1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:15,796 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:20,356 --> 00:00:24,276 Speaker 2: Everything about Curtis Emerson. Le May begins with his love 3 00:00:24,276 --> 00:00:30,076 Speaker 2: of airplanes in his memoirs, which are otherwise written in plain, 4 00:00:30,316 --> 00:00:37,036 Speaker 2: straight ahead prose. There's one moment of pure poetry. Suddenly 5 00:00:37,276 --> 00:00:41,996 Speaker 2: in the air above me appeared a flying machine. It 6 00:00:42,076 --> 00:00:46,396 Speaker 2: came from nowhere. There it was, and I wanted to 7 00:00:46,436 --> 00:00:50,956 Speaker 2: catch it. It was nineteen ten. Le May was five. 8 00:00:51,316 --> 00:00:53,716 Speaker 2: He was in the backyard of the struggling neighborhood where 9 00:00:53,756 --> 00:00:58,196 Speaker 2: his family lived in Columbus, Ohio. He goes on, children 10 00:00:58,276 --> 00:01:02,236 Speaker 2: can muster enormous strength in ideal and idea in all 11 00:01:02,316 --> 00:01:06,196 Speaker 2: their effort to grasp the trophy they desire. And nobody 12 00:01:06,276 --> 00:01:10,356 Speaker 2: was holding me back. No one was standing close to say, Look, 13 00:01:10,436 --> 00:01:13,756 Speaker 2: you're just a little child. That airplane is away up 14 00:01:13,796 --> 00:01:16,196 Speaker 2: there in the air, and no matter how fast you run, 15 00:01:16,236 --> 00:01:18,676 Speaker 2: you can't keep up with it. You can't reach high 16 00:01:18,756 --> 00:01:21,796 Speaker 2: enough to seize it. I just thought that I might 17 00:01:21,836 --> 00:01:24,636 Speaker 2: be able to grab the airplane and have it for 18 00:01:24,756 --> 00:01:28,916 Speaker 2: my own and possess it always. So I lit out 19 00:01:28,956 --> 00:01:35,916 Speaker 2: after it. Little Curtis ran across neighbors, backyards, vacant lots, 20 00:01:36,236 --> 00:01:43,676 Speaker 2: down sidewalks, then it was gone. It's wonderful sound and force, 21 00:01:44,036 --> 00:01:47,676 Speaker 2: and the freakish illusion of the thing, a thing made 22 00:01:47,716 --> 00:01:52,596 Speaker 2: of wood and metal, piercing the air. He went back 23 00:01:52,596 --> 00:01:59,756 Speaker 2: home and he wept. Reading that made me think, oddly enough, 24 00:02:00,036 --> 00:02:02,876 Speaker 2: of something I wrote years ago about Wayne Gretzky, the 25 00:02:02,916 --> 00:02:06,756 Speaker 2: greatest hockey player of all time. His parents remember that 26 00:02:06,836 --> 00:02:09,756 Speaker 2: when he was not yet two years old, long before 27 00:02:09,796 --> 00:02:12,276 Speaker 2: he knew much about the game of hockey, Wayne would 28 00:02:12,316 --> 00:02:14,876 Speaker 2: sit right in front of the television when a hockey 29 00:02:14,876 --> 00:02:22,476 Speaker 2: game was on. He was enraptured, and then he would 30 00:02:22,516 --> 00:02:26,996 Speaker 2: cry and cry uncontrollably when the match was over, because 31 00:02:27,036 --> 00:02:30,676 Speaker 2: he could not understand how something so sublime should have 32 00:02:30,756 --> 00:02:34,636 Speaker 2: to come to an end. That's Curtis le May running 33 00:02:34,676 --> 00:02:37,996 Speaker 2: after the flying machine in the sky. Something about that 34 00:02:38,036 --> 00:02:42,756 Speaker 2: particular object, that act of flying, perfectly fit the contours 35 00:02:42,796 --> 00:02:47,356 Speaker 2: of his imagination, and from that point on, the airplane 36 00:02:48,036 --> 00:02:54,476 Speaker 2: was everything. My name is Malcolm Glapwell. You're listening to 37 00:02:54,596 --> 00:03:00,156 Speaker 2: Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. Over 38 00:03:00,196 --> 00:03:03,396 Speaker 2: the next four episodes, I'm going to tell the story 39 00:03:03,676 --> 00:03:06,156 Speaker 2: of Curtis le May and what he did on a 40 00:03:06,236 --> 00:03:13,556 Speaker 2: cold night in March of nineteen forty five. This is 41 00:03:13,596 --> 00:03:17,076 Speaker 2: a love story about what happens when someone falls head 42 00:03:17,076 --> 00:03:20,716 Speaker 2: over heels for a magnificent piece of machinery and a 43 00:03:20,756 --> 00:03:25,476 Speaker 2: brilliant bit of technology, and what happens when that love 44 00:03:25,596 --> 00:03:33,316 Speaker 2: starts to cloud every other human consideration. The events I'm 45 00:03:33,316 --> 00:03:36,036 Speaker 2: going to talk about all took place a lifetime ago, 46 00:03:36,396 --> 00:03:38,876 Speaker 2: at the end of the Second World War, but everything 47 00:03:38,916 --> 00:03:42,436 Speaker 2: about le May's story seems very modern to me, Mostly 48 00:03:42,476 --> 00:03:46,116 Speaker 2: because everything about lem May seems very modern. I think 49 00:03:46,156 --> 00:03:48,676 Speaker 2: that's why I've decided to devote so much of this 50 00:03:48,796 --> 00:03:52,796 Speaker 2: season to him. It feels like he started something that 51 00:03:52,836 --> 00:03:58,876 Speaker 2: we're still in the middle of. Le May was a bulldog, 52 00:03:59,396 --> 00:04:03,636 Speaker 2: thick through the chest, oversized, square head, hair parted triumphantly, 53 00:04:03,836 --> 00:04:07,156 Speaker 2: just a shade off the middle, A brilliant poker player, 54 00:04:07,196 --> 00:04:11,756 Speaker 2: a crack shot. He was an innovator, utterly without fear, 55 00:04:12,076 --> 00:04:17,396 Speaker 2: a mind that moved only forwards, never sideways, rational and imperturbable, 56 00:04:17,716 --> 00:04:22,156 Speaker 2: and incapable of self doubt. Were he alive today, he 57 00:04:22,156 --> 00:04:25,876 Speaker 2: would be in command of some high tech powerhouse, crushing 58 00:04:26,156 --> 00:04:33,476 Speaker 2: all competition, seizing the future. I find myself sometimes falling 59 00:04:33,516 --> 00:04:37,196 Speaker 2: for Curtis le May because of his many gifts, his 60 00:04:37,356 --> 00:04:40,796 Speaker 2: logic and rigor and commitment and resolve in the face 61 00:04:40,836 --> 00:04:43,476 Speaker 2: of the longest of odds seem like things we need 62 00:04:43,516 --> 00:04:47,636 Speaker 2: more of right now, not less. There is a chance 63 00:04:48,196 --> 00:04:51,716 Speaker 2: you will fall for him too. And all I can 64 00:04:51,756 --> 00:04:54,916 Speaker 2: say is that if you do, try to remember the 65 00:04:54,916 --> 00:04:58,116 Speaker 2: following fact. If you make a list of the people 66 00:04:58,196 --> 00:05:01,516 Speaker 2: responsible for the most civilian deaths in the twentieth century, 67 00:05:01,996 --> 00:05:05,756 Speaker 2: at the top are Stalin and Mao, and Paul Pott 68 00:05:05,956 --> 00:05:12,036 Speaker 2: and Hitler. The familiar names not too far behind, uncomfortably 69 00:05:12,076 --> 00:05:15,596 Speaker 2: close behind, is Curtis Emerson, lament. 