to full strength after the damage done to pearl harbor. And most of the news in the six months after pearl harbor that had come out of the war was not good for the u. S. There werent a lot of victories being tallied in the newspapers. There was a lot of valor in terms of allies holding the line for a very, very long time before, you know, baton or the philippines fell. But midway was the first point at which we won a successful, major engagement. And ford was there. He had been put aboard a ship from hawaii and taken to midway without know iing that a battle was coming. He said later that he assumed that he was there to make a documentary about life at a remote navy base. He learned that a japanese attack was eminent and that the u. S. Was prepared. So on the morning of midway, he was stationed on the roof of a power house with a camera and a couple of men from his unit, who also had cameras, perfectly positioned to capture incoming japanese zeros. And he was alternating shooting footage and being on the phone to the naval officers below just telling them what he was seeing. He shot until a piece of shrapnel hit him in the arm and knocked the film in his camera out of its sprokts. Were going to see his work titled the battle of midway. For our audience watching in a moment, what should they look for . Well, its impossible to overstate the impact that this movie had. By the end of its run because its a short movie, it didnt show instead of the hollywood features. It showed in addition to them. By the end of its run, it had played in three quarters of all of the movies in the United States. What you should look for in this movie is the fact it was made in color. We take that for granted now, but it was shocking and unprecedented for audiences then to see real events like this in color. The color had been reserved for fantasies like the wizard of oz or Fashion Shows or lavish musicals. Black and white was considered oddly as it may sound, more realistic. So this was one of the first examples of color realism. Also if you listen to the movie, youll hear that there are four off camera voices. He has a really interesting technique of kind of alternating narration and commentary. And two of the voices youll hear, which are sort of a surrogate elderly woman and young man, maybe her son, who are sitting in the audience. Those are the voices of henry fonda, whom ford had just used in the grapes of wrath. So its a fascinating mixture of hollywood technique in terms of the narration and pure raw footage, especially in the middle of this movie when the narration drops away and the battle begins. Mark harris, thanks for being with us. From 1942 with john fofrd, this 18minute film titled the battle of midway. The patrol plane, routine patrol. Only behind every tower may be an enemy. Midway island, your front yard. These are the natives of midway. They have sworn to liberate them. The birds seem nervous. Theres something in the air. Something behind that sunset. Excitement this morning. The dawn patrol sighted an enemy fleet. Forces had landed a midway. And the Historic Council of war is upheld. Is that one of those fortresses . Yes, maam, it is. Why thats young will. Hes from my hometown, springfield, ohio. Hes not going to fly that great big plane. Thats his job. Hes a skipper. His dad is an engineer. 38 years on the railroad. And his mother, shes just like the rest of us mothers in springfield or any other american town. And his sister patricia, shes about as pretty as they come. Ill say so. Good luck. God bless you, son. Suddenly from behind the clouds, the japs attack. Yes, this really happened. Warships reached the fleet. Then suddenly, the trap is sprung. Navy planes from the decks of our carriers. Army bombers, marines, under destruction over 300 miles. The invasion forces were hit and hit and hit again. Men and women of america, here come your neighbors sons, home from the days work. You want to meet them. Theres jimmy fetch, seven meatballs on his plane. How many more today, skipper . Back at midway, liberate the neighbors. Just as free as they ever were. The battle of midway is over. Our front yard is safe, but a big job is still to be done. Day after day, planes search for survivors. Every tiny coral reef, every distant mile of sea. Flew to the last drop of gas and never questions to recede. Eight days, nine days, ten days without food or water. His first cigarette. That first drag sure tastes good. 11 days, well done. Logan ramsey. Frank kes ler, thats 13 for frank. Get those boys to the hospital. Please do, quickly. Get them to clean cots and cool sheets. Get them doctors and medicine. A nurse with soft hands. Get them to the hospital, hurry, please. There was a hospital, clean, orderly, 100 beds. Among its roof the red cross plainly marked. The symbol of mercy the enemy was bound to respect. The next morning Divine Services were held beside a bomb crater that had once been a chapel. At even tide, we buried our heroic dead. The last salute from their comrades. Captain of the navy, colonel, major roosevelt. The 1942 film battle of midway by director john ford. Joining us is author mark harris. How did john ford view his service in the u. S. Navy . Ford was really proud of his service. He was the oldest of the five directors i write about. In fact, he became a grandfather during the war. E he had been old enough to serve in the first world war, although he didnt. So for ford, i think the war was a proving ground. He really wanted to test his courage, and although he was at least once directly in the line of fire, im not sure that ford ever believed that he was courageous. In fact, at one point he said