35min | Documentary, Short, War
Documentary/training film depicting the duties of a pilot in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War as he flies reconnaissance missions over enemy-held islands.
Stars: Walter Baldwin, Ralph Byrd, William Forrest
Documentary/training film depicting the duties of a pilot in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War as he flies reconnaissance missions over enemy-held islands.
Stars: Walter Baldwin, Ralph Byrd, William Forrest
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:30No. You can't sleep. You envy that kid next to you. Swabbies can sleep anywhere. But you
00:51can't sleep because you're keyed up. You're going home. Home to Culver Springs. You've
01:00been out there 14 months and you're tired. Dog-tired. You're tired from flying 52 long,
01:08tough combat missions in a P-38. But you feel good about one thing. You're going home. And
01:15when you land, she'll be waiting for you at the airport. Katherine. She'll be there. And
01:23when you feel her in your arms, those 14 months will melt away like a ground haze in the morning
01:29sun. Packard A. Cummings. First Lieutenant Army Air Forces. Dog tag number 0451859. You're
01:38headed for home. And Katherine will be waiting. Well, here you are, Lieutenant Cummings. Home
01:54from the wars. And you're scared stiff as you look for that one beautiful face. And
02:02then you see her. Brother, she looks so good, it makes you catch your breath. Packard. Oh,
02:16wonderful to see you. Hello, Aunt May. Hello. How are you? Come on. Hello, Packard. Mike.
02:29Fourteen months you've waited for this moment. And it's just as good as you dreamed it would be.
02:36Packy, my boy. Hello, Mr. Newton. I didn't want to miss the interview in the Town Heroes. How's
02:49it feel to get back? It feels good. You never were a kid to talk much. How many planes you
02:55knocked out? Many as your old man last war? Well, I got one zero, Mr. Newton. Oh, but you said you...
03:01Oh, you talk too much. What about the Jap pilots, huh? George, you can get your story in the morning.
03:06He's tired. We're all going up to the house. I have some nice coffee and sandwiches ready.
03:10It's funny. First thing I get to eat when I get home is a spam sandwich. Packy, you told Mr. Newton
03:30you only got one zero. Well, even in the citation, it said that you were responsible for 200 Jap
03:35planes. Record's 26. Joe Foss. But it was 200. Even a general said so. Packy, what was it like out there?
03:50It wasn't too bad. No, you don't feel like talking about it. Not now. But as you sit there with
04:03Catherine, it all flashes through your brain fast and clear. All right. Citizens of the United States, do hereby acknowledge to have voluntarily enlisted to this date, December 8th, 1941, in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the Army of the United States and in the
04:33Army of the United States. For the duration of the war, plus six months. For the duration of the war, plus six months.
05:03There's no special thrill when they solo you at private parties.
05:31There's no special thrill when they solo you at primary. You've got nothing to worry about. Flying's in your blood. And when you're in an airplane, you're home.
05:41Is that your kid up there soloing? Yeah, but there's nothing to worry about. He can fly better than I can. That's Wild Bill Cummings' kid.
05:51You breeze through primary and basic, and by the time you reach the heavier stuff in advanced, you feel it won't be long now until you get into the kind of airplane you know you were made for, the fighters.
06:21Then you get your assignment. Fighters. That's your baby. A custom-made job. $75,000 FOB Burbank. Cash. Twin-tailed. All the latest features.
06:50Kingpin of the fighters. Hello, Packy. Glad to have you with us. Thank you, Colonel Henry. You were bound to wind up in fighters. What do you hear from your father?
07:02He's in Australia, sir. Just got his star. He's commanding the 138th Fighter Wing. I hope you're getting his command. He's a good man to fly with.
07:09Oh, the things Wild Bill Cummings could do with a span. 22 Germans he got in the last show. Gives me something to shoot at, sir. Yes, I guess he's as good a fighter pilot as ever lived. Well, drop in and see me. Yes, sir.
07:24You learn to fly that airplane. You're doing good work, and you feel good. Until that night. Lieutenant? Lieutenant? Yes. There's a long-distance call for you, sir. I think it's your mother. Thank you.
07:43Oh, hello, Ma. All right, let's have it. How'd it happen? On a mission, huh? Keep your chin up, Ma. I'll get a pass and try to get the first plane out in the morning.
