**The Most Feared Gangster's Final Days | Thunderbolt (1947)**
*Thunderbolt (1947)* is a gripping film noir crime drama that follows the final days of a notorious gangster awaiting his fate behind prison walls. As his execution draws near, desperation, loyalty, betrayal, and redemption collide in a tense story filled with unforgettable performances and classic noir atmosphere.
Directed by Joseph Losey, this overlooked crime classic delivers suspense, emotional depth, and the dark visual style that defines the golden age of film noir. If you enjoy vintage crime movies, prison dramas, and classic Hollywood films, *Thunderbolt (1947)* is a must-watch.
Copyright Disclaimer:
This video is shared for historical, educational, and entertainment purposes. All rights belong to their respective copyright owners.
Mastering and Mixing: Rizal Indra Putra
#Thunderbolt1947 #FilmNoir #ClassicMovies #CrimeDrama #VintageCinema #ClassicHollywood #GangsterMovie #PrisonDrama #NoirFilms #BlackAndWhiteMovies #OldMovies #GoldenAgeCinema #ClassicFilm #PublicDomainMovies #MovieLovers
*Thunderbolt (1947)* is a gripping film noir crime drama that follows the final days of a notorious gangster awaiting his fate behind prison walls. As his execution draws near, desperation, loyalty, betrayal, and redemption collide in a tense story filled with unforgettable performances and classic noir atmosphere.
Directed by Joseph Losey, this overlooked crime classic delivers suspense, emotional depth, and the dark visual style that defines the golden age of film noir. If you enjoy vintage crime movies, prison dramas, and classic Hollywood films, *Thunderbolt (1947)* is a must-watch.
Copyright Disclaimer:
This video is shared for historical, educational, and entertainment purposes. All rights belong to their respective copyright owners.
Mastering and Mixing: Rizal Indra Putra
#Thunderbolt1947 #FilmNoir #ClassicMovies #CrimeDrama #VintageCinema #ClassicHollywood #GangsterMovie #PrisonDrama #NoirFilms #BlackAndWhiteMovies #OldMovies #GoldenAgeCinema #ClassicFilm #PublicDomainMovies #MovieLovers
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Short filmTranscript
00:26This picture was photographed in combat zones
00:29by cameramen of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces
00:32and by pilots of the 12th Air Force
00:34who, during missions against the enemy,
00:37operated automatic cameras in their planes.
00:42Behind the pilot, shooting forward and back.
00:46Under the wing.
00:50In the wing, timed with a gun.
00:55In the wheel well.
01:01In the instrument panel.
01:03Photographing the pilot himself.
01:13The commanding general of the United States Army Air Forces,
01:15General Carl Spots, has asked me to tell you something about this picture.
01:19I, uh, I don't think I could do any better
01:21than just to read from his telegram to me.
01:25Thunderbolt was made in 1944, ancient history.
01:29It was made about one fighter-bomber group in the Italian campaign.
01:33It happens to be an American group.
01:35But the same story could well be told of the Royal Air Force groups
01:39which participated so gallantly in the same air offensive.
01:42As a matter of fact,
01:44the story belongs to all men who fought for freedom
01:47and did it a long way from home.
01:50Signed, Spots.
02:15To the Italian man in the street,
02:17or what's left of the street,
02:19this is the fulfillment of a promise.
02:24The promise of the fascists
02:26to build a 20th century Roman Empire
02:29conceived in tyranny
02:31and dedicated to the proposition
02:34that some men were meant to be slaves of other men.
02:45Special victims were the children.
02:49They saw things not meant for children's eyes.
03:02From the air, Italy is more remote.
03:05The airman never sees the face of the people,
03:09only the face of the country.
03:11From the air, you look down at the mountains.
03:15Look down and wonder
03:17how our men on the ground ever got through.
03:23Mountains and rivers.
03:26The Volturno.
03:27A lot of American blood in that one.
03:31Natural barriers.
03:34Made other campaigns tough, too.
03:38Exhausted Hannibal's elephants.
03:40Caesar's legions.
03:44For the airmen,
03:46the ground war is remote.
03:47The only war you really understand
03:49is the air war.