all i know is that im not a brave man, that it im a coward. That was after he had been at dday. So ford was really proud that he had served and in fact, when he completed his sort of decommissioning papers, he said he would do it again if called upon. One of the things ford did right after the war was farm, which was sort of a combination rest home, clubhouse, barroom, getaway for the men in his field photo unit. And it was a place that he decorated with every medal and recognition that he had ever won during the war. That was something he was really obsessed with. It was a huge part of his identity. He kept it in operation for almost 25 years after the war. I just wanted to ask you about his work and how it now lives on in the films he put together. How important was it to the allied efforts and to the American People who saw these films in the 19450s . Fords war work was tremendously important. I mean, especially the battle of midway, which was the first visual evidence that home front movie going audiences had that the u. S. Could win this thing. It was the first really good news that movie theaters brought about the war. And also i think beyond any one movie that he put on screen, ford will always have a place in the history of world war ii film making efforts because he was the first of anyone whether in hollywood or the War Department to realize and believe and act on the conviction that there should be a wartime film making effort. He understood that it was going to be absolutely essential to document this war and that film, which at the time we should really remember was sound film was only 10 or 12 years old. It was newer to americans by far than the internet is to us today. Ford really understood that this fledgling medium would play an important part of the perception of the war. A story of hollywood and the Second World War and among the directors featured by author mark harris is George Stevens and john ford, john houston and frank capra. Thanks for being with us. Thank you for having me. Some live events to tell you about on the cspan networks. The International Institute for strategic studies is hosting a discussion on the situation in syria and how the surrounding region is being affected by the events taking place there. Thats live at 10 00 a. M. Eastern here on cspan 3. And on cspan 2, a look at how Energy Policy is being impacted by the conflict in ukraine. Former u. S. Ambassadors to russia and georgia will be among the speakers. Thats live at 10 30 a. M. Eastern. I tell the story about how i, whose every aspect of whose identity is in one way or another a threat to israel. My gender is male, my religion is muslim, my citizenship is american, but my nationality is iranian. My ethnicity it persian, my culture is middle eastern, everything about me sends off all the Warning Signals for israel. And so the experience of an iranianamerican single man trying to get through the airport in the 21st century is a reminder to everyone that despite the way globalization has brought us closer and has diminished the boundaries that separate us as nations, as ethnicities, as people, as cultures, despite all of that, all you got to do is spend a few minutes trying to get through this airport to know that those divisions, those things that separate us are still very much apparent. Reza aslan will take your phone calls on the war on terror and the instability in the middle east, live for three hours, sunday at noon eastern on book tvs weekend of nonfiction books and authors starting this friday on cspan 2. Book tv, television for serious readers. Now you can keep in touch with Current Events from the Nations Capital using any phone any time with cspan radio on audio now. Call 2026268888 to hear forums, listen to a recap of the days events at 5 00 events at p. M. Eastern on washington today. You can also hear audio of the five Network Sunday affairs programs. Cspan radio on audio now. 2026068888. Long distance or phone charges may apply. In the fourth of a fivepart look at hollywood directors who made films for the u. S. Government in world war ii, we feature director William Wyler and thunderbolt, a 42minute documentary he made for the u. S. Army air force about a squadron of p47 fighter planes stationed in italy. He also directed the documentary the memphis belle, filmed inside bombers on missions over nazi germany. First, to provide context, we speak to author and film historian mark harris. A new book out by author mark harris, five game back, a story of hollywood and the Second World War, and among the directors featured is William Wyler. Mark harris is joining us to explain this book and this director in world war ii. Thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me. Who was William Wyler . Whats his background . Of the five directors about whom i write, wyler was the only jew. He was an immigrant from a small town called mulose, which was in a region of france that when he was a boy and a teenager, had been at various times either french or under german occupation. So when he came to hollywood and worked his way up and eventually before the war became known as one of the most sophisticated and meticulous and mature craftsman in hollywood with movies like jez abell and the letter and the little foxes and dodsworth. He was also very conscious of his status as an immigrant and as a jew who was trying to help get dozens of family members and friends out of europe before the war crashed down. Let me follow up on that point because as an immigrant, you also featured frank capra in your book. His family coming to the u. S. From italy. Take us back to the mindset of the late 30s and early 40s