08:12I should be there by tomorrow afternoon. Keep your chin up, Ma. My father was killed in action. Chaps.
08:41Full of hate now. You practice gunnery until you can aim that airplane like a shotgun. Then the CO calls you, and you know this is it. Sit down, Pecky. Well, they tell me you're good. You're number one in your class. Ready to ship.
09:10What theater, sir? Well, you're not going to a theater. You're being assigned to a reconnaissance training unit. You're going in an F-5 outfit. F-5? Oh, but Colonel... Well, as you know, it's a stripped-down P-38. It's an awfully good airplane, do close to 450 straight and level. I know that, sir, but no guns. That's right, no guns. It's an airplane to do one job, to fly a camera.
09:39Sir, you said I was number one in my class. I worked my head off here to become a fighter pilot. I want to kill Japs. That's what Dad would want me to do. Why pick me to fly a camera? Because you're the best fighter pilot here, and it takes the best to fly reconnaissance.
10:02Look here, Pecky. I'm all for good fighters myself, but reconnaissance is important, and I know one thing. If Wild Bill Cummings was sitting right here at this desk, he'd tell you to do the job they give you to do. Now, be a good soldier. Good luck, Lieutenant. Thank you, sir.
10:33Gonna fly a Brownie.
10:36Introducing you to the K-17 and K-18 aerial cameras. This K-18 can take pictures from 30,000 feet that'll pick out the eggs in a robin's nest, and they're the only excuse for ever taking an F-5 into the air.
11:00Yeah, think how many Japs you can kill with them.
11:04They pour it on at reconnaissance training. Navigation, tests in the high-altitude chamber, the link trainer, radio, the Allison engine, photography, and one high-altitude mission after another.
11:22You have to fly high because you have no guns, and altitude and speed are your only protection. You're not happy. It's a chauffeur's job. You don't want to photograph Japs. You want to pour lead into them.
11:35But you do your job and beef as little as possible, even though you're sick of not being in fighters. And then one day, three months later, you look down and you're flying over the Owen Stanley Range in New Guinea on the other side of the world. It's your first mission, and you're going a long way from your base.
11:53You're headed for Cahuilla. Your job is to photograph a big airdrome the Japs are building there. According to the intelligence officer who briefed you, this is a very important haul.
12:05Now, we're keeping an eye on the Cahuilla airdrome because one of these days when it's finished, the Nips are going to start piling airplanes up there for a big push south. We have to be ready for it or we're going to be in trouble.
12:16Now, take off at 1100. And when you get within 150 miles of the target, be sure you're up at least 25,000 feet.
12:24You're not too impressed. You're playing Indian Scout. The only difference is the Indian Scout had guns, and all you've got is that .45 automatic. That's for snakes in case you're forced down over the jungle.
12:38You're all alone behind the enemy lines. You're your own pilot, navigator, radioman, and photographer. And that sky is about the loneliest place in the world.
12:50Then you're near the target. The squints are putting up the AK-AK intense and accurate. It's your first time under fire, and suddenly you realize something. It's a surprise. Those guys are trying to kill you, but you're too high and going too fast.
13:06You reach your spot, and you reach up and push the button. When you press that button, you start a camera going, and the Cahuilla airdrome is beneath you. You don't see an airplane, and it beats you why they should want pictures of tractors and men with picks. Some job for a guy that wanted to kill Japs. So you start for home.
13:31You make it back to Port Moresby, your base, without incident, as they say in the communiqués.
13:37Well, Photo Joe, what did you see? What did you do?
13:57Got four zeros. Few spitballs.
14:01Very unsanitary.
14:08They unload your cameras, rush the negative to the portable lab, develop it, and make prints. You're doing this because you understand the conscientious recon pilot always follows his pictures through to see how they turn out.
14:23Very pretty. I'll take two dull and two glossy.
14:27You're now a full-fledged Photo Joe, and the name gripes you.
14:37You're fed up to the ears, but there's nothing you can do about it.
14:41You do your job as well as you can and keep your beefs to yourself, and you fly that F-5 on mission after mission.
14:49You fly the milk run to Cahuilla. You photograph jungles and beaches.
14:54But a tree's a tree and a strip of sand is a beach, and from five miles up they all look alike.
