'Early in 1945
'our B-29s began full-scale operations against Japan.
'1,500 miles to the targets...
'and 1,500 miles back.
'From bases at Saipan, Tinian and Guam.
'Here, 21st Bomber Command concentrated its massive air power
'and planned the ultimate crushing defeat of Japan,
'down to the last bomb.
'Here was the beginning of the end of the road to Tokyo.
'After six months of reoccupation,
'there were few signs of war along the quiet summer shores of Guam.
'The liberated Chamorrans were back in their native villages,
'American citizens again,
'smiling and friendly, unaware that a miracle had happened around them.
'A miracle that moved mountains of material, equipment and supplies
'across the Pacific,
'that changed their dirt roads into highways,
'that manicured their jungles into acres of blacktopped airfields.
'Nearby, new communities of American citizens had set up housekeeping
'with various types of self-service...
'the latest labor-saving devices,
'few laundry problems...
'and no modern inconveniences.
'By midsummer, 21st Bomber Command was in business - big business.
'Under General LeMay's direction,
'Bomber Command began punching the enemy with appalling power.
'From Guam, Tinian, and Saipan
'600-plane missions
'increased the bombing weight 100 per cent in two months.
'Behind this expanding power was planning.
'The LeMay plan began on the ground, with maintenance.
'Assembly-line technique cut engine change time
'from three days to less than half a day.
'In shops and hardstands crews work day and night during the blitz weeks
'to keep more B-29s on the line.
'By July, LeMay's Bomber Command
'is an efficient, well-drilled machine of destruction.
'Here's a vital cog of that machine-
'11 men and a bomber.
'While they wind up for action, let's find out where they're going
'and some of the things they're going to do and why and with what.
'How do they set up the longest, toughest bomber mission in history?
'It began about 12 hours ago in the war room at Guam
'with General LeMay receiving a report on tomorrow's weather in Japan.
'Tomorrow's forecast is typical.'
'Nagoya, eight tenths cloud above 10,000 feet.
'In the east, Tokyo area will be six tenths at 22,000,
'three tenths at 14,000 feet,
'closing up solid after 11 A.M...
'Osaka and everything west is completely socked in.'
'How will the general solve that one?
'His B-29s are up against a blank wall except for an opening around Tokyo.
'The old man considers every factor and makes his decision.
'Four wings will strike Tokyo at ten o'clock.
'They'll go in under that weather and bomb at 12,000.
'Now it's a question of target selection.
'First priority in the Tokyo area is number 573.
'Intelligence informs the general that 573 is already three quarters destroyed.
'At the moment 574, still untouched, would seem more important.
'Operations checks the tactical plan for 574.
'General LeMay orders the required changes, OKs the target
'and commits all executive details to his staff.
'Operations, with its deputy chief of staff and project officer,
'goes to work setting up the changes.
'In that plans folder is a mountain of preparation
'by special sections of Intelligence and Operations,
'a thousand hours of research,
'collated facts and figures have been distilled into tactical plan 574.'
'Aircraft will assemble as briefed
'with three groups of P-51s for escort.
'Smoke markers at one-minute intervals
'will be dropped to expedite departure from assembly point.
'One squadron each wing will carry M47 incendiary clusters.
'Balance of squadrons, 500 and 1,000Ib GP bombs
'fused a quarter second nose and tail.
'Altitude of attack, 12,000 feet.
'Planes of 314th wing will carry capacity fuel loads
'of approximately 7,300 gallons per plane.
'Calibrated airspeed of 210mph will be flown by all aircraft on bombing run.
'Radar landfall 34° 50' north and 01° 40' east will be the same for all planes
'to afford a good land-water contrast checkpoint.
'The Navy has requested to furnish the following facilities
'for air-sea rescue purposes-
'three surface vessels to proceed to positions X,
'four submarines assigned to lifeguard duties at positions Y,
'two Dumbos to orbit at station Z,
'four B-29s will orbit as super Dumbos at the following positions.'
'The plan is double-checked.
'To supervise certain aspects of planning,
'Lieutenant Colonel Caton, a former lead crew pilot,
'was brought over to staff as project officer.
'This officer's extensive combat experience
'helps to iron out operational kinks.
'He will accompany this mission
'to observe new smoke signals at assembly point.
'A field order is now dispatched to the wings.
'Takeoff time is flashed to the controller,
'who coordinates the vast network of communications
'gathered here at the heart and nerve center of command.
'Here in the control room
'status panels and a mission board are maintained
'to show at a glance the up-to-the-minute details of all daily operations.
'Prior to takeoff, each mission is set up on the board
'to afford a visual progress of the flight.
'From takeoff to target and return.
'Colored yarns, one for each wing,
'are laid out to indicate the flight lines,
'which pass close to Iwo Jima, the halfway point.
'And proceed as specified in the field order to the proper target.
'Other symbols are used to mark air-sea rescue positions.
'A timetable of statistics for each wing, as planned and flown,
'is recorded from hourly reports on the status panel,
'beginning with takeoff time.
