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00:00:00Before I could get in position to fire, somebody blew him out of the air.
00:00:10America is on the offensive.
00:00:13The strategy, leapfrog Japanese island strongholds, take back the Pacific sky.
00:00:20War is like sports.
00:00:25When one is on a losing streak, one cannot win easily.
00:00:29The End
00:00:34The End
00:00:39THE END
00:01:09October 1942
00:01:25U.S. Marines are in control of Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal
00:01:30American planes have a vital land base in the South Pacific
00:01:36Marine pilot Ken Walsh
00:01:38Medal of Honor
00:01:39and we were able to commence the
00:01:41offensive missions from Guadalcanal
00:01:45clear up to Bougainville
00:01:46we had to arrange a combat radius of
00:01:48325 nautical miles
00:01:50and
00:01:52this was our stepping stone
00:01:54our stepping stone to
00:01:55eventually the road
00:01:58which led us to Japan
00:01:59U.S. Army pilot John Mitchell
00:02:02it was an all out situation
00:02:04we weren't out there playing tiddlywinks
00:02:06we were out there to kill people
00:02:07and they were out there to kill us
00:02:09and we were out there to take back things from them
00:02:12that they had taken from us
00:02:13U.S. intelligence cracks the Japanese naval and maritime code
00:02:18they learn of an imminent attack to retake Guadalcanal
00:02:21U.S. pilots are alerted to the root of the Japanese fleet
00:02:25U.S. Navy pilot Scott McCuskey
00:02:29there was a presumption that we had broken their code
00:02:33as far as we were on the ship concerned
00:02:36or as far as I was concerned as a junior officer
00:02:38and later I learned we actually had broken their code
00:02:42and we were reading their mail
00:02:44before then we could predict
00:02:48where the next battle would be
00:02:50we fought according to our plans
00:02:53and had time to make strategy
00:02:54however
00:02:56it was as though the Americans
00:02:58knew all of our movements
00:02:59I felt there was no way to stop the enemy
00:03:02Americans track what they call
00:03:08the Tokyo Express
00:03:09masses of enemy ships
00:03:11protected by a canopy of deadly fighters
00:03:14the inevitable clash of powerful enemies
00:03:18creates electric suspense that crackles over the waters
00:03:22before dawn our scouts flew in the shape of a big fan
00:03:29scattered widely
00:03:30and all of our fighters were ready on the carrier and waiting
00:03:33but if we were attacked while we were waiting
00:03:36while we were still on the ship
00:03:37it would be the same as the battle of Midway
00:03:40and we would all be destroyed
00:03:42while we were waiting
00:03:44the tension was immense
00:03:46the Japanese fleet is spotted
00:03:51American fighters and torpedo bombers
00:03:54head in for the kill
00:03:55vulnerable Japanese troop transports are blasted
00:04:03thousands of soldiers die in the waters
00:04:06off Guadalcanal
00:04:07I think my wingman dropped the bomb right
00:04:11I think down the smokestack
00:04:12anyhow that thing hit the midship
00:04:14and of course the ship was just loaded
00:04:17I mean there must have been
00:04:181,500 to 2,000 Japanese on board
00:04:21there were reinforcements
00:04:22and so when the bomb hit the ship
00:04:26they jumped out in the water
00:04:28and all like that
00:04:29well hell we just turned around
00:04:31after we dropped that bomb
00:04:32just turned around and came back
00:04:33and opened up put them on the machine guns
00:04:35and they were in the water
00:04:36and the water was red
00:04:38red with blood
00:04:40and the sharks were having a heyday
00:04:42Yoi Hinoki
00:04:44Japanese Air Force
00:04:45I thought we were completely destroyed
00:04:50oh no everything was destroyed
00:04:52now I have to destroy the enemy
00:04:54the enemy was regrouping in formation
00:04:59and then coming back
00:05:00and I thought
00:05:01the American Air Force is surely tough
00:05:04they are really something
00:05:05look at what they are doing
00:05:07in the instant I saw the formation
00:05:10I was shot in my right leg
00:05:12I found that below the knee
00:05:14about 10 centimeters below
00:05:16was blown off
00:05:17I tied my scarf around my knee
00:05:20and returned to the base
00:05:21as Japanese pilots grow desperate
00:05:25American aces are hungry for combat
00:05:28and I pulled in behind him
00:05:30and cut loose with this cannon
00:05:31and the third shot I got out
00:05:33and that sucker must have gone
00:05:34into a million pieces
00:05:35and of course I was just elated
00:05:37and I said man this is a great game
00:05:39you know let's get some more of this thing
00:05:41the Japanese are beaten back
00:05:44Bougainville is the next American target
00:05:47even closer to Japan's key
00:05:49South Pacific strongholds
00:05:51we started our march across the Pacific
00:05:54from island to island
00:05:56groups of islands
00:05:57to the Marianas
00:05:58we're getting them
00:05:59we're able to
00:06:00we're being able to secure islands
00:06:02we're landing on them
00:06:04and I would say that was
00:06:06really the beginning
00:06:07of where we felt that
00:06:09we're on the move
00:06:10all the way through to Tokyo
00:06:11November 1943
00:06:15US Marines hit the beach
00:06:17at Bougainville
00:06:18their prime objective
00:06:19the tiny islands airstrip
00:06:21the field is taken
00:06:25Japanese pilots
00:06:26once masters of the Pacific sky
00:06:29are now the hunted
00:06:31from hard-won airfields
00:06:39from strips hacked out of the jungle
00:06:43from huge carriers
00:06:46American bombers and fighters
00:06:50smash Japanese bases
00:06:51at Truk and Rabaul
00:06:53Takio Tanemizu
00:06:56Japanese Air Force
00:06:57when we were transferred
00:07:01from the mainland to Rabaul
00:07:03all of us felt
00:07:04we would never come back alive
00:07:06the fighter pilots
00:07:07and even the men
00:07:08on the battleships
00:07:09felt that way
00:07:10we had to fly
00:07:11about seven or eight hours a day
00:07:13it was really overload
00:07:15isolated
00:07:19cut off from supplies
00:07:21the Rabaul garrison
00:07:22is plagued by hunger
00:07:24and disease
00:07:25American raids
00:07:29seem never to end
00:07:31the American air force
00:07:38was attacking us
00:07:39they came without stopping
00:07:42sometimes they came
00:07:44three times a night
00:07:45they did not let us sleep at all
00:07:48because I did not have any men
00:07:50who would go up in the air
00:07:51during the night time
00:07:52we had a very hard time
00:07:55long on courage
00:07:59the Japanese pilots
00:08:00question the attitude
00:08:01and wisdom
00:08:02of their elitist officers
00:08:03most Japanese fighter pilots
00:08:06are only sergeants
00:08:07and must obey their superiors
00:08:09without question
00:08:10Saburo Sakai
00:08:12a leading ace
00:08:13feels the beginnings
00:08:14of dissent
00:08:15when we were going to die
00:08:18we were told
00:08:20we were national treasures
00:08:21but once we took off
00:08:23our pilots uniforms
00:08:24we were only
00:08:25non-commissioned officers
00:08:27nothing more
00:08:28this is a very
00:08:30very bad thing
00:08:31in the Japanese Navy
00:08:32according to a rumor
00:08:37the American officers
00:08:38would listen to their men
00:08:40even if they were only
00:08:41non-commissioned officers
00:08:42the Japanese were
00:08:44quite different
00:08:45staff officers
00:08:46only issued orders
00:08:48there's a Japanese proverb
00:08:50good luck
00:08:52does not always
00:08:53repeat itself
00:08:53you know
00:08:55the Japanese
00:08:56always attacked
00:08:57the same spots
00:08:58but the enemy
00:08:59came from
00:08:59unexpected directions
00:09:01we did not
00:09:02adopt strategies
00:09:03based on information
00:09:04gathered from the field
00:09:06officers never
00:09:09discussed with their men
00:09:11the battles
00:09:11they had just fought
00:09:12or strategies
00:09:13for the next battles
00:09:15that was ridiculous
00:09:16in such a structure
00:09:18the Japanese Navy