14:59The war seems far away.
15:02You realize that men are fighting and dying in those pictures you get, but it seems as remote to you as if you read about it in the newspaper.
15:10More months pass.
15:12Today you're headed back for the Cahuilla air drone.
15:15You've photographed it so many times you know it like the palm of your hand, but you've never seen an airplane there.
15:21As far as you're concerned, the Cahuilla run is still a waste of time.
15:25You're knocking it off at 350 miles an hour at 28,000 feet, and you're getting close to Cahuilla.
15:31Then you see trouble.
15:33A nip patrol of five zeros.
15:37You drop your belly tanks.
15:39They don't want you to photograph that air drone.
15:42Why?
15:47Your oxygen's gone.
15:52Down you go.
15:53Without oxygen you can only stay conscious for 30 seconds at that altitude.
15:57Your heart hammers and you fight to keep from blacking out.
16:00You're out of range.
16:03You've still got a job to do.
16:06Photograph that air drone below you.
16:09You get set for your camera run and head in.
16:11They're putting up everything they've got.
16:13Your cameras are running.
16:16Then you look down, and there's nothing there.
16:21You can't figure it out.
16:33Get in those clouds.
16:37Get in those clouds.
16:47Uh-oh.
16:48Mr. Squinty.
16:55That chap must be laughing at you.
16:57Look at him, waving his tail in your face.
17:03He knows you have many guns.
17:05But he better pull out.
17:07If he lets you get any closer, you'll climb all over him.
17:10He's pretty cocky.
17:13If he'll only stay cocky another five seconds,
17:16keep on his tail.
17:18Ride him.
17:19Ride him into that ocean.
17:26And you're the first reconnaissance pilot in history
17:29to down an enemy fighter without guns.
17:32As you head for home, you feel swell.
17:37Your old man would be proud of you.
17:53There's someone.
17:56That's Packy, all right.
18:02Let's go.
18:19Better stand for the meat wagon. He's been hit.
18:21Never mind. It doesn't matter much.
18:23Nice going, Packy.
18:24Good work, Lieutenant.
18:32Our lossy spotter reports you got a zero.
18:34It's been confirmed. Congratulations.
18:36Boy, did we have fun.
18:37Lieutenant, you must have flew the ears off that chap.
18:40Let me shake your hand.
18:41Thanks, Mac.
18:42All right, now let's get that hand taken care of.
18:44Okay, I'm willing.
18:45You're pretty proud.
18:46No matter how you look at it, you were really flying that airplane.
18:56Well, you got to do better than that, Pete.
18:58Wait a minute, wait a minute. That calls for a toast.
19:00Here's to the F-5.
19:01The rabbit of the blue New Guinea skies,
19:03except when it's flown by Packy Cummings,
19:06when it becomes a killer.
19:11I've just come from the bomber command.
19:13Every bomber on the island's pulling out.
19:15Must be a terrific mission.
19:16Well, where are they going?
19:17Cahuilla.
19:18Let's...
19:21Let's go.
19:31Yeah!
19:36They're sending out the whole bloody airport.
19:39Are you going to Cahuilla?
19:41Well, what about it?
19:43I didn't say anything.
19:44Unless the Japs are going to fight with bulldozers.
19:49Help me to save my tears.
19:54I'm glad I met a body.
20:00Two hours later, the CO sends for you.
20:04Your brain's in a tailspin.
20:07You can't figure out what was on those pictures.
20:10And why is the CO sending for you?
20:13Probably to give you the good word for knocking down that Zero.
20:22Well, any way you look at it,
20:25this has been a big day for you.
20:28And it's going to get a lot bigger.
20:41Sit down, Lieutenant.
20:43Thank you, sir.
20:46How about Cummings' mission?
20:48Very good pictures of the Cahuilla airdrome, sir.
20:50The conditions under which Lieutenant Cummings got them were extremely hazardous.
20:54He was attacked by ten enemy airplanes,
20:56but flew to the target and got his pictures anyway.
20:58Good.
21:00Very commendable, Cummings.
21:02You acted in the best tradition of reconnaissance.
21:04It's good stuff.
21:05I'm going to recommend very strongly that you be cited.
21:08Thank you, sir.
21:10How about the Zero the lieutenant got?