and how this might have affected the psyche of directors like William Wyler. One thing that its really hard to recapture now is the idea that before the war, the relationship between hollywood and washington, d. C. And in fact between hollywood and much of america was very suspicious. There were many isolationists in america and in fact in congress, and in the government. There were certainly many antisemites in america, and there was a considerable overlap between isolationism and antisemiti antisemitism, although there were certainly isolationists who were not antisemites and a lot that were. And the way that played out was this suspicion that this kind of grubby, seedy business where there was mob infiltration of the unions, where most of the men who ran these studios were first or Second Generation immigrants. Most of them were jewish. There was a suspicion thats, you know, these people were not real americans. That they were fomenting an appetite for war that they were creating, essentially interventionest propaganda in their entertainment movies with an eye toward dragging america into a war to protect their financial interests and to protect their relatives in the old country. Thats the level of kind of paranoia and suspicion and contempt with which many in hollywood were viewed by many in america and by many in congress. And the heat was particularly on people like wyler, who were jewish and constantly under pressure to assert their american identity above all. You know, they would get pressured by wyler got pressured by Warner Brothers at one point to make a contribution to the Hollywood Community chest, a local charity, and he said, i cant. All of my money is tied up right now in trying to get people out of europe and warner basically said, i sympathize, but i dont care. Its really important for us to show that we care about, you know, not just our relatives but our community here. So there was great pressure to assimilate, great pressure to be american. Great pressure to mute ones jewishness or mute ones foreignness. In terms of the timeline of his life, he became a u. S. Citizen, as you pointed out, back in 1928. He then served as a major in the u. S. Army air forces between 1942 and 1945. And put together three documentaries, including the 1947 film thunderbolt. Explain. Well, wyler had made a really powerful documentary called the memphis belle, the story of a flying fortress which was the first war time documentary to show what it was like to fly missions in a bomber over france and over occupied germany. And unlike many documentaries from the war, there was no restaging in this. Wyler and his men trained to fly. They went over to europe. They flew five missions. They were shot at. And all of that commitment led to this documentary, which was made with great attention to various military. He really wanted to create a kind of you are there experience. One of the most important instruments is the interphone. Theres four of them. 1 00 high. Theyre coming around. Watch them. Coming in. 2 00, watch it. An engine on fire. Out of control, 3 00. Come on, you guys, get out of that plane. Bail out. Theres one. He came out of the bombay. I see him. Theres a tail gunner coming out. Watch out for a fighter. Keep your eye on him, bill. See any parachutes . 9 00. That movie and the acclaim for it led to wyler wanting to make a different movie about another kind of bomber called thunderbolt. And it was during the filming of extra footage for thunderbolt a little more footage that wyler wanted to get of the italian coastline that he experienced this real personal tragedy, which is that he got out of the plane and had gone deaf in the air. You know, wyler was shooting in unpressurized cabins. It was freezing cold up in the air. The noise from the engines was, you know, ear drum shattering. And he finally ultimately lost his hearing, and with that, literally overnight, his army service was over in this very unexpected way. So the completion of thunderbolt became terribly important to him, even though by the time he was recovered enough to finish the movie, the war was over and there was simply no use for this kind of propaganda film anymore about u. S. Military might. So thats why you have the anomaly of a movie like thunderbolt which was intended for war time consumption, not being shown until 1947. And then, even then, being barely seen. When wyler finished his print and took it to washington and showed it to army brats, a general stood up after the screening and said, willy, what is this movie for . And he really had no answer because the timeline of world war ii had just outraced him. It is a 42minute film. And its titled thunderbolt from director William Wyler. Mark harris, thanks for being with us. Now a chance to see the film in its entirety. This picture was photographed in combat zones by cameronmen of the mediterranean allied forces and by pilots of the 12th air force who joined missions against the enemy, operated automatic cameras in that plane. Behind the pilot, shooting forward and back. Under the wing. In the wing. Timed with the guns. In the wheel well. In the instrument panel. Photographing the pilot himself. The commander counter of the United States air force is general carl spots has asked me to tell you something about this picture. I dont think i can do any better than just to read from his telegram to me. Thunderbolt was made in 1944. Ancient history. It was made about one Fighter Bomber group in the italian campaign. It happens to be an american group. The same story could well be told of the Royal Air Force grouped which participated so gallantly in the same air offensive. As a