Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
As early as 1930, the War Department considered using women pilots, but the Chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps called the idea "utterly unfeasible," stating that women were too "high strung." Nothing was done until after the American entry into World War Two. Facing the need for male combat pilots, the situation by mid-1942 favored the use of experienced women pilots to fly U.S. Army Air Forces......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
It was imperative that the United States have qualified pilots, navigators, bombardiers and gunners in the air and qualified maintenance people on the ground during World War Two. As you look throughout the Air Power Gallery, especially at the planes suspended from the ceiling, you will see many of the training aircraft that prepared airmen for combat. One small, unusual-looking contraption......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
In the early months of the war, following the Japanese successes at Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines, American morale was very low. The United States needed a military victory, so a plan was devised for a daring air raid on the Japanese homeland. The top secret plan called for B-25s to take off about 450 miles from Japan on a Navy aircraft carrier, bomb selected targets then fly another......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
Pearl Harbor was psychologically and militarily devastating, and the Bataan Death March was also a disturbing blow. The march began on April 10, 1942, after the American commander ordered troops to surrender due to a hopeless situation. The Japanese assembled about 78,000 prisoners-of-war – both American and Filipino. They began marching up the east coast of Bataan. Although they didn't......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
At 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, a Japanese force of 183 planes - without warning - attacked U.S. military facilities at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. For 30 minutes, dive bombers, level bombers and torpedo planes struck airfields and naval vessels. A second wave of 170 planes launched another attack at 8:40 a.m. that lasted an hour. The Japanese had dealt the United States a......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
As you leave the Early Years Gallery, you’ll soon be fully immersed in the history of the U.S. in World War Two. The hallway leading to the Air Power Gallery displays the story of the Holocaust. The exhibit shows first-hand accounts of people – including U.S. airmen – who experienced some aspect of this dark moment in history. The museum’s gallery dedicated to the Second World War......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
In 1939 Europe again plunged into war, and the U.S. was soon training new pilots for combat. The experience of many a raw recruit learning how to fly is depicted in the BT-14 training diorama. It shows the common BT-14 trainer of the day, nose down, prop bent, mechanics puzzled and the instructor delivering a lecture … all in recognition of the Air Corps' ability to train 250,000 pilots......
Audio by NMUSAF PA | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | 12.31.1969
The interwar years saw new developments in aviation. One of the most colorful and controversial figures in Air Force history, Brig. Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell set out to demonstrate the potential of the bomber. Mitchell is perhaps most remembered for pressing his theory that bombers could defend the coastlines of the United States and sink a battleship. Many generals and admirals would......