03:51You can see a pattern to it.
03:54Lots of the country
03:56never been touched.
03:58Little towns that walk the ridges.
04:01Like tightrope artists
04:03to keep from falling off.
04:05This one didn't matter.
04:07When something did matter,
04:10that was another story.
04:16This is how we changed the face of Italy
04:18from the air.
04:28They boasted Italian trains ran on time.
04:32Not these.
04:35This is what we did
04:37to the face of Italy.
04:39There's a story behind
04:40why we did it
04:41and how we did it.
04:44The story starts on an island
04:4660 miles off Italy's coast.
04:50The island of Corsica.
04:57Corsica.
04:59Rugged.
05:01Primitive.
05:03Mountainous.
05:05Malarial.
05:08Here they still remember
05:09a local boy
05:10who put Corsica on the map
05:13150 years ago.
05:16This island part of France
05:17was liberated by the French
05:19in September 43.
05:22But you can still find a few Germans
05:25left by the wayside
05:26where they fell
05:27in the shadow of our air drums.
05:37Alto Air Base.
05:41Sunday morning.
05:45Here, Sunday is like Monday.
05:48And Monday is like
05:49every other day in the week.
05:52A working day.
06:04The engines wake you at dawn.
06:07In your sack,
06:08you can hear the crew chiefs
06:09pre-flighting your planes.
06:13Getting them ready
06:14for the day's missions.
06:17This is how you live
06:18when you're an airplane driver.
06:20Fighting an air war.
06:22Twenty minutes
06:23from the Germans in Italy.
06:28You're used to it.
06:30You've been washing out
06:31of your helmet
06:32since July 42.
06:35From the Holy Land
06:36to Africa.
06:37Across the desert.
06:39Egypt
06:40to Nella Le Mane.
06:41To Libya
06:42and Tunisia.
06:44Thirteen hundred miles.
06:46You moved
06:47when the infantry moved.
06:49Sicily
06:50and Italy.
06:52Fifty-eight moves
06:54in two years.
06:56Now, Corsica.
06:58This is the best deal
06:59you ever had.
07:00Call it
07:01the country club.
07:17When you talk
07:18about air power,
07:19this is what you mean.
07:21You mean
07:21Spanky Mander.
07:23Major Francis S. Mander
07:25of Metmore, New Mexico.
07:27Squadron operations officer.
07:29Not a desk job.
07:31Got over
07:32170 missions.
07:33Working for 200.
07:35He's 22.
07:39You mean
07:40Captain Howard Hickok
07:41of Ames, Iowa.
07:43He's a flight leader.
07:45Just had 30 days
07:46in the States.
07:47Time to get married
07:48and come back.
07:50He's 23.
07:54Or,
07:55in his Italian
07:56general's trailer,
07:58Gil Wyman.
07:59Louisville, Kentucky.
08:01Harley looks old
08:01enough to vote.
08:03But he's boss
08:04of a squadron.
08:05He signed his letters,
08:07Gilbert O. Wyman,
08:08Lieutenant Colonel,
08:10Air Corps.
08:11Commanding.
08:12The old man.
08:14He's 24.
08:21Sunday morning.
08:24For the 57th fighter group.
08:26Three squadrons,
08:27a thousand men.
08:29Another day begins
08:30at Alto Air Base.
08:33You could close your eyes
08:34and see it this way.
08:36Spread out like a diagram.
08:39Been home sweet home
08:40for some time.
08:42Good steel map runway.
08:45150 by 6,000 feet.
08:48Tower call sign
08:49is breakneck.
08:50Lots of jokes
08:51about that.
08:53We share the field
08:54with a French fighter group.
08:57Don't speak
08:57the same language,
08:58but we fly
08:59the same airplane
09:01against the same enemy.
09:04Each lost a man yesterday.
09:07We get along.
09:10Group commander,
09:11Lieutenant Colonel
09:12Archie J. Knight,
09:13West Point,
09:141940.
09:16He's 27.
09:21First mission today
09:23is a 6-5 squadron show.
09:25Briefing,
09:26right after breakfast.
09:28Informal,
09:29short,
09:30to the point.
