THIS IS IT

e [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Air Group Commander from fighter director AGC go ahead getting iff on those Bogies now Commander must be your Replacements thanks be right in can't tell for certain but it looks like six planes Roger said six of them six replacements well let's let's wait and talk to the commander commander sir could we uh that is could ins and Peters and I talk to you just for a couple of minutes sir go to my quarters and wait for me [Music] sir how many planes appear to be six of them Commander would they be right has 3vf 2 vsb 1 VT well I guess that fills your compliment doesn't it and I hope to God it stay is full for a while we don't make any money on trenin no four out of the last six Replacements one day's action what happens to the other two Burns and PS better to tell them right now pass the word when those planes are coming aboard ah six friendly 255 22 doesn't do any good for me to say I'm sorry it has to be this way this is the way it has to be Mr Burns you know where you were wrong and all I can tell you is that there's no place for you aboard this ship we can't jeopardize a mission through your kind of mistake there's nothing personal about this we just can't afford to give you a second chance Mr Peters your mistake is more serious I don't need to tell you just how serious there's no use in our talking about it you'll get your chance to talk at a general court that's all Air Group Commander from Sky control go ahead two sbds one TBF 3 f6f entering the Landing Circle very well [Applause] [Music] this is fly one we are taking a replacement supp just as soon as those Pilots Come Aboard tell them I want to see them immediately in number one ready room hey boys have a look here comes all Pilots have just landed lay below number one ready room all pilots who have just landed lay below number one ready room man I didn't know they building this B brother there's a lot of things you don't know listen to the two Anor men racing their engines hey don't anybody tell the Jacks we're here they'll quit all they got to do is get one look at us and the war is over hey don't get it over with that fast I want some medals personally all I want is a couple of Navy crosses nice job of scouting yesterday Bill recommending you for it thank you Commander I'm sorry about my wingman at a time like that you're not expected a plain nursaid thank you sir who brought the TBF aboard I did Sir andon wils first seat second row dive on it andon Bryce sir andon Murphy sir two chairs second row your fighter pilot andon Lee sir andon Reese sir andony sir take these three yesterday morning six other Pilots at where you're sitting now one of those six is being put on the beach you're in his seat Murphy another is facing a general court you Mr ree are taking his place the other four are [Music] dead this ship has just fought through one hell of an action and she did all right at it in spite of the people you're replacing those men never got the word they didn't bother to get it while they were in training because they thought they'd get the real word when they got to the fleet by that time it was too late they just didn't know the answers when the test came Mr wils how's your navigation I got 3.5 sir pretty good might be good enough the man who sat there yesterday wasn't that good Mr Murphy what was your final overall average 3.15 sir I was pretty good in flying and I bing I had 65% hits pretty lousy in communication sir you're on the right shair Murphy he never learned code either he just didn't bother some of those men I knew in training I knew them all from their flight records because I was the training officer while they were going through operation they were wrong every one of them Martin Royal Rossy Andrews Burns and Peters they were wrong from the beginning not very far wrong in this business a man doesn't have to be very far wrong to get killed but they weren't really lost in combat yesterday they were lost in operational training and I can take you right back to the time they were going through operational and show you where each one of them made his first mistake [Music] Frank you made a couple of nice clean breaks that time Martin you're still getting pulled flat on that overhead how many times do I have to tell you that you've got to come straight down using plenty deflexion and using your excess speed to regain position in a hurry for another attack what you're doing every time is get pull flat for a no deflection shot but I get a lot more hits that way I know it and it's SW to get in that position against a fighter but try that against a bomber with a tail stinger and it'll blast you right out of the air yes sir look don't just take my word for it think about it it's obvious you got to roll over while you're still ahead of the target then you hold your dive and your passing like this he can't lay a gun on you but if you flatten out a stern of them losing all your speed then you're just sitting there like a clay pigeon run the next one as soon as you're ready for [Music] hey fellas watch [Music] this bu this is Fox word We join permission immediately here he comes now did I do something wrong did you do something wrong listen Mister the one unforgivable sin Herer in the fleet is for a wingman to haul off and leave a section leader don't ever do it again oh but that was one of those monkeys that buzzed our field this morning look here Royal there just isn't any excuse for violating air discipline you guys think I don't realize what a Temptation it is time after time in the South Pacific we'd be flying fighter escort on our attack group we'd see a lone jab plane way down there near the water just asking for it but we never broke formation we let him alone what you mean you let him go in un opposed against your carrier or he such cold meat listen to me when you're on fighter escort you've got just one job to take your attack group out and to bring them back alive and that doesn't mean breaking formation to knock off snoopers or Shadows the combat Air Patrol will take care of those babies maybe but I never heard of anybody getting the crust for passing