00:09:19would not be able
00:09:20to fight efficiently
00:09:21well that was
00:09:23the Japanese Navy
00:09:24ridiculous
00:09:25if an isolated
00:09:28Rabaul was to die
00:09:30it would die hard
00:09:31whatever their feelings
00:09:32Japanese pilots
00:09:34desperately try to
00:09:35break the American
00:09:35stranglehold
00:09:36on their base
00:09:37I was reckless
00:09:41when defending
00:09:42my own base
00:09:43being trained
00:09:44as a carrier pilot
00:09:45we were naturally
00:09:46more aggressive
00:09:47we always attacked
00:09:49before being attacked
00:09:50for if our carrier
00:09:52came under fire
00:09:53that was it
00:09:54that was the end
00:09:55we had no time
00:09:56to think
00:09:57before engaging
00:09:57the enemy
00:09:58I didn't care
00:09:59if there were
00:10:00200 of them
00:10:01I simply dove
00:10:02into the middle
00:10:02I was only satisfied
00:10:04if I was able
00:10:05to break their formation
00:10:07George Chandler's
00:10:09P-38 Lightning
00:10:10is tracked
00:10:11by a Zero
00:10:11coming in
00:10:12for the kill
00:10:13here came a Zero
00:10:15down
00:10:15he'd seen this
00:10:16crippled P-38
00:10:17and he was coming
00:10:17down to finish
00:10:18me off
00:10:19he made a big
00:10:22wide swing out
00:10:23and turned
00:10:25to come back in
00:10:26and he wasn't
00:10:26watching his tail
00:10:27a marine pilot
00:10:32just exploded him
00:10:33in a big ball
00:10:34of flame
00:10:34went by
00:10:36with a victory roll
00:10:36going back up
00:10:37into the fight
00:10:38God he looked
00:10:42good to me
00:10:42he looked so
00:10:43good to me
00:10:44like Rabaul
00:10:46Truck Island
00:10:47was once
00:10:47considered impregnable
00:10:49now bypassed
00:10:50by American
00:10:51leapfrogging strategy
00:10:52the mighty fortress
00:10:53is demolished
00:10:54from the air
00:10:55Truck Island
00:10:59was a base
00:11:00for the Japanese
00:11:01Allied forces
00:11:01where we were
00:11:03in Rabaul
00:11:03we gossiped
00:11:04where the Americans
00:11:05would attack next
00:11:06Rabaul was the front
00:11:07so we thought
00:11:08the Americans
00:11:09would attack
00:11:09somewhere near there
00:11:10however
00:11:11our base
00:11:12in Truck Island
00:11:12was attacked
00:11:13unexpectedly
00:11:14US Navy ace
00:11:18Alexander Vraschew
00:11:19flies his Hellcat
00:11:20fighter
00:11:20into a melee
00:11:21over Truck
00:11:22I took a look
00:11:24back over my shoulder
00:11:25and good thing
00:11:26I did
00:11:27because there were
00:11:28four, five, six
00:11:29Zeros
00:11:30already starting
00:11:32to come in our direction
00:11:33I could even see
00:11:33the fire
00:11:34from their guns
00:11:35at the time
00:11:36Vraschew
00:11:46gets three kills
00:11:47goes for his fourth
00:11:48I played a cat
00:11:50and mouse
00:11:50game with him
00:11:51he was ducking
00:11:54in and out
00:11:55of a cloud
00:11:55I tried to make
00:11:56a run on him
00:11:57and he ducked
00:11:58back into a cloud
00:11:59so I thought
00:12:01well, okay
00:12:01I'll get up
00:12:02to up sun
00:12:03which I did
00:12:04I went up
00:12:04on the sun
00:12:06side of him
00:12:06and he never
00:12:07knew what hit him
00:12:08even if we escaped
00:12:11into the clouds
00:12:11bullets still
00:12:13followed us
00:12:13surely they could
00:12:15not see us
00:12:15but still the bullets
00:12:17were coming
00:12:17we did not understand
00:12:19why we were being hit
00:12:20very good pilots
00:12:22lost their lives
00:12:23one after another
00:12:24from the middle
00:12:25of the war on
00:12:26I regret their deaths
00:12:28however
00:12:29we were no match
00:12:30against the enemy
00:12:31anymore at that time
00:12:32with the Japanese
00:12:34fighter force beaten
00:12:36American bombers
00:12:37are free to destroy
00:12:38Truk's menace
00:12:39like Rabal
00:12:40the base is left
00:12:41to crumble
00:12:42under the weight
00:12:43of starvation
00:12:43and disease
00:12:44we could concentrate
00:12:47maybe 1500 aircraft
00:12:49at any place
00:12:50we chose
00:12:50and it's impossible
00:12:52for the Japanese
00:12:52on their perimeter
00:12:53defenses
00:12:54to concentrate
00:12:55a defense
00:12:56to oppose this
00:12:57US power
00:12:59gathers for the assault
00:13:00on Japan's
00:13:01remaining outposts
00:13:02in the central
00:13:03Pacific
00:13:03Tarawa
00:13:05Tinian
00:13:06Rota
00:13:07Saipan
00:13:08Guam
00:13:10it will be
00:13:11a climactic
00:13:12clash of titans
00:13:14the next American
00:13:38target
00:13:39Saipan
00:13:40in the Marianas
00:13:41chain
00:13:41the island
00:13:44is within striking
00:13:45range
00:13:45of the Japanese
00:13:46homeland
00:13:46Saipan
00:13:52was attacked
00:13:54the Americans
00:13:56landed on that island
00:13:57at the time
00:13:59we were stationed
00:13:59a truck
00:14:00when we heard
00:14:01the Americans
00:14:02landed in Saipan
00:14:03we became
00:14:04very alarmed
00:14:05Saipan
00:14:06was within range
00:14:07of a raid
00:14:08on Tokyo
00:14:08the Japanese
00:14:15mount a furious
00:14:16defense
00:14:17on the ground
00:14:18marines
00:14:19take awful
00:14:19punishment
00:14:20US bombers
00:14:26and fighters
00:14:27slash
00:14:27at Saipan's
00:14:28defenders
00:14:28it was
00:14:31Sunday afternoon
00:14:32so where
00:14:34is everyone
00:14:34Sunday afternoon
00:14:35they're at the
00:14:36old club
00:14:37they're in a
00:14:37swimming pool
00:14:38they're having
00:14:38a few beers
00:14:39you know
00:14:40writing letters
00:14:41and such as this
00:14:42so we're going
00:14:43to hit the
00:14:43Japanese
00:14:43Sunday afternoon
00:14:45about maybe
00:14:462.30
00:14:46that's what
00:14:48the brass
00:14:49figured out
00:14:49would be a good
00:14:50time
00:14:50so we went
00:14:51in
00:14:52and
00:14:53but they don't
00:14:54think like us
00:14:55they weren't
00:14:56at the old
00:14:56club
00:14:57they weren't
00:14:58at the beach
00:14:59they weren't
00:14:59writing letters
00:15:00they were about
00:15:0120,000 feet
00:15:02above us
00:15:03and they came
00:15:04down on our
00:15:04back
00:15:05it was a
00:15:18type of a
00:15:19fight
00:15:19we were
00:15:19strafing aircraft
00:15:21on the ground
00:15:21and then trying
00:15:22to cover our
00:15:23backs with
00:15:23zeros coming
00:15:24down
00:15:24so we had
00:15:25both air to
00:15:26ground going
00:15:26on and
00:15:27air to air
00:15:28I believe
00:15:29I got a
00:15:30couple on
00:15:30that particular
00:15:31mission
00:15:31we lost
00:15:32a few
00:15:32but we're
00:15:33now on
00:15:34the offensive
00:15:34and we can
00:15:35see some
00:15:36daylight
00:15:37June 19th
00:15:391944
00:15:40one of the
00:15:44most decisive
00:15:44air battles
00:15:45of the war
00:15:46will seal
00:15:46the fate
00:15:47of the
00:15:47Japanese
00:15:47in the
00:15:48South Pacific
00:15:48it will
00:15:51come to
00:15:51be known
00:15:51as the
00:15:52Marianas
00:15:53Turkey
00:15:53Chute
00:15:53we were
00:15:59in perfect
00:16:00position
00:16:00for them
00:16:01you know
00:16:01two
00:16:02three
00:16:02thousand
00:16:02feet
00:16:03opposite
00:16:04direction
00:16:04fighter
00:16:05pilots
00:16:05dream
00:16:06you dream
00:16:11of these
00:16:12things
00:16:12once in a
00:16:12lifetime
00:16:13all the
00:16:13training
00:16:14that you
00:16:14have
00:16:14but you
00:16:15don't
00:16:15generally
00:16:15have
00:16:15something
00:16:16quite
00:16:16like
00:16:16this
00:16:16whoever
00:16:28had the
00:16:28altitude
00:16:29advantage
00:16:29dictated
00:16:32the terms
00:16:32of the
00:16:32battle
00:16:33and very
00:16:34seldom
00:16:34was it
00:16:35a matter
00:16:36of endurance
00:16:37these were
00:16:37short-lived
00:16:38short-lived
00:16:39battles
00:16:39they'd go
00:16:40on for
00:16:4030 seconds
00:16:41sometimes
00:16:42a minute
00:16:42or two
00:16:42Vroshu
00:16:44blasts
00:16:45five planes
00:16:46out of
00:16:46the sky
00:16:47I went
00:16:48after
00:16:48the
00:16:48sixth
00:16:49one
00:16:49and
00:16:51caught
00:16:51him
00:16:52just
00:16:53as he
00:16:53was
00:16:53starting
00:16:53to head