matter of fact, the story belongs to all men who fought for freedom and did it a long way from home. Signed spots. Thank you. To the italian man in the street, or whats left of the street, this is the fulfillment of a promise. The promise of the fascists to build a 20th century roman empire conceived in tyranny and dedicated to the proposition that some men were meant to be slaves of other men. Special victims were the childr children. They saw things not meant for childrens eyes. From the air, italy is more remote. The airmen never sees the face of the people, only the face of the country. From the air, you look down at the mountains. Look down and wonder how our men on the ground ever got through. Mountains and rivers. A lot of american blood in that one. Natural barriers made other campaigns tough, too. Exhausted elephants, sesars legions. For the air men, the ground war is remote. The only war you really understand is the air war. You can see a pattern to it. Lots of the country never been touched. Little towns that walked the ridges, like tightrope artists to keep from falling off. This one didnt matter. When something did matter, that was another story. This is how we changed the face of italy from the air. They boasted italian trains ran on time. Not these. This is what we did to the face of italy. Theres a story behind why we did it and how we did it. The story starts on an island 60 miles off italys coast. The island of corsica. Corsica, rugged, primitive, mountainous, malaria. Here, they still remember a local boy who put corsica on the map. 150 years ago. This island part of france is liberated by the french in september 43. But you can still find a few germans left by the wayside where they fell in the shadow of our air drones. Alto air base. Sunday morning. Here, sunday is like monday, and monday is like every other day in the week. A working day. The engines wake you at dawn. In your sack, you can hear the crew chiefs preflighting their planes. Getting them ready for the days missions. This is how you live when youre an airplane driver, fighting an air war. 20 minutes from the germans in italy. Youre used to it. You have been washing out of your helmet since july of 42. And the holy land to africa, across the desert, egypt, to libya and tunisia. 1500 miles. You move when the infantry moved. Sicily and italy. 58 moves in two years. Now, corsica. This is the best year you ever had, call it the country club. When you talk about air color, this is what you mean. You mean spanking manda of new mexico, squadron operations officer. Not a desk job. Over 170 missions working for 200. Hes 22. You mean captain Howard Hickok of ames, iowa. Hes your flight leader. 30 days in the states, time to get married and come back. Hes 23. Or in his italian generals trailer, gill weimann, louisville, kentucky, hardly old enough to vote, but hes boss of a squadron. He signed his letters Lieutenant Air force commander, the old man. Hes 24. Sunday morning. For the 57th fighter group, three squadrons, 1,000 men, another day begins at alto air base. You can close your eyes and see it this way. Spread out like a diagram. Home sweet home for some time. Good steel map runway, 150 x 6,000 feet. Tower call sign is break neck. Lots of jokes about that. We share the view with a french fighter group. Dont speak the same language, but we fly the same airplane against the same enemy. Each lost men yesterday. We get along. Group Commander Lieutenant cu colonel archie j. Night, hes 27. First Mission Today is a 65 squadron show. Briefing right after breakfast. Informal, short, to the point. Park yourself on a bomb crate and get your escape kit. Enemy money, instructions to get you back through the lines, just in case. The s2 tells you about your target. He doesnt have to draw it for you. You do this every day, sometimes two or three times a day. Gill will lead the show. So he lays out the job. Thats the nurses hat. His girls. Wears it for luck. You need all you can get. The brass upstairs plans the war. They want something done. They pick up the phone. You do it. Dont always know why they send you out on a mission, but always care. But you know theres a reason, a good one. Today, the missions are going out because the italy armies have been stopped cold at the gus toff line, across the narrowest and most mountainous part of the peninsula. U. S. Fit bombing, british 8 bombing, stopped for five months. 100,000 men sweating it out. We couldnt move. Stalemated. March 15th, we bombed cassino, our immediate objective. Good job of bombing. Didnt work. Our infantry didnt advance. It was the wrong use of air power. Wrong because we were not taking advantage of the airplanes greatest asset, its ability to get behind the enemy. Thats what the air planners wanted to do, get behind him. Lieutenant general commanding all the air in the mediterranean, british, french, and american. Major general john k. Cannon, uncle joe, commanding the 12th air force, and Brigadier General gordon p. Civil, 12th contactical command. Stairs who air wall. They said lets not hit them here. Lets hit him here. Lets isolate the battlefield. Lets weaken the entire german front. By depriving it of supplies, fuel, food, ammunition, reenforcements. They call the plan operation strangle. This is what we want to do with airplanes. How . A lot of railroads in italy. This is the enemy. Keep the trains from getting through. A lot of rivers in italy and over 700 major bridges. We figured if a train came to one and it wasnt there, it would be kind of tough to get across. Medium bombers got many of the important ones, but bridges are long, narrow targets, difficult to hit and destroy. Took a lot of trips, bombs, planes, men. We started to use a special weapon, a Fighter Bomber, the p47 thunderbolt. One engine, one man. One bomb on each wing. Extra fuel tanks for range. 