70 00:05:21,516 --> 00:05:23,476 Speaker 3: Or as a mini national business. And you want to 71 00:05:23,556 --> 00:05:26,436 Speaker 3: kill a lot of people, no way of getting around it, 72 00:05:27,676 --> 00:05:33,676 Speaker 3: I mean moral commander tries or minimize as sam possible. 73 00:05:33,876 --> 00:05:36,356 Speaker 3: For me, the best way of minimizing as getting a 74 00:05:36,356 --> 00:05:38,036 Speaker 3: war over as quite as possible. 75 00:05:39,756 --> 00:05:42,596 Speaker 2: In its earliest days, the US Air Force was not 76 00:05:42,636 --> 00:05:45,996 Speaker 2: a separate branch of the military. That wouldn't happen until 77 00:05:46,036 --> 00:05:49,316 Speaker 2: after the Second World War. Back in the nineteen thirties, 78 00:05:49,596 --> 00:05:52,436 Speaker 2: the Air Corps, as it was known, was a combat 79 00:05:52,476 --> 00:05:55,916 Speaker 2: division of the army. It existed to serve the interests 80 00:05:55,916 --> 00:06:00,476 Speaker 2: of the ground forces, to support assist a company. The 81 00:06:00,596 --> 00:06:04,676 Speaker 2: legendary Army General John Blackjack Pershing, who commanded the American 82 00:06:04,716 --> 00:06:08,196 Speaker 2: forces in World War One, once set of airpower that quote, 83 00:06:08,476 --> 00:06:11,596 Speaker 2: it can of its own account, neither win a war 84 00:06:11,676 --> 00:06:14,356 Speaker 2: at the present time, nor, as far as we can tell, 85 00:06:14,516 --> 00:06:17,556 Speaker 2: at any time in the future. That's what the military 86 00:06:17,636 --> 00:06:21,516 Speaker 2: establishment thought of airplanes. But in the years between the 87 00:06:21,556 --> 00:06:24,996 Speaker 2: World Wars, a small group of airmen began to challenge 88 00:06:24,996 --> 00:06:28,276 Speaker 2: the idea that airplanes were superfluous to winning a war. 89 00:06:28,916 --> 00:06:32,716 Speaker 2: The group was centered at Maxwell Airfield in Montgomery, Alabama, 90 00:06:33,036 --> 00:06:38,276 Speaker 2: at what was called the Air Corps Tactical School. Everyone 91 00:06:38,316 --> 00:06:40,676 Speaker 2: in this group had once been that little boy who 92 00:06:40,716 --> 00:06:44,156 Speaker 2: spotted a plane in the sky and ran after it blindly. 93 00:06:44,876 --> 00:06:48,276 Speaker 2: They were in love with planes. They gave themselves a motto, 94 00:06:48,796 --> 00:06:54,916 Speaker 2: proficamus morey irritanti, We make progress unhindered by custom. They 95 00:06:54,956 --> 00:06:59,156 Speaker 2: thought that technological advances in aviation were about to revolutionize 96 00:06:59,156 --> 00:07:02,916 Speaker 2: warfare forever. And they weren't talking about fighter planes, the 97 00:07:03,036 --> 00:07:06,956 Speaker 2: romantic daredevil pilots who engaged in dog fights with the enemy. 98 00:07:07,196 --> 00:07:10,156 Speaker 2: They had disdained for small planes. They were in love 99 00:07:10,196 --> 00:07:13,476 Speaker 2: with bombers. They looked across the ocean at Europe and 100 00:07:13,516 --> 00:07:16,476 Speaker 2: the threatening noises being made by Germany. And they said 101 00:07:16,716 --> 00:07:19,836 Speaker 2: a fleet of long range, high flying bombers could do 102 00:07:19,916 --> 00:07:22,796 Speaker 2: so much damage and would be so difficult to defend 103 00:07:22,836 --> 00:07:25,716 Speaker 2: against that the Air Corps could win a war all 104 00:07:25,756 --> 00:07:30,276 Speaker 2: by itself. The group of insurgent pilots at the Air 105 00:07:30,276 --> 00:07:33,876 Speaker 2: Corps Tactical School were known as the Bomber Mafia. 106 00:07:35,356 --> 00:07:38,756 Speaker 4: They were a group of individuals coming together to construct 107 00:07:38,836 --> 00:07:43,316 Speaker 4: ideas about applying the technology of bombing at the day 108 00:07:44,036 --> 00:07:47,596 Speaker 4: in order to win a war against Germany. 109 00:07:48,036 --> 00:07:50,916 Speaker 2: That's the historian Robert Pape who wrote a book called 110 00:07:50,956 --> 00:07:53,676 Speaker 2: Bombing to Win about the origins of many of the 111 00:07:53,716 --> 00:07:57,236 Speaker 2: ideas taught at the Air Corps school. The Bomber Mafia 112 00:07:57,276 --> 00:08:01,836 Speaker 2: gave lectures to select groups of officers arguing theorizing and. 113 00:08:01,796 --> 00:08:05,196 Speaker 4: They are not really investigating the psychology of bombing. They're 114 00:08:05,236 --> 00:08:08,316 Speaker 4: not investigating the sociology of bombing. They're not really even 115 00:08:08,316 --> 00:08:12,196 Speaker 4: investigating the politics of the bombing, that is, the implications 116 00:08:12,196 --> 00:08:17,276 Speaker 4: the bombing would have for population, societies and for governments. 117 00:08:17,876 --> 00:08:21,876 Speaker 4: What they're really doing is focusing on what the technology 118 00:08:21,916 --> 00:08:24,756 Speaker 4: of the bombing of the time, what target sets it 119 00:08:24,796 --> 00:08:26,836 Speaker 4: would allow the bombers to hit. 120 00:08:27,396 --> 00:08:30,436 Speaker 2: In one of the most famous Tactical School lectures. Major 121 00:08:30,556 --> 00:08:34,236 Speaker 2: Muir Fairchild gave a two day presentation in April of 122 00:08:34,316 --> 00:08:37,516 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty nine on what a single bombing attack on 123 00:08:37,636 --> 00:08:40,276 Speaker 2: New York City could do to America's will to fight. 