09:31Park yourself
09:32on a bomb crate
09:33and get your escape kit.
09:36Enemy money.
09:37Instructions
09:38to get you back
09:39through the lines.
09:40Just in case.
09:42The S-2
09:43tells you about your target.
09:44He doesn't have
09:45to draw it for you.
09:47You do this every day.
09:48Sometimes two
09:49or three times a day.
09:52Gil Wyman
09:52will lead the show.
09:54So he lays out the job.
09:57That's a nurse's hat.
09:58His girl
09:59wears it for luck.
10:02Eat all you can get.
10:04The brass upstairs
10:06plans the war.
10:07They want something done.
10:09They pick up the phone.
10:11You do it.
10:13Don't always know
10:14why they send you
10:15out on a mission.
10:16Don't always care.
10:18But you know
10:19there's a reason.
10:20A good one.
10:23Today the missions
10:24are going out
10:25because in Italy
10:25our armies
10:26have been stopped.
10:27Cold.
10:28At the Gustav line.
10:30Across the narrowest
10:32and most mountainous
10:32part of the peninsula.
10:35U.S. 5th Army.
10:36British 8th Army.
10:38Stopped for five months.
10:41At Anzio
10:42100,000 men
10:44sweating it out.
10:46We couldn't move.
10:49Stalemate.
10:51March 15th
10:52we bombed Casino.
10:54Our immediate objective.
10:56Good job of bombing.
10:58Didn't work.
11:00Our infantry
11:01didn't advance.
11:02It was the wrong
11:04use of air power.
11:06Wrong because
11:07we were not
11:08taking advantage
11:09of the airplane's
11:10greatest asset.
11:11Its ability
11:12to get behind
11:13the enemy.
11:14That's what
11:15the air planners
11:16wanted to do.
11:17Get behind him.
11:19Lieutenant General
11:21Ira C. Aker
11:22commanding all the air
11:23in the Mediterranean.
11:24British,
11:25French,
11:26and American.
11:27Major General
11:29John K. Cannon
11:29Uncle Joe
11:30commanding the
11:3112th Air Force.
11:33And Brigadier General
11:34Gordon P. Seville,
11:3612th Tactical Air Command.
11:37The brass upstairs
11:39who run the air war.
11:41They said,
11:43let's not hit him here.
11:45Let's hit him
11:46here.
11:49Let's isolate
11:50the battlefield.
11:52Let's weaken
11:53the entire German front
11:54by depriving it
11:56by depriving it of
11:57supplies,
11:58fuel,
11:59food,
12:00ammunition,
12:02reinforcements.
12:03They call the plan
12:05Operation Strangle.
12:07This is what we want
12:09to do
12:09with airplanes.
12:14How?
12:15A lot of railroads
12:16in Italy.
12:18This is the enemy.
12:20Keep the trains
12:21from getting through.
12:23a lot of rivers
12:24in Italy
12:24and over 700
12:26major bridges.
12:27We figured
12:28if a train
12:29came to one
12:29and it wasn't there,
12:31it'd be kind of
12:32tough to get across.
12:35Medium bombers
12:36got many of
12:37the important ones,
12:38but bridges
12:39are long,
12:40narrow targets,
12:41difficult to hit
12:42and destroy.
12:43Took a lot of trips,
12:45bombs,
12:46planes,
12:47men.
12:48We started to use
12:49a special weapon.
12:52A fighter-bomber,
12:53a P-47 Thunderbolt.
12:57One engine,
12:59one man,
13:01one bomb
13:02on each wing,
13:03extra fuel tanks
13:05for range.
13:07Six-fives crew chiefs
13:08taxi from the dispersal points
13:11to the end of the runway.
13:13Line up the squadron.
13:25All the pilots
13:26have to do
13:26is climb in
13:28and take them away.
13:31If you're a crew chief,
13:33you've got your own
13:34P-47.
13:36Sometimes you think
13:37of it as
13:38your personal airplane.
13:40The pilot's
13:40a fellow you lend it
13:41to every day.
13:42You let him fly around
13:44in it and you expect
13:45him to bring it back
13:46in good condition.