up a chance to knock off a jet cage gyro raise flaps Master gun switch pitch control tank selector switch starter toggle okay Rosy 40 yes sir oh so you knew you'd get a 40 huh well sir there isn't anything I can't memorize if I spend enough time with it that's fine but don't trust your memory too far because it can get you in a lot of trouble if you depend on it trust this the check off list will never let you down but I've memorized all that too maybe you don't get the point Rossy you had to memorize everything in the cockpit so you can lay your hand on what you want in a hurry but someday you'll be under terrific pressure and you don't have time time to Rack your brain and ask yourself now what do I do next that's what the check off list is for tell you to lower your wheels before landing there was another pilot around here recently with a good memory like yours his was so good he didn't have to bother with a check off list so he tried to take off in a TBF with a Wings folded I guess he just didn't have the words three words Rossy check off list oh thank you [Music] Mr Andrew you're supposed to observe radio discipline but I get so lonesome up here at 8,000 ft baby that's a very lonesome altitude you shouldn't be at 8,000 now you would have hold that altitude for the first two legs in the problem not legs de limbs the third leg should have been flown at 5,000 Look Out Below Here Comes nothing you said it he's got a standard let down Mr Andrews well maybe it's just a teeny bit faster than standard please correct a standing this is going to be very fancy according to my navigation I am now directly over the ship so stand clear of the flight EG I'm about to make a breathtaking 14g pull out and land aboard don't bother Mr Andrews you're now dead and buried at Sea 74 mil from your carrier and about 400 ft below the surface are you kidding no sir look at your chart on your last turn you applied that 5° of variation the wrong way so you're 10° in hi a navigator okay Anders pay off let's get those Coates I hope your rear seat man's got plenty of insurance oh Andrews is a good man to hear him say now listen take it easy well you fellas you know this link must have a built-in crosswind gu where you first got into trouble on the first turn you came right to 050 magnetic and there's a variation of 5° you should have included that oh only 5° well that's not so very far off no not very far off off only 75 miles don't you remember the formula from pre-flight Compass deviation magnetic variation true CD mvt that's the formula you can remember it by can dead men vote twice very corny come on let's get those CES Mr Andrews you'll have to take that test again well can't you give me a 25 that's good enough to get me passed sorry sir but when you're trying to find your ship the only passing Mark is 4 o all right I'll give it another try why I get so excited about this kid stuff for listen when I'm really in the fleet I'll be able to find my ship all right I got homing pigeon flood there's no point in saying to yourself why should I learn about blinker what have I got a rear seat man for you can't afford to depend on anybody else you may not always have a rear seat man and without an accurate working knowledge of all Communications you're a definite liability to the fleet for instance you may know radio procedure because you use that more than anything else but someday your radio may break down or you'll find yourself operating under a strict radio silence and I can tell you there's nothing that will make you feel as foolish and helpless as not knowing your blinker absolutely cold suppose you're circling your ship for orders and some Admiral signalman start sending them to you fast like this take it [Music] Mr Burns what was the message um well you see sir I I didn't quite get the uh the the first part all right what was it uh the message read Burns doping on against you and don't ever forget that not only your own life but the success of your mission may depend on sure and instantaneous recognition of aircraft and surface vessels the tremendous relative speed of modern aircraft only give you a split second to answer the question is it theirs or ours all right lights out hon Peters yes sir perhaps I better have you excused from the recognition course I beg your pardon sir you don't pay any attention maybe you don't need this recognition course all right let's see how many of these you can name no uh ham no Oscar no Tony no Betty no Val no Zeke no P40 no P51 no [Music] typhoon when did he gets our shop on recognition how can you miss him he always shows him in the same order H Oscar Tony Betty Val and Z P40 P51 sure their fault seemed almost trivial because otherwise they were good pilots and we needed them Martin who was willing to learn the hard way Roy the hotted type fighter pilot Rossy trusting his memory instead of the check off list and Andrew satisfied just to skin by Verns doping off and Peters who always found the easy way of doing [Music] it those six men came to the fleet but they didn't leave their mistakes behind in training they br brought the mistakes with them to this task force and of this air grou so this babe says to me what's that Ling for the Congressional Medal of Honor I says no that's the order of the guer he said Keep Your Hands to Yourself fresh hey Johnny you want another cup of coffee I wish they let us know what's happening on to relax hny yeah give me one card I wonder what the Commander's got on his mind this time there goes Burns again dra to inside straight why don't you ask him mister some Gams Rossy of course the picture doesn't do her justice you ought to see her when we must be down here somewhere yeah but we're heading this way I don't get it running away we ar running away the Island's practically ours what do you mean ours all we did was fly cover for the fleet the other Air Group got all the fun don't get eager Royal Japs are still building zeros and oh come in gentlemen order just came down from the staff at 0500 we'll launch a search to cover the sector from 265 to 355 the jab should be in the Westerly part of this sector so use tbfs out to 275 miles in this