124 00:08:41,316 --> 00:08:44,916 Speaker 2: Fairchild was a charter member of the Bomber Mafia. He 125 00:08:44,956 --> 00:08:47,156 Speaker 2: would later rise to number two in the Air Force. 126 00:08:47,796 --> 00:08:51,316 Speaker 2: He says, imagine that Germany and the United States are 127 00:08:51,316 --> 00:08:53,396 Speaker 2: in the midst of a brutal land war in Europe. 128 00:08:54,076 --> 00:08:57,236 Speaker 2: Germany decides to take out New York Could they do it? 129 00:08:57,996 --> 00:09:02,596 Speaker 2: Fairchild says, easy. Wait, so they have a kind of 130 00:09:02,676 --> 00:09:05,836 Speaker 2: hypothetical scenario, and do they imagine that a group of 131 00:09:05,836 --> 00:09:08,796 Speaker 2: well equipped bombers could bring the United States, or at 132 00:09:08,876 --> 00:09:10,956 Speaker 2: least New York City to its knees in an event 133 00:09:10,996 --> 00:09:11,956 Speaker 2: of any kind of conflict. 134 00:09:12,516 --> 00:09:17,276 Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely. The bombing that they're focusing on are number one, 135 00:09:17,676 --> 00:09:22,196 Speaker 4: the bridges. Number two, they have the bombing of the aqueducts. 136 00:09:22,516 --> 00:09:25,196 Speaker 4: The bombing of the aqueducts is important because what they 137 00:09:25,196 --> 00:09:27,756 Speaker 4: want to do is they want to cause massive thirst 138 00:09:27,956 --> 00:09:31,476 Speaker 4: in the New York population. They basically want to create 139 00:09:31,516 --> 00:09:34,796 Speaker 4: a situation where there's almost no potable water for the 140 00:09:34,836 --> 00:09:39,996 Speaker 4: population to drink, and then number three, they target electric power. 141 00:09:40,756 --> 00:09:44,156 Speaker 2: In his lecture, Major Fairchild argues that the aqueducts are 142 00:09:44,196 --> 00:09:47,316 Speaker 2: the most obvious of targets. Then there's the power grid. 143 00:09:47,716 --> 00:09:51,196 Speaker 2: Fairchild directs his students to a chart the aerial bomb 144 00:09:51,316 --> 00:09:54,956 Speaker 2: versus traction electric power in the New York City area. 145 00:09:55,796 --> 00:09:56,236 Speaker 1: Quote. 146 00:09:56,636 --> 00:09:59,636 Speaker 2: We then see that seventeen bombs, if dropped on the 147 00:09:59,716 --> 00:10:02,916 Speaker 2: right spots, will not only take out practically all of 148 00:10:02,956 --> 00:10:07,036 Speaker 2: the electric power of the entire metropolitan area, but will 149 00:10:07,076 --> 00:10:13,556 Speaker 2: prevent the distribution of outside power. Seventeen bombs could bring 150 00:10:13,556 --> 00:10:16,356 Speaker 2: the most important city in the world to its knees. 151 00:10:16,836 --> 00:10:18,756 Speaker 2: The old idea was that you would just bomb the 152 00:10:18,756 --> 00:10:21,716 Speaker 2: whole city, reduce it to rubble with wave upon wave 153 00:10:21,756 --> 00:10:26,076 Speaker 2: of costly and dangerous bombing attacks. Fairchild's point was, why 154 00:10:26,076 --> 00:10:28,636 Speaker 2: would you do that. If you could use your intelligence 155 00:10:28,956 --> 00:10:32,036 Speaker 2: and the best of modern technology to disable the city 156 00:10:32,076 --> 00:10:34,436 Speaker 2: with a single surgical strike. 157 00:10:35,236 --> 00:10:40,596 Speaker 4: You would put amazing stress on the quote will of 158 00:10:40,636 --> 00:10:44,956 Speaker 4: the enemy, meaning the civilian population, which was already under stress. 159 00:10:45,516 --> 00:10:48,876 Speaker 4: And then they just led to the conclusion that the 160 00:10:48,916 --> 00:10:52,596 Speaker 4: civilians would crack and demand an end to the war. 161 00:10:54,076 --> 00:10:56,116 Speaker 2: Are they really thinking of the air force? In this 162 00:10:57,516 --> 00:11:01,276 Speaker 2: thinking and this teaching as the primary arm of the 163 00:11:01,316 --> 00:11:03,196 Speaker 2: American military in this kind of conflict. 164 00:11:03,316 --> 00:11:06,916 Speaker 4: They're certainly thinking that the bomber alone or airpower alone 165 00:11:06,956 --> 00:11:09,116 Speaker 4: is going to win the war. And what they're thinking 166 00:11:09,236 --> 00:11:12,316 Speaker 4: king is that it's going to win the war and 167 00:11:12,476 --> 00:11:17,316 Speaker 4: prevent mass carnage like occurred in World War One, where 168 00:11:17,356 --> 00:11:20,636 Speaker 4: the armies clashed together year after year after year, and 169 00:11:20,796 --> 00:11:23,636 Speaker 4: millions and millions of people died in the meat grinder 170 00:11:23,836 --> 00:11:26,156 Speaker 4: of the trenches in World War One. 171 00:11:26,196 --> 00:11:29,116 Speaker 2: For thousands of years, wars had been about armies of 172 00:11:29,196 --> 00:11:31,756 Speaker 2: men fighting more or less in hand to hand combat 173 00:11:32,116 --> 00:11:35,516 Speaker 2: on fields of battle. The bomb ro mafia believe that 174 00:11:35,636 --> 00:11:39,036 Speaker 2: bombs carried by airplanes were about to make the armies 175 00:11:39,036 --> 00:11:43,556 Speaker 2: of men obsolete. The Air Corps Tactical School was never 176 00:11:43,676 --> 00:11:47,436 Speaker 2: very large. In twenty years of existence, it produced just 177 00:11:47,516 --> 00:11:52,316 Speaker 2: over one thousand graduates, but it was enormously influential. Of 178 00:11:52,356 --> 00:11:55,076 Speaker 2: the three hundred and twenty Air Force generals on duty 179 00:11:55,076 --> 00:11:57,636 Speaker 2: at the end of World War II, two hundred and 180 00:11:57,636 --> 00:12:01,036 Speaker 2: sixty one came out of the Tactical School, and one 181 00:12:01,036 --> 00:12:08,116 Speaker 2: of those graduates was Curtis Emerson LeMay. Only a handful 182 00:12:08,156 --> 00:12:11,876 Speaker 2: of American military leaders in the twentieth century achieved real 183 