13:48No bullet holes
13:49or flack holes.
13:52After you've been
13:52lending your airplane
13:53to one pilot
13:54for a long time,
13:56you get attached
13:57to him, too.
14:04If you're a pilot,
14:05no matter what your rank
14:07or how many hours
14:08you've had,
14:09what counts here
14:10is the combat flying
14:11you've done.
14:13Unless you've done plenty,
14:14you're a beginner.
14:15You're called a sprog.
14:17And you remain a sprog
14:19until you're wise
14:20to the tricks of the trade.
14:23After you've put
14:23a few missions behind you,
14:25you become a sport.
14:27Then,
14:27with plenty of action,
14:2950 or 60 missions,
14:30if you're still around,
14:32you're promoted.
14:33You become an old sport,
14:35a veteran.
14:37The big shots,
14:39like Gil Wyman,
14:40are called wheels.
14:41No one knows
14:42exactly why.
14:44This fellow's a wheel,
14:45too.
14:46Says so in his plane.
14:49Major Richard O. Hunziker
14:51of Tucson, Arizona.
14:53Got 179 missions.
14:58Your crew chief
14:59can't go along,
15:00so you always like
15:01to tell him
15:02what you're going to do.
15:04Got a triple threat
15:05mission today.
15:06Each section's
15:07going after a bridge.
15:09I'll come in
15:09on a course
15:10of about 40 degrees.
15:13Same old thing.
15:15Go out there
15:16and dodge around
15:17on the AKAC.
15:18Dive bomb
15:19out of a left-hand
15:20turnabout
15:20and carry the bombs
15:22right on down.
15:24We're flying top cover
15:26on the other two sections
15:27while they bomb.
15:28And then we go in
15:29ourselves.
15:30Weather's supposed
15:31to be caboo,
15:31so maybe we'll have
15:33a good show.
15:40All set to go.
15:43But you don't.
15:45You wait.
15:48You wait for five minutes.
15:51That's the way
15:52it's planned.
15:55Time to settle down.
15:58Relax.
16:00You'll be busy later.
16:02So if you've got
16:03any thinking to do,
16:05and who hasn't,
16:07now's the time
16:08to do it.
16:08them.
16:22Take care.
16:43Here, hold this till I get back.
16:52Takeoff is always rough.
16:55Thunderbolts are heavy airplane.
16:57Besides, you've decorated it like a Christmas tree.
17:02Belly tank, rockets, guns, 500-pound bombs, cameras.
17:15Hello, breakneck. Call a leader here.
17:17We're clear to take the runway for a takeoff. Over.
17:19Roger. Call a leader from breakneck.
17:21You're clear number one to take off.
17:23Roger, breakneck. Thank you.
17:28The mile of steel runway will shrink to nothing under you.
17:33Halfway down, by the tower, you'll be committed.
17:37That means you can't slam on the brakes and stop.
17:42Once you're committed, you usually go up.
17:47First pair, Wyman and Gustafsson.
18:15First pair off.
18:18Second pair of taxis out.
18:19Goss and Burgess.
18:36Made it okay.
18:40Manda and Richardson.
19:01Smith and Atwood.
19:05Come on. Get her up.
19:07Come on.
19:09Get her up.
19:17Hickok and Morrow.
19:23Last pair.
19:25Welbeys and Hunziker.
19:42The squadron is airborne.
20:01Over Corsica.
20:02Then out to sea.
20:04On the deck.
20:06On the deck.
20:22Sixty miles east.
20:25To Italy.
20:28Flying from Corsica.
20:30You go only sixty miles.
20:32You're a hundred and fifty miles behind the German front.
20:36Turn again on that castle.
20:39Now you're heading north.
20:42Into the mountains.
20:49Leader section.
20:51Red section.
20:54Black section.
20:56Formation flying.
20:58A game of follow the leader.
21:00The squadron leader.
21:01He navigates.
21:03Makes the decisions.
21:05Doesn't tell you what to do.
21:07Does it?
21:08You follow.
21:09Wing tip to wing tip.
21:13He turns.
21:15You turn.
21:22He climbs.
21:25You climb.
21:27You climb.