00:16:54on down
00:16:54I must
00:16:55have hit
00:16:56his bomb
00:16:56because he
00:16:57exploded
00:16:57in the
00:16:58violin
00:16:59I would
00:16:59flew right
00:17:00through the
00:17:00pieces
00:17:00of that
00:17:01one
00:17:01I looked
00:17:03around
00:17:04there were
00:17:04no more
00:17:05planes in
00:17:05the air
00:17:06nothing but
00:17:06Hellcats
00:17:07the
00:17:08Mariana
00:17:08Turkey
00:17:09Chute
00:17:09that was
00:17:10it
00:17:11that's
00:17:11when we
00:17:12took the
00:17:12heart
00:17:13out of
00:17:13them
00:17:13we fought
00:17:14the last
00:17:15trained
00:17:16pilots
00:17:17in the
00:17:18Turkey
00:17:18Chute
00:17:18in the
00:17:19Marianas
00:17:19I think
00:17:21that was
00:17:21their last
00:17:22big show
00:17:24that day
00:17:28American pilots
00:17:29will tally
00:17:29more than
00:17:30400 kills
00:17:31Saipan
00:17:34falls
00:17:35a month
00:17:37later
00:17:38US Marines
00:17:39retake
00:17:40Guam
00:17:40when the
00:17:42Americans
00:17:43attacked
00:17:43they attacked
00:17:44without
00:17:44interval
00:17:45well I
00:17:46think this
00:17:46is doing
00:17:47part to
00:17:47how do I
00:17:48call it
00:17:48the American
00:17:50spirit of
00:17:50settlers in
00:17:51the frontier
00:17:52I admire
00:17:53this very
00:17:54much
00:17:54an American
00:17:57armada
00:17:58Task Force
00:17:5858
00:17:59gathers to
00:18:00deliver a
00:18:01killing blow
00:18:01aboard the
00:18:02carriers
00:18:03more than
00:18:031,000
00:18:04planes
00:18:05our task
00:18:07force was
00:18:07so big
00:18:08that if
00:18:08you were
00:18:09up at
00:18:0910 or
00:18:1012,000
00:18:11feet over
00:18:11the force
00:18:12it stretched
00:18:13from horizon
00:18:14to horizon
00:18:15we had
00:18:16four task
00:18:16groups and
00:18:17each task
00:18:17group was a
00:18:19minimum of
00:18:19four carriers
00:18:20usually one
00:18:22to two
00:18:22battleships
00:18:23two to four
00:18:24cruisers
00:18:25maybe 12 to
00:18:2718 destroyers
00:18:28in each group
00:18:29so you've got
00:18:30four groups
00:18:31sailing together
00:18:31and it is
00:18:32a spectacle
00:18:33you'll never
00:18:34see again
00:19:01and it was
00:19:02goes
00:19:15on
00:19:15on
00:19:15on
00:19:16on
00:19:16on
00:19:18on
00:19:19on
00:19:20on
00:19:20on
00:19:21on
00:19:22on
00:19:23on
00:19:25on
00:19:26on
00:19:28on
00:19:28on
00:19:29on
00:20:01America's fighters and bombers are in range of the Japanese home islands.
00:20:21It is only a matter of time.
00:20:26When I looked down the islands, the sea looked so beautiful, I asked myself, what is a human
00:20:36being?
00:20:38What am I?
00:20:41I thought about the answer.
00:20:44Human beings are like worms.
00:20:48Worms were fighting each other down on the earth.
00:20:52It seemed to be so ridiculous.
00:20:55At that time, the value of my life seemed very small.
00:21:02I started to feel that I did not mind dying.
00:21:09American strike forces head for the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa.
00:21:14The fire that began at Pearl Harbor will soon rage through the skies over Japan.
00:21:35The fire that began at Pearl Harbor will soon rage through the skies over Japan.
00:21:51The fire that began at Pearl Harbor will soon rage through the skies over Japan.
00:21:58The fire that began at Pearl Harbor will soon rage through the skies over Japan.
00:22:25As I looked down at the center of Berlin, it looked as though a volcano erupting.
00:22:35Hitler's once-mighty Reich is strangled from the east, crushed from the west, obliterated from the sky.
00:22:45One felt a hideous sense of inferiority and desperation.
00:22:55January 1945, as Allied armies close in on Germany from the west, Russia readies an overwhelming attack from the east.
00:23:25More than two million men, 7,000 tanks, and 5,000 planes mass for the knockout blow against the battered armies of the Third Reich.
00:23:44While the Red Air Force gains strength, the Luftwaffe is desperate for pilots, planes, fuel.
00:23:51Adolf Galland senses impending disaster.
00:23:54The Russians were able to build a mighty air force.
00:24:02They were able to maintain a strong air force.
00:24:06They were able to rearm in an area outside the reach of the German Luftwaffe.
00:24:11And they had no shortage of fuel.
00:24:14Luftwaffe aces, once supremely confident, see their ranks decimated.
00:24:26Friedrich Oblisser, Luftwaffe.
00:24:28We were so low on fuel that we positioned our planes for takeoff by having them pulled by oxen in order to save fuel.
00:24:39This meant that each mission had to be successful.
00:24:45Only the most experienced pilots were used for difficult missions.
00:24:51But then the experienced pilots also suffered greater casualties.
00:24:56From Leningrad to the Crimea, Soviet forces advance.
00:25:02The Red Air Force, reinforced with air cobras from America and powerful new yak fighters, fills the sky with fire.
00:25:12We were able now to lend air support to our troops on the battlefield.
00:25:23Fedor Archepenko, Red Air Force.
00:25:27Domination in air power at that time, then fully shifted toward the side of the Soviet Union.
00:25:34Air superiority was now completely ours.
00:25:41The Luftwaffe is forced to ration its remaining strength.
00:25:46Heinz Marquard, Luftwaffe.
00:25:48At the end of the war, the sorties became tougher from week to week due to the superiority of the enemy at that time.
00:26:00The pressure on us increased because our numbers decreased steadily.
00:26:05And we received neither replacement aircraft nor replacement pilots.
00:26:12The Luftwaffe pilots desperately try to stem the Russian advance toward the Polish border.
00:26:18Considering the distances we had to cover, we were like a fire brigade, putting out fires.
00:26:26This meant being transferred every three to four days.
00:26:30We had tremendous logistical problems.
00:26:33So on a daily basis, we had to perform our missions and already think about the next airfield we were going to use.
00:26:39Faced with defeat, Luftwaffe pilots must call on reserves of inner strength to continue the fight.
00:26:52Soviet ground forces cross into Poland.
00:26:55The Red Air Force flies ground support missions to punish the broken Wehrmacht.
00:27:01Walter Krupinski, Luftwaffe.
00:27:03The Russian pilots were extremely good bomber pilots.
00:27:10That is, low-level attack pilots.
00:27:18In low-level flight formation, they would fly wing on wing, very closely packed,
00:27:24providing us with a large target which we could strafe from side to side.
00:27:28But they could nonetheless maintain formation, carrying their rockets and bombs to the target.
00:27:34They were very brave, but they naturally suffered great losses.
00:27:39There were a lot of pilots who died.
00:27:43The shift to new equipment, to new planes, all this made us carry on a very difficult battle with the enemy.
00:27:50I have a total of 275 recognized victories, of which the majority were in the East.
00:27:59Am I proud of any special victory?
00:28:02I don't know this expression, proud.
00:28:05Naturally, every victory increased the sense of self-worth of every fighter pilot.
00:28:10It contributed to his experience.
00:28:12But one can't really talk of pride, because when you see what's left of your opponent on the ground,
00:28:29I think any emotion that there is would probably exclude the feeling of pride.
00:28:36By mid-January 1945, German defenses crumble outside Warsaw.
00:28:42I saw German troops being surrounded.
00:28:52I saw German troops retreating before the Russians, which was something I had never seen before.
00:28:57And I saw the encirclement worsen.
00:29:02And eventually, I saw how the German troops were finally bombarded with rockets and artillery fire.
00:29:12Spring 1945, it is clear that the Russians cannot be stopped.
00:29:22As the Red Army advances from the East, Allied forces on the Western Front roll through German cities,
00:29:28blasted to rubble by incessant aerial bombardment.
00:29:31The Luftwaffe is Hitler's last hope for survival.