00:12:11,996 --> 00:12:15,956 Speaker 2: public stature Douglas MacArthur, of course, with his corn caught 184 00:12:16,036 --> 00:12:20,636 Speaker 2: pipe and limitless charisma, Dwight Eisenhower because he commanded the 185 00:12:20,636 --> 00:12:23,156 Speaker 2: Allied war effort in World War II, and in more 186 00:12:23,196 --> 00:12:27,836 Speaker 2: recent times Colin Powell. In his day, le May's fame 187 00:12:27,996 --> 00:12:32,196 Speaker 2: exceeded them all. People who couldn't name their congressman still knew. 188 00:12:31,996 --> 00:12:32,516 Speaker 4: Who he was. 189 00:12:33,396 --> 00:12:36,796 Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty four alone, three movies came out with 190 00:12:36,836 --> 00:12:39,996 Speaker 2: a character plainly based on le May. He's the model 191 00:12:40,036 --> 00:12:43,636 Speaker 2: for the Air Force general in Sidney Lemett's thriller Failsafe. 192 00:12:43,996 --> 00:12:48,276 Speaker 2: He's clearly Burt Lancaster's character, General Scott in Seven Days 193 00:12:48,276 --> 00:12:50,476 Speaker 2: in May, where the President choose him out. 194 00:12:51,076 --> 00:12:53,876 Speaker 5: I am prepared to brand you for what you are, General, 195 00:12:55,036 --> 00:12:59,556 Speaker 5: a strutting egoist with a Napoleonic power complex and an 196 00:12:59,556 --> 00:13:00,556 Speaker 5: out and out traitor. 197 00:13:02,236 --> 00:13:05,996 Speaker 2: And as if that's not enough, in Stanley Kuprick's Doctor Strangelove, 198 00:13:06,276 --> 00:13:10,356 Speaker 2: the LeMay character is General Jack Ripper, played by Sterling Hayden, 199 00:13:10,676 --> 00:13:11,716 Speaker 2: chomping on a cigar. 200 00:13:12,996 --> 00:13:16,756 Speaker 6: Your commie has no regard for human life, not even 201 00:13:16,796 --> 00:13:20,196 Speaker 6: his own. And for this reason, ma'am, I want to 202 00:13:20,196 --> 00:13:23,916 Speaker 6: impress upon you the need for extreme watchfulness. 203 00:13:24,756 --> 00:13:28,916 Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty four, when Doctor Strangelof came out, Americans 204 00:13:28,916 --> 00:13:32,996 Speaker 2: were exhausted from anxiety about nuclear destruction. It felt good 205 00:13:33,036 --> 00:13:35,676 Speaker 2: to laugh at a Cold War fanatic like General Jack Ripper, 206 00:13:36,396 --> 00:13:39,596 Speaker 2: But the actual General le Maay was a more complicated matter. 207 00:13:48,756 --> 00:13:51,996 Speaker 2: Curtis le May put himself through the engineering program at 208 00:13:51,996 --> 00:13:55,396 Speaker 2: Ohio State, going to school by day and working all 209 00:13:55,516 --> 00:13:57,516 Speaker 2: night at a foundry on the other side of town. 210 00:13:58,276 --> 00:14:03,196 Speaker 2: He joined the Air Corps right out of college. He 211 00:14:03,236 --> 00:14:06,876 Speaker 2: was a captain by thirty three, then in short order, 212 00:14:07,356 --> 00:14:11,196 Speaker 2: a major, then a colonel, a brigadier general, and by 213 00:14:11,236 --> 00:14:15,796 Speaker 2: the age of thirty seven, a major general. After the 214 00:14:15,796 --> 00:14:19,356 Speaker 2: Second World War, he ran the Strategic Air Command SACK, 215 00:14:19,756 --> 00:14:22,196 Speaker 2: the arm of the Air Force that controlled the bulk 216 00:14:22,196 --> 00:14:26,676 Speaker 2: of America's nuclear arsenal. Russell Dardy, who followed le Maay 217 00:14:26,716 --> 00:14:29,356 Speaker 2: as head of SACK, loved to tell a story about 218 00:14:29,356 --> 00:14:31,676 Speaker 2: the time le Maay was briefed about a new airplane 219 00:14:31,716 --> 00:14:33,036 Speaker 2: called the F one to eleven B. 220 00:14:33,996 --> 00:14:37,716 Speaker 1: The briefings lasted about two and a half days, sometimes 221 00:14:37,716 --> 00:14:41,476 Speaker 1: one hour, sometimes two hours, and finally they wrapped up 222 00:14:41,476 --> 00:14:45,276 Speaker 1: the briefing. Let me hadn't said a word the whole time. 223 00:14:46,076 --> 00:14:49,156 Speaker 1: We're just sitting there. After he got all through, General 224 00:14:49,196 --> 00:14:53,956 Speaker 1: Lomay says that itt yeah, sure, that's it. And he 225 00:14:53,996 --> 00:14:56,516 Speaker 1: got up and he says it ain't big enough and 226 00:14:56,636 --> 00:14:58,676 Speaker 1: walked out. That was his only comment. 227 00:14:59,796 --> 00:15:03,036 Speaker 2: Curtis le May commanded by silence. He liked to have 228 00:15:03,076 --> 00:15:05,596 Speaker 2: a cigar in his mouth at all times, and he 229 00:15:05,716 --> 00:15:07,156 Speaker 2: really didn't like to remove it. 230 00:15:07,756 --> 00:15:10,636 Speaker 1: There was another illustration. I head first person with le May. 231 00:15:11,876 --> 00:15:14,756 Speaker 1: I went with him out to CIA to get the 232 00:15:14,796 --> 00:15:18,036 Speaker 1: briefings on what later became known as the Bay of Pigs. 233 00:15:18,356 --> 00:15:21,076 Speaker 2: This was nineteen sixty one. The Bay of Pigs is 234 00:15:21,076 --> 00:15:23,556 Speaker 2: one of the signature crises of the Cold War, a 235 00:15:23,676 --> 00:15:27,116 Speaker 2: clandestine invasion of Cuba by a group of Cuban exiles 236 00:15:27,396 --> 00:15:28,436 Speaker 2: backed by the CIA. 237 00:15:29,076 --> 00:15:32,636 Speaker 1: We spent about three hours out there, got the full 238 00:15:32,876 --> 00:15:37,596 Speaker 1: entire briefing down in the CIA briefing group, and when 239 00:15:37,596 --> 00:15:42,356 Speaker 1: it was over, they said, generally, have any comments. Joel 240 00:15:42,396 --> 00:15:46,036 Speaker 1: Levy got up, head for the door, says it won't work. 241 00:15:47,996 --> 00:15:51,396 Speaker 1: That was his only comment, It won't work, And boy 242 00:15:51,436 --> 00:15:52,956 Speaker 1: he was dead right, it didn't work. 243 00:15:53,756 --> 00:15:57,276 Speaker 2: Three words, that's it, and of course he was right. 