21:46Climbing still.
21:48To ten thousand.
21:50Through the clouds.
22:10Getting close.
22:12Start looking for the target.
22:16Stuck down there in one of those ravines.
22:19All look alike.
22:24Wing man.
22:26He's back.
22:27Keep the formation spread out.
22:34There's a checkpoint.
22:36That road.
22:38Follow it down to the river.
22:47Your first bridge.
22:48Should be down there.
22:50Somewhere.
22:57There it is.
22:59Pass over it.
23:00Come back and attack from the opposite direction.
23:03One of the tricks you've learned.
23:07Leader section.
23:08Goes into loose string formation.
23:10One flame behind the other.
23:14Then,
23:15Wyman peels off.
23:26The rest of the section follows.
23:29At two second intervals.
23:49Last man goes in.
23:51No bombsite in the P-47.
23:54Pilot does his own aiming.
23:58Bomb bursts from the planes ahead.
24:01A couple of misses.
24:04Direct hit.
24:06I hope your aim is good.
24:13Drop your bombs.
24:20Pull out.
24:22Pull out.
24:25Hey, Black, you're out for a second.
24:28Blood drains from your head.
24:31But you're young.
24:32It comes back fast.
24:35You're all right now.
24:39Leader section reforms.
24:40Top cover.
24:43Watch his red section bomb.
24:45A miss.
24:52Another miss.
25:00A hit.
25:06Black section goes down.
25:15Straddle the target.
25:18Concussion should do the trick.
25:28No more bombs.
25:30Still got plenty of gas.
25:32Plenty of ammo.
25:34Go in the prowl.
25:40Ease down on the deck.
25:44See what you can find.
26:07Railroad tracks.
26:09Following tracks.
26:14Another bad way to find a train.
26:18You spot one.
26:19Kick her over.
26:22Give it a few squirts.
26:24Might kill somebody.
26:30Plus the locomotive first.
26:33Train can't move now.
26:35Let's see what's in those box cars.
26:40Twelve of you.
26:41You'll all crisscross in.
26:43Everybody takes a few passes.
26:51Try the cars one at a time.
26:53Might be something interesting in them.
26:55Usually is.
27:12Got it burning nicely now.
27:16Take another pass.
27:18For luck.
27:33Straving spreads the squadron.
27:35Over the sky.
27:36Every man his own general.
27:39Looks like we're out of trains.
27:44Lighthouse out there.
27:46Wonder if I've got any ammo left.
27:50Yep.
27:54Radio station.
27:56Floored a few tubes.
28:00Somebody in that field.
28:02Don't know who they are.
28:04No friends of mine.
28:16Jerry vehicles.
28:17Parked in that farmyard.
28:23More in back.
28:25Must be a headquarters.
28:28Houses around here look kind of suspicious.
28:31Might be something in them.
28:33Nothing in that one.
28:36Nothing in that one.
28:43Could be wrong.
28:45Nothing in that one.
28:47Uh-oh.
28:48What do you know?
28:55Back at Alto.
28:57No one is sweating out 6-5 squadron.
29:12No one will sweat them out either.
29:14There are too many missions.
29:16Nine for today.
29:18When you don't fly, you've got things to do.
29:22Try to make some sort of life for yourself.
29:24And trying, you've improvised an American community.
29:29Step off the field, you're in Corsica.
29:32Step back on, you're in America.
29:39This is part of the war, too.
29:42The endless detail of living.
29:45The dust is a problem.
29:47Dust is good for the laundry business.
29:51And laundry.
29:54Branches everywhere.
29:55Community laundry.
29:59Three-day service.
30:02And for the rugged individualist.
30:05Water supply.
30:07Pump.
30:10Heating unit.
30:13Washing machine.
30:15The sergeant used to sell these in New Orleans.
30:18He's keeping his hand in.
30:20The barber shop.
30:24And for the next customer.
30:26Always something to read.
30:28Never more than a year old.
30:31Bus line.
30:33Lunchtime special.
30:35And for the intellectually minded.
30:37There's time for the more serious things.
30:39Like practicing your yo-yo.
30:57If there's anything you want, don't ask for it.