00:29:47Hitler commands his ground troops to fight to the death.
00:29:50But he orders the cream of the Luftwaffe pulled back to defend the fatherland from heavy Allied bombing raids.
00:29:57We were taken out of our unit in Russia.
00:30:06I was brought to Germany.
00:30:08My mission was to combat the enemy escort fighters, not the bombers.
00:30:13When we got air superiority, man, we could...
00:30:19When they turned the sluice to pursue after escorting the bombers, that's when the Luftwaffe bought the farm.
00:30:27My first impression as I flew my first sortie over Germany was,
00:30:32Oh my God, look at all those targets.
00:30:35This is going to be a lot better than Russia.
00:30:37In Russia, you sometimes really had to search for an opponent.
00:30:41We had 15 fighter groups in the 8th Air Force, 15 fighter groups in the 9th Air Force.
00:30:48We could put up 50 airplanes in each group every day.
00:30:53So he figured out that's 1,500 fighters.
00:30:56There wasn't any place those guys could run and hide that we couldn't find them.
00:31:00In my first sortie, I shot down two Mustangs.
00:31:11In my second, a Thunderbolt.
00:31:14But then it was over.
00:31:18In my third sortie, I was the one who had to bail out.
00:31:30The noose tightens.
00:31:37The Red Army grinds toward Berlin.
00:31:44Allied forces pour across the Rhine.
00:31:47For the Third Reich, it is the countdown to doomsday.
00:31:52Hitler issues insane commands to phantom armies from his bunker in Berlin.
00:31:56And still, the Luftwaffe fights.
00:31:58At the end of the war, the High Command gave orders,
00:32:06which must have been issued by non-flyers.
00:32:09They expected one to accomplish the impossible, which we couldn't follow.
00:32:13For instance, a mission without the possibility of return.
00:32:17You wouldn't have had enough fuel to return to the German side of the front.
00:32:22Those orders were luckily refused by the squadron command.
00:32:25The Luftwaffe sends up hastily trained young pilots.
00:32:32They face seasoned veterans of the Battle of Britain.
00:32:36Brian Kingham, RAF.
00:32:39The German fighter pilots were getting shot down like flies,
00:32:41and most of them were done about ten hours flying.
00:32:44So for the last few months of the war,
00:32:47the opposition really melted away.
00:32:49With the exception of one or two old hands,
00:32:50there were a bunch of semi-trained young men being killed.
00:32:55Luftwaffe aces refused to quit, even in the face of chaos.
00:33:02We were a group of six fighters,
00:33:04escorting the Dora 9.
00:33:06On our return leg,
00:33:11as those fighter bombers were about to land,
00:33:13they were attacked by enemy planes.
00:33:19I sent out four of my escorts to defend the airfield.
00:33:23The enemy didn't see us coming.
00:33:28They continued to fly in a very calm and relaxed manner.
00:33:33We also had the sun behind us.
00:33:36I gave the order to attack the enemy fighters simultaneously,
00:33:40and we attacked.
00:33:41Two of them went up in flames right away,
00:33:48and three of them somersaulted around in the air after they were hit.
00:33:53The other fighters, who didn't even expect this,
00:33:56all of them dove down.
00:33:59Immediately, they went into a dive
00:34:00and left the bombers without protection,
00:34:03without any cover.
00:34:05My wingman and I attacked the enemy planes from underneath
00:34:12and came under fire.
00:34:14I was shot down,
00:34:16but I was able to save myself by bailing out.
00:34:20I celebrate that day as my birthday.
00:34:24Seeing your hometown reduced to rubble
00:34:26was motivation enough for us to fight.
00:34:29So we had only one mission,
00:34:31protect the homeland and the troops in retreat.
00:34:34They had unbelievable losses.
00:34:46Hitler concentrates what power he has left
00:34:48against the Russian juggernaut advancing on Berlin.
00:34:54To buy time,
00:34:55he demands that every German sacrifice his life for the Reich.
00:35:00It is carnage.
00:35:01Everyone knew perfectly well the war was lost.
00:35:09There was no more compromise solution.
00:35:12Our situation would not improve.
00:35:16And we were faced with unconditional surrender.
00:35:19That is the worst condition.
00:35:22And then came total destruction.
00:35:24April 1945.
00:35:34More than half a million Red Army troops.
00:35:40Thousands of tanks.
00:35:4321,000 rocket launchers and 12,000 guns
00:35:47rip into Berlin's last defenses.
00:35:49The Red Air Force hunts down Luftwaffe bombers.
00:35:58I must say, we really liked those planes, those bombers.
00:36:03You could approach them easily
00:36:04because they had practically no ability to fire from the back.
00:36:09And now they had only one machine gunner left up there.
00:36:12And we were coming up around him.
00:36:13We let off a round of machine gun fire and they started burning.
00:36:18One went up in flames.
00:36:20The second one went up in flames.
00:36:22The third.
00:36:23The fourth.
00:36:24We shot down more than half of the enemy planes
00:36:30and lost only seven of our Soviet fighters.
00:36:36April 25th, 1945.
00:36:39Near the town of Torgau on the Elbe River,
00:36:42Soviet ground forces link up with American GIs.
00:36:45The mood is festive.
00:36:46April 26th, the Germans control an area of Berlin
00:37:00only 10 miles long and 3 miles deep.
00:37:03There we had very few flights
00:37:12because there was such a strong strike from the land forces
00:37:16and it was so fast.
00:37:19As a result, we flew only three or four missions,
00:37:23light missions to escort our bombers
00:37:25which were bombing Berlin.
00:37:27They were trying to destroy the main hotbeds
00:37:38of resistance in the city
00:37:39where they were still fighting.
00:37:47The end of the war was foreseeable
00:37:50that it must end in our defeat and capitulation.
00:37:54It made me sad to see us losing the war
00:37:56but it was inevitable.
00:37:59As the hour of surrender approaches,
00:38:02Luftwaffe aces destroy their planes on the ground.
00:38:06The most frustrating experience for me
00:38:10was when we blew up our machines in 1945.
00:38:14We had to bid farewell to a lifestyle
00:38:17and to our comrades.
00:38:19And of course, we didn't know
00:38:21what the results would be historically and otherwise.
00:38:24German soldiers and airmen surrender
00:38:28to American and British forces
00:38:30to avoid capture by the Russians.
00:38:35Group Captain Johnny Johnson is playing soccer
00:38:37when a German bomber crew lands at his airfield
00:38:40to give themselves up.
00:38:41And I think they were quite astounded
00:38:43when they saw the group captain
00:38:44dressed up in a pair of football shorts
00:38:46and looking rather scruffy.
00:38:49Anyway, the chap eventually saluted me
00:38:51and said he was bombed up
00:38:52and would like a Spitfire escort.
00:38:56And then we could all go off together
00:38:58and attack the Russians to the east of Berlin.
00:39:00So we helped him on his way to the prison war camp.
00:39:07Eric Hartman, with 352 kills
00:39:10and known as the black devil of the Eastern Front,
00:39:13has special reason to fear the advancing Russians.
00:39:16He surrenders to an American officer.
00:39:18The American gave his word of honor
00:39:25that no German would be handed over to the Russians.
00:39:28But in a few days,
00:39:29we were told that we were going to drive to Munich.
00:39:33We went south,
00:39:34and then suddenly we turned east
00:39:36and drove into a forest
00:39:38and arrived at a Russian outpost.
00:39:40So the whole column was stopped
00:39:42and handed over to the Russians.
00:39:43And this is how I wound up in Russian captivity.
00:39:49Hartman is fated to spend 10 years in a Soviet prison.
00:39:53He is one of the lucky ones.
00:39:54He will return home alive.
00:39:59April 30th, 1945.
00:40:02Russian troops battled to the doorstep of the Reichstag.
00:40:13We had to pick and make our way
00:40:34through the corpses of those German soldiers.
00:40:37I wouldn't even call them soldiers.
00:40:40They were mostly kids,
00:40:41children dressed in SS uniforms
00:40:44and old men.
00:40:47And so as we were coming up
00:40:48to the Imperial Chancellery,
00:40:50we saw the eagle lying there.
00:40:53It was a two-meter-long bronze eagle.
00:40:56For more than 12 years,
00:40:57it had soared over the Imperial Chancellery.
00:41:00And the whole world shuddered
00:41:02as a result of that eagle.
00:41:04Our soldiers came and threw it down.
00:41:06And there it was now,
00:41:09under our feet,
00:41:10that eagle,
00:41:11a smashed lump on the ground.
00:41:16May 7th, 1945.
00:41:21Germany signs an unconditional surrender.
00:41:26Sergei Dolgushin, Red Air Force.