half up here use sbds 200 mil is enough I I sir single or two plane sections you've got some pretty green people that have never been in combat before better use two plane sections five TBF sections flying 10° sectors and four SPD sections okay Roger oh John I want a combat Air Patrol of 12 VFS we'll have M station of Dawn all right then our code name for tomorrow is red base contact is made with the Japs red base will launch an attack group of nine tbfs 27 sbds and 12 Fighters black base will be launching at the same time but you'll be able to Rend deu first and you'll be followed in by two waves from black base that'll give us a total striking force of 36 Fighters 27 torpedo planes and 63 dive ballers that's the plan have your flight officers make up the schedule immediately so that the pilots can be notified before they turn in all right well gentlemen here's the story the latest word is that we now hold both bomber and flighter strips on tawai less than 2,000 Japs are still fighting but the Marines have them crowded in a corner and there's no place for them to go but jump into the Lagoon I know you felt cheated because the other task force knocked out what zeros there were while we were backing up the line but it looks like our turn now with luck it'll be within 24 hours the Admiral expected the Japs to try to bring in reinforcements this was more or less confirmed this morning by one of our subs a big task force a kaga class carrier Mami Cruisers covering high-speed transports that's why we're steaming away from toway a few minutes ago 1945 to be exact we received a contact report from a pby the jab force is here course 1000 speed 20 now we're about here course 315 25 knots we're still in condition three at 0400 we'll go to flight Quarters at 0500 it'll be condition one General quarters combat Air Patrol will be launched then and TBS will commence sector searches after 275 miles in this area Dawn should find the jeps here if they hold their course if they change it they should be found somewhere along this Arc the weather's bad out there and the Jets are moving behind a front tomorrow you start earning you living so hit your sack early and get all the sleep you can that's all I trust you're contented now that the group Commander gave you the Straight Dope well I'm a guy that likes to be in possession of all the facts you may quotee me as saying Andrew has everything under control Johnson Williams spider escort of the attack [Music] group Martin your schedule for combat Air Patrol Peters and Royal fighter escort of the attack group yes sir hey Rosy I just saw the flight schedule picked us to go out with the attack group why not it's always a first time yeah that's [Music] right say what kind of a medal does a guy get for sink in a jack [Music] flatop sugar five is sugar 5 too I'll give you two guesses who your wingman is on the search tomorrow morning sugar 52 yeah I guess I'll have to check you out oh that's a mere formality of course I mean after all yeah yeah I know you've got homing pigeon blood you said that before just for the sake of appearances why not pretend you're just a common ordinary pickle lugger like me who has to depend upon navigation to get you there and get you back navigation what's that cut the clowning Mister life may not seem so damn funny to you after tomorrow now we're heading in the B weather I want you to stick close to me and don't be reaching for that microphone every 2 minutes no gags no gags oh this promise is to be a very Dill Affair I hope you're right pal sound FL quarters captain all a department personnel man your flight quarter stations all Air Department Personnel manual flight quarter stations we can figure on at least 10 m visibility here therefore we got this sector well covered Pilots all check out the yes sir all my Pilots are I got several green ones but they're all checked out except Andrews he's plenty green what section is he in sugar five Lieutenant Wilson very well but make sure Andrews has worked out his nav correctly before he's launched and have Wilson check on him too hi sir it's your job to protect the task force and before the day is over you may get more excitement than you bargain for All squ Away Joe yes sir do you S I want to give him the [Music] word it's a little late to try and give you the word now if you haven't got it by this time you probably will get it we don't think that the Japs know that we're here but it's axiomatic that if we're able to strike at them they're able to strike at us too they know that we've got strength in this part of the world somewhere they're not going to move a convoy against Hawaii without putting out snoopers it's up to you and the fighter director to keep them from finding us [Music] here you are sir 0450 Captain B down General [Music] [Music] quarters all hands your battle station all hands and your battle station stand by the long search in combat airol stand by the long search and combat air patol [Music] single bogy 31055 closing SC operator search for bogey 31055 5 flag plot Bridge from cic single bogey 31055 closing hello Amos this is Tom single bogey 31055 closing designated raid one out hello red one this is red base Vector 310 Buster Angels 8 over this is red one wico vector 310 Buster Angels 8 out hello Red 2 this is red base detach and resume over this is red two we'll go out hello red one this is red base single bogey ahead 50 at 6,000 ft over this is red one Roger out hello red one this is red base look for bogey 10 mil ahead over Telly hole this is red one 3:00 down 5 miles one Betty 6,000 ft over hello red 13 this is red 111 go ahead Jake take you and Martin make opposite overheads red 13 hello Martin check off list let's go this is Martin let's [Music] go Martin Martin break away Martin bre take follow Martin down and see if he gets out hello Whitey this is Jake bracket flat side this is Jak Martin's gone and Roger out this is red one grand slam we got the jamp at red4 was shot down his plane sank he didn't get out this is red base Roger red one steer 095 over this is red one will go 095 out fly control from group Commander Pass to the hanger deck break out a spare fighter