244 00:16:00,476 --> 00:16:03,276 Speaker 2: Le Maay made his reputation after the US entered the 245 00:16:03,316 --> 00:16:06,516 Speaker 2: Second World War. He was put in charge of the 246 00:16:06,556 --> 00:16:09,916 Speaker 2: three hundred and fifth Bombardment Group out of Schalveston Air 247 00:16:09,916 --> 00:16:14,156 Speaker 2: Base in England. It was a desperate time. The Air 248 00:16:14,196 --> 00:16:17,396 Speaker 2: Corps was losing hundreds of planes on his bombing runs 249 00:16:17,436 --> 00:16:21,236 Speaker 2: over Germany to anti aircraft fire and German fighter planes. 250 00:16:21,836 --> 00:16:25,716 Speaker 2: The airmen knew they were essentially flying suicide missions, and 251 00:16:25,756 --> 00:16:29,076 Speaker 2: the problem got so bad that the Air Force calculated 252 00:16:29,116 --> 00:16:33,156 Speaker 2: that twenty percent of their pilots were aborting before they 253 00:16:33,196 --> 00:16:34,396 Speaker 2: reached their targets. 254 00:16:34,956 --> 00:16:38,596 Speaker 7: One of the commanders was Curtis LeMay, colonel in command 255 00:16:38,596 --> 00:16:39,756 Speaker 7: of a B twenty four group. 256 00:16:40,316 --> 00:16:43,956 Speaker 2: That's Robert McNamara, who would later become Secretary Defense during 257 00:16:43,956 --> 00:16:44,796 Speaker 2: the Vietnam War. 258 00:16:45,676 --> 00:16:48,956 Speaker 7: He was the finest combat commander of any service I 259 00:16:48,996 --> 00:16:51,956 Speaker 7: came across in the war, but he was extraordinarily bligering, 260 00:16:52,076 --> 00:16:53,076 Speaker 7: many thought brutal. 261 00:16:54,396 --> 00:16:57,316 Speaker 2: In World War II, McNamara was an analyst for the 262 00:16:57,356 --> 00:17:01,316 Speaker 2: Air Force. Here he is in Errol Morris's brilliant documentary 263 00:17:01,396 --> 00:17:04,476 Speaker 2: Fog of War, describing what LeMay did after he heard 264 00:17:04,516 --> 00:17:06,236 Speaker 2: that so many pilots were turning tail. 265 00:17:06,756 --> 00:17:08,916 Speaker 7: He issued an ardery. He said, I will be in 266 00:17:08,916 --> 00:17:12,356 Speaker 7: the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes 267 00:17:12,356 --> 00:17:14,876 Speaker 7: off will go over the target or the crew will 268 00:17:14,916 --> 00:17:19,476 Speaker 7: be court marcialed. The abort rate dropped over night. Now 269 00:17:19,516 --> 00:17:21,036 Speaker 7: that's the kind of a commander he was. 270 00:17:22,756 --> 00:17:25,436 Speaker 2: But that was just the beginning, because the air war 271 00:17:25,556 --> 00:17:30,196 Speaker 2: over Europe still faced huge problems. Years later, in an interview, 272 00:17:30,476 --> 00:17:31,476 Speaker 2: the May talked about it. 273 00:17:32,156 --> 00:17:35,396 Speaker 8: One of the things that was very apparent was that 274 00:17:35,476 --> 00:17:37,036 Speaker 8: the bombing was not very good. 275 00:17:37,916 --> 00:17:41,196 Speaker 2: Bombers have cameras that take pictures of where their bombs 276 00:17:41,236 --> 00:17:44,236 Speaker 2: fall strike photos, and when le May looked at the 277 00:17:44,276 --> 00:17:46,796 Speaker 2: strike photos after the cruise had come back to base, 278 00:17:47,276 --> 00:17:49,716 Speaker 2: he could see that the bombs were landing everywhere but 279 00:17:49,796 --> 00:17:50,316 Speaker 2: the target. 280 00:17:51,076 --> 00:17:58,236 Speaker 8: Not only were the targets not being destroyed, but I 281 00:17:58,276 --> 00:18:02,196 Speaker 8: didn't have any records of foremost of the bombs actually fell. 282 00:18:03,676 --> 00:18:07,956 Speaker 8: They were taking strike photos, of course, but you could 283 00:18:07,996 --> 00:18:11,396 Speaker 8: not locate over half the bombs that were hauled over 284 00:18:11,556 --> 00:18:12,116 Speaker 8: the continent. 285 00:18:13,236 --> 00:18:16,396 Speaker 2: The problem was that the pilots were not flying straight 286 00:18:16,476 --> 00:18:19,356 Speaker 2: at the targets. They believed that would make them sitting 287 00:18:19,396 --> 00:18:23,716 Speaker 2: ducks for anti aircraft fire. Because enemy artillerymen on the 288 00:18:23,756 --> 00:18:28,396 Speaker 2: ground would simply estimate the plane's speed and altitude and 289 00:18:28,516 --> 00:18:32,876 Speaker 2: aim accordingly. So the pilots were taking evasive action, not 290 00:18:33,036 --> 00:18:36,156 Speaker 2: flying directly at the target until the last few seconds 291 00:18:36,196 --> 00:18:38,556 Speaker 2: of their bombing run, which is why the bombs were 292 00:18:38,556 --> 00:18:41,996 Speaker 2: falling wide. How could you hit your target if you 293 00:18:41,996 --> 00:18:44,476 Speaker 2: were lined up over it only at the very last moment. 294 00:18:44,956 --> 00:18:47,396 Speaker 8: So something had to be done to give the bomb 295 00:18:47,396 --> 00:18:51,156 Speaker 8: and there a chance to hit the target. Les mount 296 00:18:51,236 --> 00:18:54,316 Speaker 8: a longer bomb run. They're giving them ample time. They 297 00:18:54,436 --> 00:18:57,236 Speaker 8: get the bombs at level and get the rate and 298 00:18:57,316 --> 00:19:00,796 Speaker 8: drift killed. In order to do a good job. 299 00:19:01,596 --> 00:19:05,396 Speaker 2: Le Maay saw only one solution. The pilots had to 300 00:19:05,436 --> 00:19:09,356 Speaker 2: stop taking evasive action. They had to fly straight in 301 00:19:09,676 --> 00:19:10,876 Speaker 2: over the target. 302 00:19:11,076 --> 00:19:13,636 Speaker 8: All of the people at I talk too that have 303 00:19:13,756 --> 00:19:16,636 Speaker 8: been in combat or of the opinion that if you 304 00:19:16,716 --> 00:19:20,116 Speaker 8: did this, had aircraft guns that shoots you down. 305 00:19:20,876 --> 00:19:25,276 Speaker 2: Key phrase of the opinion. LeMay was an empiricist. He 306 00:19:25,316 --> 00:19:28,556 Speaker 2: went back and studied his old artillery manuals, did some 307 00:19:28,676 --> 00:19:32,076 Speaker 2: calculations how many rounds from an anti aircraft gun would 308 00:19:32,076 --> 00:19:34,316 Speaker 2: it take to bring down a B seventeen bomber. 