00:41:27My chief of staff came up and said,
00:41:33Commander,
00:41:33we've had a coded telegram from headquarters.
00:41:36They say,
00:41:37until special orders,
00:41:39stop all flights.
00:41:40So I looked at them and said,
00:41:43OK, kids,
00:41:45it's the end of the war.
00:41:47As to what I felt,
00:41:48I can tell you,
00:41:50I simply couldn't,
00:41:51I couldn't move.
00:41:53I couldn't move my arms or my legs.
00:41:56I was a 24-year-old kid.
00:41:59I was used to combat.
00:42:00I wasn't particularly weak.
00:42:03Here, I just couldn't do anything.
00:42:05I just simply lay down,
00:42:07flat under the wing,
00:42:09and the mechanic put a parachute
00:42:11under my head.
00:42:17As I lay there,
00:42:18I saw a vision
00:42:20of the horrible battles
00:42:21from the 22nd of June
00:42:23when the war began.
00:42:24I remembered all those kids
00:42:28who might never see again,
00:42:31with whom I'd never be able
00:42:32to have a toast together
00:42:33for victory.
00:42:35It all raced through my mind.
00:42:37Of course,
00:42:54there was a general feeling
00:42:55of exultation,
00:42:56of triumph,
00:42:57victory for which
00:42:58we had been waiting
00:42:59for nearly four years
00:43:01and for which we paid
00:43:02much too heavy a price.
00:43:04World War II
00:43:13is the costliest conflict
00:43:14in human history.
00:43:16In Germany,
00:43:17four and a half million dead.
00:43:20Half a million Britons,
00:43:22dead.
00:43:23300,000 Americans,
00:43:25dead.
00:43:2720 million Russians,
00:43:29dead.
00:43:30More than 13 million civilians,
00:43:32dead.
00:43:34So many unknown,
00:43:36dead.
00:43:37So many heroes,
00:43:39known and unknown.
00:43:40two levels,
00:43:41though no one was
00:43:42out.
00:43:43The
00:44:40We were told if Japan was occupied, the Japanese people would be exterminated from the face of the earth.
00:44:54As Allied forces close in on their homeland, Japanese pilots will turn to a last desperate weapon, the suicide attack.
00:45:03And the kamikaze came through and hit the center LSD and sunk it.
00:45:08That was our first experience with the kamikaze, and it was rather frightening.
00:45:12The U.S. Army
00:45:22October 1944, an awesome fleet of 200 American ships, including 17 aircraft carriers loaded with more than 1,000 planes,
00:45:43spans the horizon off Leyte Island in the Philippines.
00:45:46The Japanese moved to meet them, aware that the battle will determine the fate of Japan.
00:45:56Beating back the U.S. forces will buy an honorable peace.
00:45:59I think the Japanese wanted Leyte to be the last battle, followed by a peace treaty.
00:46:10But before negotiating a treaty, the Japanese wanted to chase the Americans away from Leyte,
00:46:17so our bargaining position would improve.
00:46:19To achieve such a big victory, a small number of pilots was not enough, so Japan sent three squadrons.
00:46:28An invasion force hits the island.
00:46:31Ships and planes from U.S. Navy Task Force 38 support the landings.
00:46:40Japanese warships must be kept away from the beachheads.
00:46:45Japanese planes must be stopped from blasting the American troops.
00:46:49The stage is set for an epic battle.
00:46:57American scouts prowl the Pacific, searching for the Japanese task force.
00:47:01And all of a sudden, emergency flight quarters were sounded on the communication system,
00:47:07and I knew what had happened.
00:47:09We'd located the Japanese forces.
00:47:12So we manned the ready room and manned our airplanes,
00:47:15and we knew this was going to be a long one.
00:47:17The U.S. Navy's top ace, David McCampbell, plunges into the go-for-broke Battle of Leyte Gulf.
00:47:27And I looked around, and I saw just my wingman and I up there.
00:47:36So then I called the ship and told them that we had about 40 fighters up here.
00:47:41Could they send some help?
00:47:44The word came back from the fighter director,
00:47:47says, we don't have anybody else to send you.
00:47:50So Roy and I went to work on them.
00:47:55The combat is furious, dreamlike.
00:48:07During the frenzy, McCampbell scores nine kills.
00:48:16When he returns to his carrier, his gas tanks are sucking air.
00:48:19Only six rounds are left in his guns.
00:48:23McCampbell earns the Medal of Honor.
00:48:25The Japanese managed to maneuver a deadly fleet within range of Leyte.
00:48:32In the late afternoon, Butch Boris gets the order to attack.
00:48:35But the numbers don't add up.
00:48:37The enemy carriers are too far away to allow a margin of safe return.
00:48:43Right there you knew that probably half the planes could not return to their carrier.
00:48:47But we went ahead.
00:48:49And the sun had gone down.
00:48:52And we came upon them, and we made our attacks.
00:49:04It was pretty heavy.
00:49:06And we lost a lot of them.
00:49:11The attack is successful.
00:49:13But as the sun disappears, U.S. pilots fly into a nightmare.
00:49:17We know we haven't got enough fuel to get home.
00:49:20The torpedo planes are calling out,
00:49:22I'm out of fuel, I'm going in the water.
00:49:26And it was just a continuous thing like that all the way back.
00:49:31What's left of the air group limps home in darkness.
00:49:34U.S. carriers risk stalking Japanese submarines
00:49:37and try to help the fighters home by showing their lights.
00:49:41Boris follows the shreds of light and finds the deck.
00:49:46I got down.
00:49:47My wingman crashed into the barriers right behind me.
00:49:52From then on out, we were pushing airplanes over the side.
00:49:55They were landing in the water, parachuting out.
00:49:58And this went on until there were no more airplanes.
00:50:02They were all gone.
00:50:03Or a few of us got down.
00:50:05We lost over half of our aircraft that night.
00:50:07The beachhead on Leyte is secured.
00:50:10But the battle for the air is wicked.
00:50:13The Americans were full of energy.
00:50:25I was told that a hundred warplanes were flying toward the south.
00:50:28At first I thought this must be a mistake, crows or something.
00:50:33But it was no mistake.
00:50:34And I began worrying because I had only ten men.
00:50:41The B-24s bombed our air base.
00:50:43I couldn't break into their formation.
00:50:49I chased the bombers for about 300 kilometers and attacked seven of them.
00:50:58Two were shot down.
00:50:59Walker Bud Mahurin is transferred to the Pacific after being shot down in Europe.
00:51:06He will survive yet another brush with death.
00:51:09Coming home from mission, my airplane started to lose coolant.
00:51:14And when it started to clank, which is kind of an indication that it's going to catch on fire, I bailed out.
00:51:18And I spent about six hours in the ocean in a one-man raft, scared to death, of course.
00:51:26The Air-Sea Rescue folks ended up by sending an Air-Sea Rescue boat out to pick me up.
00:51:33I came up on the deck of that rescue boat, and the crew handed me a cup of chocolate, hot chocolate.
00:51:40And I drank that hot chocolate down, went back to the stern, and threw up everything I'd eaten for 40 days.
00:51:46Quite exciting.
00:51:48U.S. forces fulfilled General MacArthur's pledge to return to the Philippines.
00:51:57American power will strike next at a place few fighting men had ever heard of before,
00:52:02and none will ever forget.
00:52:04Iwo Jima.
00:52:16February 1945.
00:52:18Air and Sea Bombardment hammer Iwo Jima, only 750 miles from the heart of Tokyo.
00:52:26Iwo's strategic importance is its airstrip, used by the Japanese fighters to intercept American bombers on their way to Japan.
00:52:34Satoshi Anabuki takes on American bombers, unloading fire and destruction on the once-untouchable Japanese mainland.
00:52:46It is a difficult challenge.
00:52:49The bombers could reach very high altitudes, and we had a hard time climbing up to intercept them.
00:52:57If we could wait at their anticipated altitude, then it was all right.
00:53:02I downed one bomber.
00:53:05I saw it catching fire, emitting black smoke and flying away.
00:53:12I couldn't see it crash.
00:53:16American bombers were headed back south after bombing the Hanchin area.
00:53:21I took off with the rest of my unit.
00:53:24They were at about 12,000 feet and made the mistake of not flying in tight formation.
00:53:31We shot down about 13 planes.
00:53:38I achieved glories because the enemy was careless.
00:53:51To protect the heavy bombers, the Americans need Iwo's airstrip as a base for P-51 escort fighters.
00:53:58American Marines launch an amphibious assault against Iwo Jima.
00:54:04Japanese resistance is fierce.
00:54:07Outnumbered in the air, only a handful of Japanese pilots defend the island.