65s crew chief taxi from the dispersion points at the end of the runway. Light up the squadron. All the pilots have to do is climb in and take them away. If youre a crew chief, you get your own p47. Sometimes you think of it as your personal airplane. But pilots are lended to every day. You let him fly around in it and you expect him to bring it back in good condition. No bullet holes or flack holes. After youve been lending your airplane to one pilot for a long time, you get attached to him, too. If youre a pilot, no matter what your rank or how many hours youve had, what counts here is the combat flying youve done. Unless youve done plenty, youre a beginner. Youll called a spraug, and you remain a sprog until youre wise to the tricks of the trade. After you have put a few missions behind you, you become a sport. And then with plenty of action, 50 or 60 missions, if youre still around, youre promoted. You become an old sport. A veteran. The big shots like gill wiminute are called wheels. No one knows exactly why. This fellows a wheel, too. Says so on his plane. Major richard hunziger of tucson, arizona, had 279 missions. Your crew chief cant go along, so you always like to tell them what youre going to do. Got a triple threat Mission Today. Each sections going after a bridge. Ill come in on a course of about 40 degrees. Same old thing. Go out there and dodge around. Dive bomb out of the lefthand turn, and then carry the bombs right on down. Were flying top cover on the other two sections while they bomb and then we go in ourselves. Weather is supposed to be careful so maybe well have a good show. All set to go. But you dont. You wait. You wait for five minutes. Thats the way its planned. Time to settle down. Relax. Youll be busy later. So if youve got any thinking to do, and who hasnt . Now is the time to do it. [ engines start ] here, lay it back. Takeoff is always rough. Thunderbolts are heavy airplanes. Besides, youve decorated it like a christmas tree. Tank, rockets, guns. 500pound bombs. Cameras. Hello, break neck. Clear to take the runway for a takeoff, over . Roger, youre clear number one to take off. Roger, breakneck, thank you. The mile of steel runway would shrink to nothing under you. Halfway down, by the tower, youll be committed. That means you cant slam on the brakes and stop. Once youre committed, you usually go up. First pair, weimann and gustofson. First pair off. Second pair taxis out. Klaas and bridges. Made it okay. Man and richardson. Smith and atwood. Come on. Air up. Hickok and mauro. Last pair. Wells and hunzinger. The squadron is airborne. Over corsica, then out to sea. On the deck. 60 miles east, to italy. Flying from corsica, you go only 60 miles and youre 150 miles behind the german front. Turn again at that castle. Now youre heading north. Into the mountains. Leader section. Red section. Black section. Formation flying. A game of follow the leader. The squadron leader. He navigates. Makes the decisions. Doesnt tell you what to do. Does it. You follow. Wing tip to wing tip. He turns. You turn. He climbs. You climb. Climbing still to 10,000. Through the clouds. Getting close. Start looking for the target. Stuck down there in one of those ravines. All look alike. Wingman, hes back. Keep the formations spread out. Theres a checkpoint. That road, follow it down to the river. The first bridge should be down there somewhere. There it is. Pass over it. Come back and attack from the opposite direction. One of the tricks youve learned. Leader section goes into loose string formation. One plane behind the other. Then weimann peels off. The rest of the section follows at twosecond intervals. Last man goes in. No bomb site of the p47. Pilot does his own aiming. Bomb bursts from the planes ahead. A couple of misses. A direct hit. Hope your aim is good. From yo drop your bombs. Pull out. They black you out for a second. Blood drains from your head, but youre young. It comes back fast. Youre all right now. Leader section reforms. Top cover. Watch his red section bomb. A miss. Another miss. A hit. Black section goes down. Strat straddle the target. This should do the trick. No more bombs. Still got plenty of gas, plenty of ammo. Go on the prowl. Ease down on the deck. See what you can find. Railroad tracks. Follow the tracks. Not a bad way to find a train. You spot one. Kick her over. Give it a few squirts. Might kill somebody. Bust the locomotive first. Train cant move now. Lets see whats in those boxcars. 12 of you. Youll all crisscross in. Everybody takes a few passes. Try the cars one at a time. Might be Something Interesting in them. Usually is. Got it burning nicely now. Take another pass for luck. They spread the squadron over the sky. Every man, his own general. Looks like were out of trains. Lighthouse out there. Wonder if i have any ammo left. Yep. Radio station. Blow out a few tubes. Somebody in that field. Dont know who they are. No friends of mine. See any vehicles parked in that farmyard. More in back. Must be a headquarters. Houses around here look kind of suspicious. Might be something in them. Nothing in that one. Nothing in that one. Could be wrong, but uhoh, what do you know . Back at alto, no one is sweating out 65 squadron. 66 is taking off. No one will sweat them out, either. Too many missions. Nine for today. When you dont fly, youve got thing sas to do, try to make so sort of life for yourself. In trying, you improvise an american community. Step off the field, youre in