309 00:19:34,556 --> 00:19:37,836 Speaker 8: And it worked out it required I think three hundred 310 00:19:37,836 --> 00:19:42,596 Speaker 8: and seventy some rounds to hit it. This didn't look 311 00:19:42,676 --> 00:19:43,476 Speaker 8: too bad to me. 312 00:19:44,436 --> 00:19:47,316 Speaker 2: Three hundred and seventy seven rounds is a lot of ammunition. 313 00:19:47,716 --> 00:19:50,276 Speaker 2: So flying straight is a risk, but it's not a 314 00:19:50,316 --> 00:19:53,876 Speaker 2: crazy risk. So LeMay says, let's try it. Let's fly 315 00:19:53,956 --> 00:19:56,996 Speaker 2: in straight instead of a ten second run, Let's fly 316 00:19:57,116 --> 00:20:01,396 Speaker 2: a seven minute long, straight and steady approach. And if 317 00:20:01,396 --> 00:20:04,156 Speaker 2: that sounded suicidal, which it did to all of his pilots, 318 00:20:04,196 --> 00:20:06,716 Speaker 2: he says, once again, I'm going to be the first 319 00:20:06,716 --> 00:20:11,756 Speaker 2: to try it. So le May led the way November 320 00:20:11,916 --> 00:20:16,236 Speaker 2: nineteen forty two over Santa's Air France. No evasive action, 321 00:20:17,916 --> 00:20:20,956 Speaker 2: and what happened. His group put twice as many bombs 322 00:20:20,956 --> 00:20:24,316 Speaker 2: on the target as any group had before and didn't 323 00:20:24,476 --> 00:20:25,756 Speaker 2: lose a single bomber. 324 00:20:26,556 --> 00:20:30,636 Speaker 8: So we did it and it worked out. I'll admit 325 00:20:31,036 --> 00:20:33,756 Speaker 8: some uneasias on my part and some of the other 326 00:20:33,796 --> 00:20:36,316 Speaker 8: people on the outset when they made that first straight 327 00:20:36,356 --> 00:20:37,156 Speaker 8: in bomb run. 328 00:20:37,196 --> 00:20:46,156 Speaker 2: But at work, I'll admit some uneasiness, he says. That's it, 329 00:20:46,276 --> 00:20:52,036 Speaker 2: some uneasiness. After the war, in nineteen forty nine, there 330 00:20:52,076 --> 00:20:54,876 Speaker 2: was a movie starring Gregory Peck called twelve o'clock High 331 00:20:55,276 --> 00:20:57,916 Speaker 2: about that moment in the Air War, it won a 332 00:20:57,916 --> 00:21:01,796 Speaker 2: couple of Oscars. The lead character General Frank Savage was 333 00:21:01,796 --> 00:21:04,236 Speaker 2: based in part on le May, and in the movie, 334 00:21:04,316 --> 00:21:06,916 Speaker 2: General Savage is under so much stress trying to keep 335 00:21:06,916 --> 00:21:10,116 Speaker 2: his pilots flying on these impossible mission that he has 336 00:21:10,116 --> 00:21:15,116 Speaker 2: a nervous breakdown. Screenwriters love the idea that beneath a 337 00:21:15,196 --> 00:21:19,396 Speaker 2: stoic exterior is a hurricane of repressed emotion, But that's 338 00:21:19,516 --> 00:21:24,276 Speaker 2: Hollywood's le May, not the actual Lea May. One of 339 00:21:24,316 --> 00:21:27,356 Speaker 2: LeMay's pilots, later said that when he shared his fears 340 00:21:27,396 --> 00:21:31,836 Speaker 2: about flying a combat mission, le Maay replied, Ralph, you're 341 00:21:31,876 --> 00:21:34,916 Speaker 2: probably going to get killed, so it's best to accept it. 342 00:21:35,436 --> 00:21:42,116 Speaker 2: You'll get along much better now. That's le May. He 343 00:21:42,236 --> 00:21:46,356 Speaker 2: reserved his emotions for the thing he truly loved flying. 344 00:21:47,756 --> 00:21:51,276 Speaker 2: Here he is years later rhapsodizing about a mission some 345 00:21:51,356 --> 00:21:55,436 Speaker 2: of his bombers ran against an aircraft factory in occupied Poland. 346 00:21:56,596 --> 00:21:59,716 Speaker 9: Well, well, you have done some very accurate bombing, and 347 00:22:00,516 --> 00:22:05,956 Speaker 9: some of our jobs I remember Russ Wilson's group have, 348 00:22:06,076 --> 00:22:11,636 Speaker 9: in my position, knowing, attacked on Marion Third over a 349 00:22:11,756 --> 00:22:14,236 Speaker 9: pole on which is a nerve draft factory over there. 350 00:22:16,236 --> 00:22:19,796 Speaker 9: He put down a beautiful pattern on this, saying, I 351 00:22:19,796 --> 00:22:22,516 Speaker 9: don't think a single bomb thought fell outside defense. 352 00:22:22,556 --> 00:22:27,036 Speaker 2: As a factory, he put down a beautiful pattern on 353 00:22:27,156 --> 00:22:29,876 Speaker 2: that thing, meaning that when the May looked at the 354 00:22:29,876 --> 00:22:32,716 Speaker 2: strike photos from the bombing run the next day back 355 00:22:32,756 --> 00:22:35,876 Speaker 2: at base, the marks left by the bombs on the 356 00:22:35,916 --> 00:22:39,596 Speaker 2: roof of the factory took on a shape that pleased 357 00:22:39,596 --> 00:22:52,556 Speaker 2: his eye. In the early years of the Second World War, Curtis, 358 00:22:52,596 --> 00:22:56,076 Speaker 2: the May and the bomber mafia were frustrated. They felt 359 00:22:56,156 --> 00:22:57,356 Speaker 2: no one was listening to them. 360 00:22:57,916 --> 00:22:59,636 Speaker 9: The air was just getting the back of the hand 361 00:22:59,676 --> 00:23:01,636 Speaker 9: and out of the ways. I'll tell you what the 362 00:23:01,796 --> 00:23:02,116 Speaker 9: very were. 363 00:23:02,596 --> 00:23:04,676 Speaker 2: The air was just getting the back of the hand, 364 00:23:04,756 --> 00:23:07,956 Speaker 2: LeMay says, meaning when the top brass sat down in 365 00:23:08,076 --> 00:23:10,996 Speaker 2: Washington to play the course of the war, they didn't 366 00:23:11,036 --> 00:23:13,476 Speaker 2: understand what the bomber could do, that it was capable 367 00:23:13,516 --> 00:23:17,036 Speaker 2: of winning a war all by itself. Years later, LeMay 368 00:23:17,156 --> 00:23:19,356 Speaker 2: still felt the sting of that attitude. 