00:54:12Iyozo Fujita, Japanese Air Force.
00:54:17We had radar on Iwo in the beginning.
00:54:20We were warned the enemy is coming.
00:54:23We took off, but they were not coming at all.
00:54:26They tricked us.
00:54:26We were confused, so we landed.
00:54:30Then a lookout saw them coming, and we took off again.
00:54:34We flew low, line astern, but were cut off.
00:54:38In just two days, we were completely destroyed.
00:54:46The battle for Iwo Jima is the bloodiest in the history of the U.S. Marines.
00:54:536,000 will die on that desolate island.
00:54:5617,000 are wounded.
00:55:02The Japanese lose more than 20,000 men.
00:55:05Only 1,000 are taken prisoner.
00:55:09Marine flamethrowers root out diehard Japanese burrowed deep inside caves.
00:55:18Marines seize Iwo's airfield.
00:55:20Now, crippled bombers returning to Tokyo can land on Iwo.
00:55:24But more important, long-range P-51 Mustangs can escort American bombers all the way to Japan.
00:55:35In the beginning, when the bombers came, our fighters could shoot some of them down.
00:55:47But later, when P-51s began escorting the bombers, we could do nothing.
00:55:52It became very difficult to defend the mainland.
00:55:57I knew that the rest of the war would be a great challenge.
00:56:01There is one more stepping stone to Japan, the fortress island of Okinawa.
00:56:09Allied warships mass offshore.
00:56:12The U.S. Navy had three carriers when the Pacific War began.
00:56:15Now there are 40.
00:56:16Easter Sunday, 1945.
00:56:21Marines and Army infantry land on Okinawa, seize the airstrip.
00:56:27The Japanese counterattack.
00:56:31In the air, they throw all their available fighters against the invasion fleet.
00:56:35Japanese pilots face swarms of U.S. fighters and bombers as thick as rain.
00:56:46They are desperate for a new strategy.
00:56:50Over Leyte Gulf, the Japanese tested a terrible weapon.
00:56:54Suicide pilots ordered to crash their planes into American targets.
00:56:59Off Okinawa, these human bombs, the kamikazes, drop from the sky like fireballs.
00:57:05The kamikaze is a surprise attack, according to our ancient war tactics.
00:57:19A surprise attack means to do something unexpected.
00:57:23Surprise attacks will be successful the first time, maybe for two or three times.
00:57:29However, eventually, the Americans would find a way to protect themselves from our attacks.
00:57:34When I saw a suicide attack for the first time, I was very shocked.
00:57:42A fighter who was caught in the anti-aircraft fire made a body attack on the enemy's carrier.
00:57:50I felt how brave he is.
00:57:52Congratulations.
00:57:53But at the same time, I felt, was there any way to help him?
00:57:57So many different feelings came to mind.
00:58:03The kamikazes take a heavy toll of the U.S. fleet.
00:58:07Some get through the curtain of fire.
00:58:09Thirty-eight U.S. naval vessels will be lost.
00:58:13American pilots must find a way to defend against an adversary for whom death in battle is the supreme honor.
00:58:20The kamikaze, divine wind.
00:58:37Pilots plunge to destruction inside Zeros weighted with 500-pound bombs.
00:58:42They create carnage in the fleet off Okinawa's shores, dodging Hellcats and Corsairs on the way down.
00:58:56The Americans attacked Okinawa against such an enemy, against the unexpected moves of the enemy.
00:59:03No strategy would have been effective.
00:59:05No strategy was planned.
00:59:06The planes that flew near Okinawa received orders to attack, attack, attack.
00:59:12Well, there was no other way then to make kamikaze attacks.
00:59:16We did not have time to plan a strategy.
00:59:22American gunners throw up a wall of fire against the suicide attacks.
00:59:26It is so intense, even their own pilots are shot down.
00:59:30I bailed out off the island of Okinawa during that campaign.
00:59:34And the United States Navy, USS Beale, shot me down while they were trying to fire at another Japanese airplane.
00:59:43I hit the wrong airplane.
00:59:50Once the gunners take over, they shoot at everything.
00:59:53The old saying, shoot them all down and start them out on the ground.
00:59:58And it's awful hard to get them to stop once they start firing.
01:00:04The orders to fly and die come from above.
01:00:07Some Japanese pilots question the fanatical doctrine of death.
01:00:13I went on the very first kamikaze mission.
01:00:18Kamikaze attacks were very, very foolish attacks.
01:00:22All the men who were in the headquarters lied.
01:00:24Every pilot volunteered for a kamikaze unit.
01:00:28I go, I go, I go.
01:00:30Did everyone say that?
01:00:32That's a lie.
01:00:35You are ordered.
01:00:37So-and-so numbers from that squadron.
01:00:39So-and-so numbers from this squadron.
01:00:42Only a fool would want to go for a sacrifice attack.
01:00:45The commanding officers told us, if you want to volunteer for the kamikaze unit, hand in
01:00:54a slip of paper with your name on it.
01:00:56If you don't want to volunteer, hand in a slip of paper with your name on it.
01:01:01In the climate of the Japanese military forces during the war, it was very difficult to say,
01:01:08you didn't want to die.
01:01:12Americans who heard kamikaze stories think that the Japanese must be strange.
01:01:18They think we are crazy.
01:01:19We are not crazy.
01:01:21Both American pilots and Japanese pilots are the same human beings.
01:01:26Where are there people who will volunteer to die?
01:01:29No one wants to die.
01:01:31But if a pilot was ordered, we were all military men.
01:01:36We would go.
01:01:39I think the Americans might have thought the kamikaze attack was a very poor strategy.
01:01:45And if the commanding office had had a better strategy, they would have used it.
01:01:49But in fact, there was no alternative.
01:01:52It was a dying struggle.
01:01:54Compared to the number of planes that made kamikaze attacks,
01:01:58the results were not very satisfactory.
01:02:01The losses were greater than the glories.
01:02:06I tried to lift up the young pilots' morale.
01:02:10I made songs, awarded them kill markers.
01:02:13But it was difficult to lift up the morale.
01:02:16If new planes had been built, and the pilots trained to fly them,
01:02:21then they would have achieved victories, and their confidence would have grown.
01:02:27But by the end of the war, I too felt so depressed.
01:02:31The battle for Okinawa ends on June 22, 1945.
01:02:37Casualties on both sides exceed 100,000.
01:02:45The island is a wasteland.
01:02:48Swarming kamikazes destroyed 38 American warships,
01:02:52killing 5,000 sailors and airmen.
01:02:56Allied planners asked themselves,
01:02:58If it is like this on Okinawa, what will it be like when we invade Japan?
01:03:06After Okinawa's fall, only the Japanese mainland was left.
01:03:11No enemy ships were to be allowed to reach the mainland.
01:03:14That was an order.
01:03:14All the pilots were ordered to make sacrifice attacks.
01:03:19That was a strategy for a winning battle on the mainland.
01:03:22Fight to the death.
01:03:23Die on the coast.
01:03:25If a decisive battle actually happened,
01:03:28Japan would be a disaster.
01:03:34Tokyo was all burned down from B-29 raids.
01:03:39If the emperor saw what happened to Tokyo,
01:03:42why didn't he demand to stop the war?
01:03:44When I faced the Americans' continuous raid on the mainland,
01:03:52I felt that Japan would not be able to win the war
01:03:56because we were pushed to the edge.
01:03:58Of course, I did not express my opinion.
01:04:01Even though I felt that there was no way to stop the enemy,
01:04:05we non-commissioned officers could not do anything.
01:04:08The only thing we could do was to continue fighting.
01:04:11It is clear Japan will not surrender.
01:04:18Invasion will mean an ocean of blood.
01:04:19Some might have felt that we would lose the war,
01:04:28but I didn't think we would lose until the last minute.
01:04:31I figured that when we were suffering,
01:04:33the enemy must be suffering too.
01:04:35That's the way I saw it.
01:04:36So when I heard the emperor's announcement ending the war,
01:04:41I was very frustrated.
01:04:42And I think it was a big deal.
01:04:43I was very frustrated.
01:04:43It was a big deal.
01:04:45I was very frustrated in the war.
01:04:47I was very frustrated.
01:04:48I was very frustrated.
01:04:49I thought it was a big deal.
01:04:51I gave the men's cause of the wintery summer.
01:04:53There are a few years in the war,
01:04:55the first time I was not going to die.
01:04:56I decided to try to be a good deal.
01:04:58I am the one who arrived in the war before the last night.
01:05:01But I was really excited.
01:05:03A sad system that worked quite hard.
01:05:05I heard it.
01:05:07I was very excited about the war.
01:05:08It was one who arrived in the war.