31:00Build it.
31:03Build as though you'd be here forever.
31:05Knowing you may get orders to move.
31:07Tomorrow.
31:09Six-six found this canyon.
31:11Made it their living area.
31:14Nobody said they couldn't.
31:17Nobody says you can't have a house.
31:19Build it.
31:21Nobody says your squadron can't have a beach club.
31:24Build one.
31:26Nobody says you can't dam up a river.
31:29To make a swimming hole.
31:32This American community has everything.
31:40When you come off your shift and somebody else is carrying the ball,
31:44you try to relax.
31:46Enjoy yourself.
31:48In danger a couple hours a day.
31:50The rest of the time, you're out of it.
31:55Beach club's a busy place.
31:58So is the Mediterranean.
32:01Mussolini once called it Mare Nostrum.
32:03Our sea.
32:05But that was yesterday.
32:19The yachtsman.
32:21An old wing tank and a few odds and ends make quite a boat.
32:26The crew chief scrounge parts.
32:29Scrounge is polite for steel.
32:32Scrounge him from wrecked jerry planes.
32:35Banged up Italian cars.
32:37Old parachutes for sales.
32:40They use only the best quality junk.
32:45Sometimes, when you can get a PX ration of beer,
32:49you drink it.
32:51Then, you look like this.
33:03Alto's the best deal he ever had.
33:05The country club.
33:07A lot of laughs.
33:09A lot of sun.
33:10Your American community has everything.
33:14Except the things you really want.
33:17There are times you'd rather be flying
33:19than waiting around.
33:22Killing time.
33:24Because when you're flying,
33:25you don't have that feeling of the day,
33:28the week,
33:29and month slipping by.
33:32Slipping by and leaving here.
33:35Standing still.
33:38These are your years.
33:41Years to get started.
33:43Find yourself.
33:45Your job.
33:46Profession.
33:48Get married.
33:51Kids.
33:54Home of your own.
33:57These are the years that count.
34:03So,
34:04you have your pets.
34:07To give and receive affection.
34:11In return for affection,
34:14sea rations,
34:16poke, brother.
34:17As always in affairs of the heart,
34:20some have peculiar tastes.
34:32Six-six squadron.
34:34Heading out.
34:36Six-five squadron.
34:38Heading home.
34:40A meeting in the air.
34:42Comes and goes fast.
34:50Six-five.
34:52Leader section.
34:53One plane life.
34:56When you reformed after strafing,
34:58you noticed it.
34:59Nobody saw it happen.
35:02Maybe he spun in.
35:03Maybe he bailed out.
35:05You'll think about it later.
35:10Now you're waiting for that first sight of home.
35:17That's the Rockware base.
35:20That's Bivenko.
35:23You're on your own street.
35:26Alto's first turn to the left.
35:27Three fields down.
35:29Keep the formation tight.
35:32When you fly over those other outfits,
35:34you want to look good.
35:36Show them how it's done.
35:45Alto.
35:46You come in low.
35:48You come in low.
35:50And peel up.
35:57You peel up to reduce speed.
36:00Space the plane.
36:01It's 20 seconds apart for landing.
36:04Second and third flights go on past the field.
36:07They'll circle back when the first flight is down.
36:22drop your gear.
36:42Second flight peels up.
36:44Third flight will circle again.
36:51This is all the flying the ground crews see.
36:54You like to give them a kick.
37:01Sometimes you're tired.
37:03Land them rough.
37:11It's embarrassing.
37:14The colonel's not happy about the flack holes.
37:17New airplane.
37:19His crew chief will be mighty sore.
37:22And how will you explain this away?
37:26Then, after the interrogation,
37:28you relax.
37:29Grab off some donuts and coffee.
37:32Jive with a Red Cross girl who meets every mission.
37:36And fly the show all over again.
37:38On the ground.
37:40Weyman goes back to work.
37:42At being a colonel.
37:44Missing an action report to sign.
37:47A telegram from the war department
37:48has to start somewhere.
37:52By mid-April,
37:53every rail line in Italy was blocked.
37:56We drew a line of interdiction
37:58across the country.
38:00No train could move south of it.