369 00:23:19,796 --> 00:23:24,796 Speaker 9: Our own airport up and Washington was consisted of a 370 00:23:24,836 --> 00:23:28,476 Speaker 9: bunch of dollars a year, characters, people who didn't know 371 00:23:28,596 --> 00:23:33,236 Speaker 9: much about it, senting out stuff that I didn't much 372 00:23:33,276 --> 00:23:37,396 Speaker 9: agree with, But orders were orders carried them out. 373 00:23:37,436 --> 00:23:41,956 Speaker 2: The best could redemption when it finally came. What happened 374 00:23:41,996 --> 00:23:42,836 Speaker 2: on the other side of the. 375 00:23:42,796 --> 00:23:47,116 Speaker 10: World Vandal havoc root by the Japanese bombers. At the 376 00:23:47,156 --> 00:23:49,756 Speaker 10: upper part of the screen. There you can see them. 377 00:23:50,196 --> 00:23:54,436 Speaker 10: The people are bewildered by the blow without warning. 378 00:23:54,756 --> 00:23:57,636 Speaker 2: With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 379 00:23:57,756 --> 00:24:01,036 Speaker 2: nineteen forty one, the US was dragged into a hard 380 00:24:01,076 --> 00:24:04,756 Speaker 2: and costly battle against the Japanese Empire in the Pacific, 381 00:24:06,436 --> 00:24:10,476 Speaker 2: and as that war ground on, one thing slowly became clear. 382 00:24:11,236 --> 00:24:13,716 Speaker 2: The only way to beat Japan was to take the 383 00:24:13,756 --> 00:24:18,596 Speaker 2: fight to Japan directly. One option was a land invasion, 384 00:24:19,196 --> 00:24:22,476 Speaker 2: but that was a terrifying prospect. It could easily end 385 00:24:22,556 --> 00:24:25,756 Speaker 2: up being one of the deadliest and costliest campaigns of 386 00:24:25,796 --> 00:24:29,356 Speaker 2: the whole war. The Second World War was supposed to 387 00:24:29,356 --> 00:24:32,516 Speaker 2: be winding down. No one had any appetite for a 388 00:24:32,596 --> 00:24:35,516 Speaker 2: land invasion, So was there a way to bring about 389 00:24:35,556 --> 00:24:40,636 Speaker 2: Japan's surrender through the air. Yes, the bomber mafia said, 390 00:24:41,076 --> 00:24:41,756 Speaker 2: we can do it. 391 00:24:43,076 --> 00:24:46,676 Speaker 5: The story begins in nineteen thirty nine when the far 392 00:24:46,836 --> 00:24:50,516 Speaker 5: sighted Army Air Forces said, we want a plane for 393 00:24:50,596 --> 00:24:53,996 Speaker 5: our defense. That could fly a bomb load thousands of 394 00:24:53,996 --> 00:24:55,876 Speaker 5: miles out to see and return. 395 00:24:57,356 --> 00:25:00,316 Speaker 2: When the bombing Mafia first set up shop back in 396 00:25:00,356 --> 00:25:05,596 Speaker 2: the early nineteen thirties, their theorizing was hypothetical. They imagined 397 00:25:05,676 --> 00:25:09,836 Speaker 2: fleets of bombers flying deep into enemy territory, dropping bombs 398 00:25:09,836 --> 00:25:12,916 Speaker 2: from the safety of high altitudes, but there was no 399 00:25:12,996 --> 00:25:16,476 Speaker 2: airplane actually capable of doing that at the time. It 400 00:25:16,596 --> 00:25:20,596 Speaker 2: was a bomber muffia fantasy until the arrival midway through 401 00:25:20,636 --> 00:25:25,476 Speaker 2: the war of the B twenty nine bomber, the super Fortress, 402 00:25:27,196 --> 00:25:31,196 Speaker 2: the most expensive project of the war forty three billion 403 00:25:31,396 --> 00:25:32,716 Speaker 2: in today's dollars. 404 00:25:34,276 --> 00:25:37,316 Speaker 5: When the workers reported for the first time, few of 405 00:25:37,316 --> 00:25:39,476 Speaker 5: them guessed the exact nature of what they were building. 406 00:25:40,316 --> 00:25:42,996 Speaker 5: They knew that the giant plane would result, but beyond 407 00:25:42,996 --> 00:25:44,476 Speaker 5: that it was largely a conjecture. 408 00:25:44,996 --> 00:25:49,356 Speaker 2: The War Department made newsreels about the super Fortress, Americans 409 00:25:49,396 --> 00:25:51,356 Speaker 2: watched them in movie theaters around the country. 410 00:25:51,956 --> 00:25:55,116 Speaker 5: But then the day came, inevitably when the pieces of 411 00:25:55,156 --> 00:25:59,356 Speaker 5: their jigsaw began to fit together, the day when the 412 00:25:59,356 --> 00:26:02,716 Speaker 5: mountains of material and the millions of man hours all 413 00:26:02,756 --> 00:26:07,396 Speaker 5: combined to confirm the assembly line rumor. The washroom gossip 414 00:26:07,596 --> 00:26:12,516 Speaker 5: and their honest to God curiosity. They were building the 415 00:26:12,676 --> 00:26:20,476 Speaker 5: mightiest aircraft in history. 416 00:26:20,636 --> 00:26:24,236 Speaker 2: The B twenty nine's predecessor, the B seventeen, was known 417 00:26:24,236 --> 00:26:27,236 Speaker 2: as the Flying Fortress. It was the workhorse bomber of 418 00:26:27,276 --> 00:26:30,236 Speaker 2: the early years of the war. The Flying Fortress is 419 00:26:30,236 --> 00:26:33,476 Speaker 2: what bombed most of Germany. But the B seventeen had 420 00:26:33,476 --> 00:26:37,476 Speaker 2: a great limitation range. It was good for just over 421 00:26:37,556 --> 00:26:40,556 Speaker 2: thirty seven hundred miles. There's no way it could get 422 00:26:40,556 --> 00:26:44,756 Speaker 2: across the Pacific to Japan. The B twenty nine changed that. 423 00:26:45,396 --> 00:26:48,236 Speaker 2: It could carry twice as many bombs as the B seventeen, 424 00:26:48,636 --> 00:26:51,836 Speaker 2: It could outrun fighter jets, it could fly higher than 425 00:26:51,836 --> 00:26:55,036 Speaker 2: the B seventeen, upwards of thirty thousand feet, out of 426 00:26:55,036 --> 00:26:57,076 Speaker 2: the reach of all but the most powerful of anti 427 00:26:57,116 --> 00:27:00,556 Speaker 2: aircraft weapons, and it could fly more than fifty eight 428 00:27:00,756 --> 00:27:02,876 Speaker 2: hundred miles in a single run. 429 00:27:04,236 --> 00:27:08,716 Speaker 5: They were building the Boeing designed B twenty nine super Fortress, 430 00:27:11,116 --> 00:27:12,196 Speaker 5: and this is how they build it. 431 00:27:13,396 --> 00:27:16,636 Speaker 2: The newsreel just keeps going and going like this. It's 432 00:27:16,676 --> 00:27:18,636 Speaker 2: like they're talking about the birth of a prophet. 