21:12Was it confirmed?
21:13Yes, sir, it was.
21:14Attacked by this enemy plane,
21:16Lieutenant Cummings, through superior combat flying,
21:18forced him into the sea.
21:20Well.
21:22For that, Lieutenant, you'll be grounded and confined to quarters.
21:26You think you've gone nuts?
21:28You can't be hearing right.
21:30What did you say, sir?
21:32That's right, grounded and confined to quarters.
21:36But why?
21:38I'll show you.
21:39Pull up your chair.
21:41Here are the pictures you took at Cahuilla airdrome.
21:44You couldn't see anything, but your camera did.
21:47This is the picture before and after.
21:50See these camouflaged airplanes?
21:52There and there.
21:55Very clever disbursement.
21:57There are 200 airplanes at Cahuilla, or were,
22:00and all our bombers and fighters have gone after them.
22:03You used your head when you figured there was something up
22:05and that jet patrol came after you.
22:07And you risked your life going over the target
22:09at a dangerously low altitude to get your pictures.
22:12And then you had to spoil it.
22:15Cummings, how could you dare risk not getting those pictures back
22:17by going into that wild circus act with that fighter?
22:20Do you realize those 200 planes in a surprise attack
22:23could have wiped out our air insulation in this area?
22:26That might have changed the whole course of the war.
22:33You wanted to be a fighter pilot, didn't you?
22:35Because of your father, probably.
22:37You never stopped to think that a reconnaissance pilot
22:39was the greatest mass killer of them all, did you?
22:43Why, in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea,
22:44a recon plane killed 15,000 chaps
22:46just by spotting that fleet concentration.
22:49A radio message from that single airplane
22:51sent a whole air force into action.
22:54That's responsibility, my boy.
22:57And that kind of responsibility can't be handled by men
22:59who want to fight zeroes without guns.
23:05Let me tell you a few facts about reconnaissance.
23:08It supplies 90% of our air intelligence today.
23:11In the Battle of Tunisia, it saved thousands of lives.
23:14Montgomery and Eisenhower both stopped the war for two days
23:17because they wouldn't move without pictures.
23:19The fate of every soldier in this war
23:21is determined every day by the pictures you men bring in.
23:25Think about that the next time you want a horse around
23:27playing the big ace, will you?
23:30That's all.
23:42♪
24:10There she is. Call him.
24:40♪
25:09♪
25:38♪
25:49First Lieutenant Joseph Kilgore, Air Metal.
25:56Well, it came out all right.
25:58The destruction of that Jap air fleet taught you your lesson.
26:01Because now you know that more and better aerial pictures
26:04will end this war just that much sooner.
26:13First Lieutenant Packard A. Cummings, Distinguished Service Cross.
26:27Congratulations, Lieutenant Cummings.
26:29Thank you, sir.
26:30You can say, and rightly so,
26:32that you were responsible for the destruction of 200 enemy aircraft.
26:37Your father would have been very proud of you.
26:39Yes, sir.
26:43You know now that a photo Joe is a big man in this scrap.
26:47You've been on 52 missions.
26:50Now they're going to send you home to instruct.
26:52Think of the yarns you can spill to your kids
26:55because, brother, you've been to war.
27:01She wants to know what it was like.
27:04You'll tell her someday.
27:07But right now you don't feel like talking.
27:11It wasn't so bad.
27:14It wasn't bad at all.
27:18Of course, what are you going to do without this?
27:29The film you've just seen is fiction, of course.
27:32That is, the part about my being a general's son and all that.
27:36But the adventures I went through are real.
27:38And these are the two men who actually did the things on which the film was based.
27:43This is Major Alex Gary, the most decorated recon pilot in our air forces.
27:48He's the one who's blamed for forcing the Jab Zero into the water.
27:52And this is Major Arthur L. Post,
27:54who, among other things, spent 100 days in the jungles of New Britain
27:57before finally returning to his base.
28:00That's the DSC.
28:03They're home on leave, and when that's over, they'll return to the South Pacific.
28:07Is there anything you'd like to say, gentlemen?
28:10I'm not good at this. I get nervous.
28:12Major Post, we'd rather be in the South Pacific,
28:15not as many automobiles and reckless drivers.
28:27© transcript Emily Beynon