38:03South of it,
38:04the railroad system was dead.
38:07But the German had to keep the supplies moving.
38:10Still had highways.
38:12He took to the roads.
38:14So we took to the roads.
38:19This is what the Germans fear most.
38:22You don't blame them.
38:24This is the way Rommel got it.
38:26He isn't the only one.
38:33When you clobber a highway,
38:35you burn plenty of ammo.
38:40Cyclic rate of fire,
38:41800 rounds a minute.
38:43You've got eight guns.
38:45106 bullets a second.
38:51Rockets.
38:53Rockets.
38:53Rockets.
38:54Rockets.
39:00Those aren't just trucks and Germans.
39:03You're stopping ammunition
39:04before it's fired
39:05on the Fifth Army front.
39:09And you're doing it
39:10200 miles behind that front.
39:17In the weeks that followed,
39:19from Corsica to Italy
39:20was like a trip
39:21to the corner drugstore.
39:23You could do it in your sleep.
39:28We averaged
39:29at eight and nine missions a day
39:30at the 57th.
39:32The French flew about as many.
39:35Lafayette, Escadrille.
39:38The 324th,
39:39the 86th,
39:39over in Italy.
39:41The 79th,
39:42next door.
39:44It was good to look up
39:45and watch them go by.
39:54The 324th,
39:55over in Italy.
39:56But there were other things.
39:58There were those pillars of smoke.
40:01Never knew when you'd see one.
40:03That's a wreck.
40:05A P-47's cooking.
40:07And there's a man in it.
40:09When they hit like this,
40:11there's nothing to do.
40:13Let them burn.
40:14And stay clear
40:15of the exploding ammo.
40:17Keep on landing.
40:19You have to.
40:21No place to park up there.
40:26Why did it happen?
40:27Engine cut out.
40:28For a second.
40:30200 yards from the runway.
40:32200 yards from home.
40:34Flag damage might have caused it.
40:37You'll never know for sure.
40:40All you know is,
40:41for some,
40:42the war is expensive.
40:44You wish that people back home
40:46could at least see it.
40:57We kept up the pressure.
40:59And by the beginning of May,
41:01the roads were practically closed.
41:05If one man on a motorcycle
41:07appeared on the highway by day,
41:09he was a dead pigeon.
41:14The Germans took to the sea.
41:16Two months after we started,
41:19the strangle was on.
41:22The Germans had barely enough supplies
41:24for two weeks.
41:26That's when our ground forces attacked.
41:29Allied troops took casino.
41:31We linked up with a beachhead at Anzio.
41:34And in three weeks,
41:35we're in Rome.
41:37We're in Rome.
41:44We're in Rome.
42:04The men on the ground pushed north.
42:07And as they moved up,
42:08they saw what had been done to help them.
42:1410,000 enemy vehicles,
42:16destroyed or damaged.
42:24In every town they took,
42:26no marshalling yard.
42:31How many German tanks
42:32went out of business
42:33because of the gasoline
42:34these trains never carried?
42:41They advanced.
42:43And they saw the bridges.
42:48How many German shells
42:49were never fired
42:50because they couldn't get
42:51across the river?
43:01The ground forces
43:02exploited their breakthrough.
43:04In plain language,
43:06they shot and killed Germans.
43:11And they ate up the country,
43:13almost 250 miles
43:15in one non-stop offensive.
43:20The ground forces won a battle.
43:22The ground forces won a battle,
43:22but they still had a war to fight.
43:24And you were still flying missions.
43:28Up from first life
43:29to last life,
43:31only the coming of darkness
43:33would stop you.
43:37Only the coming of darkness
43:38would bring the last missions
43:39home to Aldo.
43:46then the long work day
43:47would end.
43:49Some men hit the sack early,
43:52and some spent another quiet evening
43:55at the club,
43:56Colonel Wyman's country club
43:58for airplane drivers.
44:00Everybody has a good time
44:03Stay in bed till half past nine
44:06It's around at the club
44:09Colonel Wyman's country club
44:13You and me
44:15Little Broncos, how I love thee
44:18ν!Serε°
44:22pal Come on,
44:37THE NICE THE
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