433 00:27:19,676 --> 00:27:24,116 Speaker 5: Identical miracles of modern machinery, nursed and tended and made 434 00:27:24,156 --> 00:27:27,236 Speaker 5: productive by people who look and think like these people, 435 00:27:28,036 --> 00:27:34,756 Speaker 5: the fair, the dog people with death hands and unblinking eyes. 436 00:27:35,636 --> 00:27:42,436 Speaker 5: The old young, the young old, working together in intimate harmony. 437 00:27:43,156 --> 00:27:47,356 Speaker 5: Their product death, their goal peace. 438 00:27:52,036 --> 00:27:55,876 Speaker 2: The motto of the Barmber Mafia, remember, was profiicamus morey 439 00:27:55,996 --> 00:28:00,676 Speaker 2: eratenti we make progress unhindered by custom. And they sold 440 00:28:00,676 --> 00:28:05,956 Speaker 2: that vision to the American public technology. American technology could 441 00:28:05,956 --> 00:28:11,956 Speaker 2: win the war. Their product death, their goal peace. For 442 00:28:12,036 --> 00:28:15,756 Speaker 2: the true believers, the Bee twenty nine was gold, Frankencens, 443 00:28:15,756 --> 00:28:19,436 Speaker 2: and Murr. If the Bomber Mafia were the three wise men, 444 00:28:19,716 --> 00:28:21,676 Speaker 2: they would have brought the Bee twenty nine to the 445 00:28:21,676 --> 00:28:27,236 Speaker 2: baby Jesus. There's a book I ran across years ago 446 00:28:27,316 --> 00:28:30,836 Speaker 2: by a researcher at the Rand Corporation named Karl Builder. 447 00:28:31,316 --> 00:28:34,556 Speaker 2: It's called The Masks of War, and it's a cultural 448 00:28:34,636 --> 00:28:38,556 Speaker 2: explanation of the differences among the army, the Air Force, 449 00:28:38,716 --> 00:28:42,236 Speaker 2: and the Navy. The Army, in Builder's view, is the 450 00:28:42,276 --> 00:28:46,796 Speaker 2: servant of the people understated, secure in its position. The 451 00:28:46,876 --> 00:28:50,076 Speaker 2: Navy is heir to a grand tradition. It measures itself 452 00:28:50,116 --> 00:28:53,556 Speaker 2: by the number of its ships its reach. But what 453 00:28:53,716 --> 00:28:56,956 Speaker 2: happens with the rise of the bomber mafia. Midway through 454 00:28:56,996 --> 00:29:00,436 Speaker 2: the war, the pilots and airmen begin to chart a 455 00:29:00,436 --> 00:29:05,836 Speaker 2: whole new course. Modern, disruptive, technologically focused. They're the only 456 00:29:05,916 --> 00:29:09,076 Speaker 2: part of the military entirely born of the twentieth century. 457 00:29:09,716 --> 00:29:13,876 Speaker 2: The air force, builder rights, sees itself as the embodiment 458 00:29:13,956 --> 00:29:18,396 Speaker 2: of an idea, a concept of warfare, a strategy made 459 00:29:18,476 --> 00:29:24,156 Speaker 2: possible and sustained by modern technology. And then Builder quotes 460 00:29:24,156 --> 00:29:27,676 Speaker 2: this passage from a historian named Perry mc coy smith, 461 00:29:28,236 --> 00:29:32,676 Speaker 2: which is worth repeating in full objectivity about this weapon. 462 00:29:33,036 --> 00:29:36,556 Speaker 2: Meaning the airplane was absent within air corps circles for 463 00:29:36,636 --> 00:29:41,636 Speaker 2: many reasons. Perhaps the foremost reason was the psychological attachment 464 00:29:41,796 --> 00:29:46,556 Speaker 2: of the airmen to his machine. To him, the airplane 465 00:29:46,596 --> 00:29:49,396 Speaker 2: was not just a new and exciting weapon. It was 466 00:29:49,436 --> 00:29:53,596 Speaker 2: what carried him miles behind enemy lines and brought him back. 467 00:29:55,156 --> 00:29:58,836 Speaker 2: It was a personal possession which was given a personal 468 00:29:59,156 --> 00:30:03,116 Speaker 2: usually feminine name, kissed upon return from a mission, and 469 00:30:03,236 --> 00:30:06,236 Speaker 2: painted with a symbol for each enemy plane shot down 470 00:30:06,716 --> 00:30:11,716 Speaker 2: or bombing mission completed. The affinity of the pilot for 471 00:30:11,836 --> 00:30:15,036 Speaker 2: his airplane has a parallel in the history of the 472 00:30:15,076 --> 00:30:20,516 Speaker 2: cavalry soldier and his horse. The airmen liked the cavalrymen 473 00:30:20,636 --> 00:30:23,796 Speaker 2: of the past, was not known for his modesty or 474 00:30:23,836 --> 00:30:27,196 Speaker 2: his objectivity when it came to the employment of his 475 00:30:27,316 --> 00:30:33,116 Speaker 2: chosen steed. The B twenty nine arrived and the bomber 476 00:30:33,196 --> 00:30:39,876 Speaker 2: mafia said, we've got this. A few well placed bombs, boom, 477 00:30:39,956 --> 00:30:40,436 Speaker 2: it's over. 478 00:30:49,476 --> 00:30:51,996 Speaker 5: The tanks will have to be filled, the engines given 479 00:30:51,996 --> 00:30:56,116 Speaker 5: a final check, the guns armed, the bombs said in 480 00:30:56,156 --> 00:31:03,036 Speaker 5: the racks, and then briefing, and the assembled airmen will 481 00:31:03,036 --> 00:31:05,196 Speaker 5: listen to words that a few years ago would have 482 00:31:05,236 --> 00:31:10,716 Speaker 5: been fantastic but today will casually off of briefing officer's lips. 483 00:31:11,796 --> 00:31:14,516 Speaker 5: It's the target, gentleman's Japan. 484 00:31:17,356 --> 00:31:28,276 Speaker 2: If only I were that simple. Coming next week in 485 00:31:28,316 --> 00:31:31,316 Speaker 2: Part two, Curtis the may has the bomber he wants 486 00:31:31,836 --> 00:31:35,636 Speaker 2: and the challenge he wants, but not the weapon for 487 00:31:35,756 --> 00:31:40,036 Speaker 2: that he needed a group of mad scientists at Harvard University. 488 00:31:47,276 --> 00:31:51,116 Speaker 2: Revisionist History is produced by Mee La Belle and Lee Mingestu, 489 00:31:51,516 --> 00:31:55,716 Speaker 2: with Jacob Smith, Eloise Linton and on An. I'm our 490 00:31:55,836 --> 00:32:00,316 Speaker 2: editor is Julia Barton. Original scoring by Luis Gara, mastering 491 00:32:00,356 --> 00:32:04,676 Speaker 2: by Flon Williams, fact checking by Beth Johnson. Special thanks 492 00:32:04,676 --> 00:32:09,116 Speaker 2: to the Pushkin crew had a fine Carl Migliori, Maya Kinig, 493 00:32:09,236 --> 00:32:13,556 Speaker 2: Maggie Taylor, Jason Gambrell, and of course Jacob Weisber. I'm 494 00:32:13,596 --> 00:32:14,276 Speaker 2: Malcolm Baron