01:05:09I thought it was like my friend.
01:05:10World War II ends as it began, in flames.
01:05:40The vanquished mourn. The victors celebrate. A weight is lifted from the planet. For a moment there is no peril in the sky. That moment will be all too brief. Still, it is a moment to cherish.
01:06:10The
01:06:13the
01:06:17the
01:06:19the
01:06:22the
01:06:25the
01:06:29the
01:07:03They were young. They were scared. They were brave. They had a job to do. It was a time for eagles.
01:07:14They believed in their country. They believed in what they were doing and were off and ready to go and you could take them any place under the sun and they'd follow you.
01:07:23I fought to protect my country. I didn't think about the possibility of dying.
01:07:33The Mustangs dropped their wing tanks and plunged into the fight.
01:07:58Leading was an Ohio boy, Captain Don Gentile.
01:08:05Another hot rod, Colonel Francis Gabreski from Pennsylvania joined the fight.
01:08:10In the same outfit was Indiana's Major Walker McCurron.
01:08:13In World War II, the hunters, the fighter pilots, were fiercely proud of their squadrons, their leaders, and their skills.
01:08:24Then came a fresh formation of Mustangs, some of Colonel Blakeslee's bachelors.
01:08:30They came down from almost invisible heights to engage the enemy.
01:08:34They tested themselves against the enemy and against each other in what they called friendly rivalries.
01:08:40Walker Bud Mahurin is a top ace with the 56th fighter group.
01:08:59We were one of three fighter groups that got the P-47s and, of course, you like to look at scoring on the scoreboard like we do today in all our games.
01:09:12And, of course, the first time you got a victory, that added prestige to your group and prestige to your squadron.
01:09:18Walter Beckham, 353rd Fighter Group, U.S. Army Air Force.
01:09:23Bud Mahurin was credited with 15 airplanes and I was 14.
01:09:30So, that's, and he and I were good friends.
01:09:33So, I flew a mission one day and I came back with two airplanes destroyed and some good film.
01:09:39Public relations officers, oh, they were great.
01:09:47We, the 353rd group, now have the highest score and the 56th group with Bud Mahurin is now behind.
01:09:54I have 16, he has 15.
01:09:56So, the deputy group commander and I shook hands and they took pictures and big, big deal.
01:10:03As time went by, the more you got, the more prestige and the more envy other fighter groups would have of your organization.
01:10:14So, it became a competitive thing.
01:10:17And then, alas, Bud Mahurin came back and he had shut down one airplane.
01:10:22So, that was terrible.
01:10:25So, now, it's 16, 16, of course.
01:10:28The 56th will lead the show in.
01:10:31We escort the lead box of bombers.
01:10:35We've got to give them head gun cover.
01:10:38Nothing must break through.
01:10:40The 4th Fighter Group covers the tail of our task force.
01:10:44And there should be over a hundred of us.
01:10:47A legendary rivalry pits Hub Zemke's 56th Fighter Group, known as the Wolfpack,
01:10:52against Don Blakeslee's 4th Fighter Group.
01:10:55The Germans call them the Debden Gangsters.
01:10:58Don Gentile and his wingman, Johnny Godfrey, are top guns of the 4th.
01:11:04Between them, they score 36 combat kills, 6 over Berlin in one 20-minute dogfight.
01:11:10Their rivals from the 56th are Bob Johnson and Francis Gabreski,
01:11:29who themselves are in a nip-and-tuck competition for the title of America's number one ace over Europe.
01:11:35Gabreski will score 28 kills and gets the title.
01:11:51Later, a disputed kill is awarded to Johnson for a tie.
01:11:56In the final tally, the 56th destroys 1,006 Luftwaffe planes.
01:12:00The 4th gets 1,006 and a half kills.
01:12:03We salute the Skymasters engaged in the greatest air battles the world has ever known.
01:12:21Rivalries for the title of Top Gun helped the aces forget,
01:12:24if only for a moment, that the threat of death was constant.
01:12:28Mackie Steinhoff, Luftwaffe.
01:12:30And you go to bed at night with the thought, will you be alive the next morning?
01:12:39Well, if the weather was good, then you knew that the bombers would come,
01:12:44that you would have to start the plane, that you would have an air battle,
01:12:48and then you wouldn't know whether you would be alive or not.
01:12:52How we cope with this, I couldn't tell you today.
01:12:55In the battle for the skies, discipline is tight, tough, and crucial.
01:13:17Trust and teamwork are essential to survival.
01:13:20But there is no taming some of the hunters.
01:13:26They are the mavericks, the loners.
01:13:29A few gain blazing fame and the admiration of their fellows.
01:13:34Too often, the price for breaking the rules is death.
01:13:37Haltmann Hans Joachim Marseille, Luftwaffe.
01:13:48He wears his hair long, he likes jazz music, and he loves the ladies.
01:13:58Marseille was an extremely good-looking young man.
01:14:01We're talking about people who were 20 to 22 years old at the time.
01:14:06But he lacked the discipline necessary.
01:14:09During his rest periods, he had far too many women.
01:14:13Basically, I had nothing against this, but it did have an effect on his performance.
01:14:19And I told him once,
01:14:21Marseille, I really can't work with such undisciplined aces.
01:14:24He was transferred then to North Africa.
01:14:30In Africa, he became the star of Africa.
01:14:33He was talented.
01:14:34And the secret of his success was the fact that there were no girls in Africa.
01:14:43Marseille scores 158 kills.
01:14:46Returning from a mission, the engine flames.
01:14:50He bails out, his chute fails to open,
01:14:52and he is crushed against the hard desert floor.
01:14:56A makeshift memorial marks his grave.
01:15:00Greg Pappy Boyington leads the Maverick Black Sheep Squadron of Marine Pilots in the Pacific.
01:15:06Oh, Pappy Boyington was pretty colorful on the ground
01:15:09because he was a rough, tough character.
01:15:12When Pappy had quite a few drinks, he was a good man to stay away from.
01:15:17And I knew him very well because I was billeted with him in the last days of Rangoon.
01:15:23And most of the stories about him are true.
01:15:27Like the night he shot up the town clock in Rangoon,
01:15:31and we had to take his, we all carried a sidearm,
01:15:33we had to take it away from him.
01:15:36But yes, there were many colorful characters, I promise you.
01:15:39Boyington is shot down, presumed dead,
01:15:44and awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.
01:15:47Amazingly, he is rescued by a Japanese submarine
01:15:50and spends the rest of the war in a prison camp.
01:15:53He returns to claim the title of top marine ace with 28 kills.
01:15:58While the Mavericks make news,
01:16:04it is the team players who win most of the victories.
01:16:08In the Pacific, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa is Japan's top ace.
01:16:16He is killed as a passenger on a transport plane,
01:16:19evacuating pilots back to Japan.
01:16:21Edward Butch O'Hare is the first U.S. Navy ace.
01:16:31In the Battle of the Coral Sea,
01:16:33O'Hare downs five Japanese bombers in five minutes
01:16:36and is awarded the Medal of Honor.
01:16:39O'Hare will die in a night battle,
01:16:41the victim of friendly fire.
01:16:42And he was returning to join up on his mother torpedo plane.
01:16:49And the rear gunner in that torpedo plane
01:16:53thought he was an enemy airplane.
01:16:55And he turned his turret on him unknowingly
01:17:00and shot Butch down.
01:17:03Over Russia, Alexander Pokryshkin flies American P-39 fighters
01:17:08and scores an official 59 kills.
01:17:10Because he has become a symbol of heroism to the nation,
01:17:14his life is too valuable to risk in combat.
01:17:17Grounded by the Red Air Force,
01:17:18he flies secretly and adds to his score.
01:17:24When he is airborne, the Germans warn their pilots,
01:17:27Achtung, der ist Pokryshkin in der Luft.
01:17:30Attention, the ace Pokryshkin is in the sky.
01:17:35In the Pacific, a rivalry for Top Gun
01:17:37matches Richard Bong against Tommy McGuire.
01:17:40Dick Bong is the first American ace
01:17:43to pass Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I record of 26 kills
01:17:46on his way to a total of 40.
01:17:55McGuire gets 38 victories.
01:18:01McGuire dies in combat.
01:18:04Bong is awarded the Medal of Honor
01:18:05for the war.
01:18:06Days before the war ends,
01:18:08while testing America's first jet fighter,
01:18:11Dick Bong is killed.
01:18:13Douglas Bader, Royal Air Force,
01:18:15is a special kind of hero to the British people.
01:18:20Bader, wearing artificial legs,
01:18:23exemplifies the grit and courage
01:18:24that won the Battle of Britain.
01:18:26Once he was in the cockpit of the Spitfire,
01:18:29I think he was the equal of the fact
01:18:32that he was disabled.
01:18:34You didn't notice it.
01:18:39Bader is shot down and captured by the Germans.
01:18:42Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland arranges for him
01:18:45to get a new pair of aluminum legs
01:18:47to replace the ones Bader lost in the crash.
01:18:50Bader gets the metal legs and tries to escape.
01:18:53But, of course, he was a great, inspiring leader
01:18:58who was utterly fearless
01:19:00and basically taught us how to conduct ourselves
01:19:05as young fighter pilots.
01:19:08He taught us how to lead
01:19:09and what it was all about.
01:19:12The wild ones,
01:19:14the quiet ones,
01:19:16the flamboyant ones,
01:19:19the serious ones.
01:19:20All of them took the hunters' challenge
01:19:24and all earned immortality
01:19:26in the proud fraternity of eagles.
01:19:39The fighter pilots who did battle in hostile skies
01:19:42were, for the most part,
01:19:43young men in their early 20s.
01:19:45Each flag painted on the side of a plane
01:19:48represented a victory for one
01:19:50and death for an adversary.
01:19:54Matters of life and death
01:19:56were very much on these young minds.
01:19:58There is an encounter between the two of us.
01:20:04We came together in battle.
01:20:06We intend to destroy each other.
01:20:09You don't hear the machine gun.
01:20:10You don't see any blood.
01:20:12Shooting in a plane is a relatively clean affair.
01:20:15So you really don't think about the person
01:20:18who sits in the aircraft.
01:20:19Another reason why
01:20:22people like myself
01:20:24who find it difficult to squash flies
01:20:26join the Air Force
01:20:28was because you're not killing people.
01:20:30You're killing aircraft.
01:20:32And it used to come this huge shock
01:20:33if you were firing at an airplane
01:20:34and suddenly a body came out of the parachute
01:20:36and suddenly brought home
01:20:38the fact that there were people there.
01:20:42Saburo Sakai,
01:20:43a top ace of the Japanese Air Force.
01:20:45to shoot down the enemy
01:20:49during a battle means
01:20:51not only shooting down a plane
01:20:53but a pilot in the plane would die too.
01:21:02Shoot down means
01:21:04to kill another person.
01:21:06So all the battles
01:21:07were very important for me.
01:21:10I remember all the battles.
01:21:12I should because I killed people.
01:21:14If I forgot any of them
01:21:16I will become human.
01:21:21For many pilots
01:21:22the deadly hunt became a sport.
01:21:24Somehow separated from any cause or flag
01:21:27it was a way to cope with levels of stress
01:21:29beyond the pull of any G-force.
01:21:34Andrew McKenzie,
01:21:35Royal Air Force.
01:21:37We used to look at those crosses
01:21:39on the aircraft
01:21:39and try to hit the cross
01:21:41but it was almost like a pinball machine.
01:21:49He never thought about his next of kin
01:21:51or whether he had kids or not
01:21:53or anything like that.
01:21:54I think if you had of
01:21:55you probably would have
01:21:56it would have taken the fire
01:21:58out of the whole thing, you know.
01:22:01Medal of Honor winner
01:22:02Marine Pilot Joe Foss.
01:22:04Anyone that gets silly ideas about
01:22:07when you're in a battle
01:22:11with those birds
01:22:11about worrying about their welfare
01:22:13it's off the end of the plank
01:22:15and into the deep.
01:22:17The game was for very high stakes.
01:22:20Another sunrise.
01:22:21Another day.
01:22:22Week.
01:22:23Month.
01:22:24Survival.
01:22:27Death found a rich harvest
01:22:28in the skies.
01:22:29There's no one
01:22:37in the short span of life
01:22:38we have here
01:22:39that likes to leave
01:22:40ahead of schedule
01:22:41and of course war
01:22:42will cause you
01:22:43to leave ahead of schedule
01:22:44I'll guarantee you.
01:22:45I've seen it first hand.
01:22:46I was like a child
01:23:07like a child
01:23:08who doesn't know
01:23:09what fear is
01:23:10and rushes into battle
01:23:11and only then
01:23:13when he feels pain
01:23:14a child then feels fear
01:23:15fear is a great thing
01:23:17it's a great instinct
01:23:19for self-preservation
01:23:20it's absolutely necessary.
01:23:25People who don't experience fear
01:23:27are not normal.
01:23:31Facing inner fear
01:23:32seeing friends die
01:23:34it was all part of the job.
01:23:39I think it hits you worse though
01:23:41when the guy who was shot down
01:23:43or disappeared
01:23:44was one of your closer friends.
01:23:51When the guy was your close friend
01:23:53I think it was the worst.
01:23:55He felt it the deepest.
01:24:06The pilots faced burnout
01:24:08and fatigue.
01:24:09after a set of a long mission
01:24:12and some combat
01:24:13and returning home
01:24:15I would say to myself
01:24:17I hope I don't see any more
01:24:19Germans today
01:24:20I'm
01:24:20I don't feel like it.
01:24:23They shared a closeness
01:24:25that gave them strength.
01:24:28I think that there always
01:24:29was a certain
01:24:30sort of feeling
01:24:31of camaraderie
01:24:32between airmen
01:24:33you know
01:24:33and they were after all
01:24:35just young men
01:24:36doing their duty
01:24:37in the same way
01:24:38as we were.
01:24:41They knew the elation
01:24:42of flight
01:24:43and the hunt.
01:24:47I loved flight
01:24:49I loved the sport
01:24:51of the third dimension
01:24:52it was always
01:24:54like a drug to me
01:24:55I flew passionately.
01:24:57wing commander
01:25:06Geoffrey Page
01:25:07Royal Air Force
01:25:08I had
01:25:11a very smart
01:25:12uniform
01:25:13with a pair of wings
01:25:14on it
01:25:14I had a
01:25:16lovely fast airplane
01:25:18we were considered
01:25:20rather sort of
01:25:20glamorous characters
01:25:22I suppose
01:25:22in a way
01:25:23we didn't have any time
01:25:25to chase the girls
01:25:26sadly
01:25:26we were in the air
01:25:28all day
01:25:28and too tired
01:25:30at night
01:25:30to deflect
01:25:33our interests
01:25:34and they knew
01:25:35a special kind
01:25:36of pride
01:25:37when the day
01:25:38is over
01:25:39and you get
01:25:39back
01:25:40and you have
01:25:41a glass of beer
01:25:42or something
01:25:43it tastes just
01:25:44that much better
01:25:45because you stuck
01:25:47your neck out
01:25:47times change
01:26:11skies change
01:26:12some memories
01:26:13grow dimmer
01:26:14with the years
01:26:15but some
01:26:16will blaze brightly
01:26:17for all time
01:26:18the fascination
01:26:29of flight
01:26:30can't be expressed
01:26:31in words
01:26:31once you've experienced it
01:26:33you will never be able
01:26:34to forget it
01:26:35you know
01:26:36when you go up there
01:26:37there's a
01:26:38very cruel
01:26:39and real world
01:26:40that you're in
01:26:40and you may not
01:26:41come back
01:26:42from that mission
01:26:42then for a moment
01:26:45you feel a feeling
01:26:46of hate
01:26:46but it is more important
01:26:48to be successful
01:26:49and when you think
01:26:52that you're probably
01:26:53a lot better
01:26:53than anybody else
01:26:54you better be better
01:26:55than anybody else
01:26:56we were all the same
01:26:59I think
01:26:59I think that all pilots
01:27:00have the same feeling
01:27:01but the war
01:27:02created devils
01:27:04they had a job
01:27:06to do
01:27:06which would shoot us down
01:27:07and we had a job
01:27:08to shoot them down
01:27:08and that's the way it goes
01:27:10you see these
01:27:12tracer bullets
01:27:13coming at you
01:27:14and you know
01:27:15that every one of them
01:27:16is lethal
01:27:16and it's pointed at you
01:27:18and the most important
01:27:19thing is not
01:27:20to be a coward
01:27:21the hunters
01:27:23are the ones
01:27:24that go out
01:27:24and kill
01:27:25and the others
01:27:26will be hunted
01:27:27our pilots
01:27:30one by one
01:27:31I felt
01:27:32oh they have died
01:27:33too young
01:27:34you're up there
01:27:36to win
01:27:36you play to win
01:27:37and you just gotta love
01:27:39what you're doing
01:27:39is what makes
01:27:40a good fighter pilot
01:27:41looking back
01:27:53on a terrible war
01:27:55for all the terror
01:27:56and the horror
01:27:57still the wind
01:27:58will whisper
01:27:58yes
01:27:59there was glory
01:28:01and he'll be
01:28:13here
01:28:15so