'To veteran crews, it's just another day's work.
'One more 1,500-mile haul up and down the ruddy Pacific.
'15 hours, 7,000 gallons, four engines, 11 guys.
'Knock wood.
'A water jump across 20 degrees of the globe,
'a continent of ocean.
'Destination, Tokyo.
'It's like taking off in Mexico for targets in Canada.
'The 314th is airborne.
'145 planes, one minute apart, 67 tons each.'
'Those B-29 takeoffs are a tough sweat.
'That first long moment is the worst.
'Some swear it takes luck, like a wife's stocking, to beat it.
'At Tinian, 100 miles north, two more B-29 wings prepare for takeoff.
'134 aircraft from the 58th wing.
'100 more from the 313th wing.
'At Saipan a few minutes later, the veteran 73rd wing lines up for takeoff.
'153 more bombers are added to the mission's striking force.
'The last B-29 is airborne at 15:40.
'The tower at Saipan relays this information to the controller at Guam.
'First and last takeoff times of each wing are recorded here
'and go to make up the first of a series of tabulated mission reports.
'Copies of these reports are dispatched to headquarters, Washington,
'and posted on the control room report board.
'During that first hour, the B-29s have settled down for the big grind,
'saving precious gas,
'cruising 1,000 feet off the water.
'Ability, experience, confidence ride in each plane.
'A plan of action for 11 men trained and tested to function as one.
'The navigator sets the course,
'logging island checkpoints as they climb past the northern Marianas.
'Pagan, Asuncion, Maug, The Pajaros.
'After about four hours of flight, the bombers pass close to Iwo Jima.
'The hot rock. A black, gritty pork chop halfway to Honshu.
'Eight square miles bought and paid for by our marines.
'We made some quick changes.
'Cutting away that sulphurous volcanic crust
'and rolling Iwo's surface into one enormous flattop.
'Three big airstrips now launch off P-51s for bomber escort over Japan.
'General Moore and his staff of Seventh Fighter Command run the show
'and direct all air-sea rescues in close collaboration with Bomber Command.
'A last-minute briefing check,
'just to make sure today's fighter escort knows all air-sea rescue positions.
'General Moore's P-51s are warming up for the longest fighter flight on record.
'Seven hours and one engine.
'Extra belly tanks. Extra nerve and stamina in the cockpit.
'About the time our bomber wings are passing Iwo Jima,
'the P-shooters are taking off,
'scheduled to join them three and a half hours later off the shores of Japan.
'After a rendezvous at Kita, the P-51s head for assembly point
'led by B-29s designated as navigator ships.
'Farther west, our bomber wings grind ahead on the last lap to the empire.
'Reports to the controller at Guam give their flight position,
'which is kept up to the hour on the mission board.
'Still at low altitude, the B-29s are approaching the bad weather belt,
'where unreported storms and cold fronts
'appear suddenly across the bomber course.'
Pilot to crew, we're gonna start our climb.
Check oxygen equipment.
'Tell Bucky he better get out to his dog house.'
'As they begin their slow climb to altitude,
'the crews prepare for the business ahead
'and from now on till they come off target and head home, it's all business.
'The central fire control system is warmed up.
'Superhuman brainpower at the flick of a switch.
'Each gunner flexes his sights and tries the coordinated fire controls
'with a few short bursts to clear the guns.
'After pushing up to altitude, the bombers arrive close to assembly point.
'Air in the pressurized cabin is comparable to 8,000 feet
'but oxygen masks are adjusted and ready for instant use.
'From the southeast our fighter escort appears with its navigator ships,
'which now turn off to wait for the fighters return at rally point.
'The Mustangs climb in formation
'to take positions above the boxes of B-29s.
'Lead bombers begin to circle,
'dropping their new smoke markers for assembly.
'The project officer observes this part of the tactical plan in action.
'From various zone positions the groups separate.
'And form on their lead ships in nine- or 11-plane waves...
'which head for initial point.
'The big parade is on.
'Landfall is picked up,
'along with the first flak burst from enemy coastal batteries.
'Fujiyama, the familiar white beacon, marks the turn for initial point.
'Flak becomes heavier and more accurate.
'And now the first Jap snoopers appear
'diving head-on into the formations.'
'Some are suicide fighters trying to ram our bombers.
'Other Jap fighters drop phosphorous bombs
'set to explode in front of the oncoming B-29s.
'Our P-51s go out after them
'and know they're tangling with experts.
'The P-51s' job is to protect the B-29s.
'But some Jap fighters filtered through and meet the blast of bomber guns.'
'A tail gunner pleads with a Nip fighter to come in a little closer.'
'From the turn at initial point the tight bomber waves move steadily on
'and get ready for business.
'Flak and fighters fall off.
'But those clouds are beginning to close in and it looks worse ahead.
'Then just east of Hachioji, the Tokyo area breaks clear.
'The bombardiers begin to draw a bead on 574.
'Their planes sit tight for the bombing run.
'Here's where we pay off.
'Two Jap aircraft plants and an aerodrome 12,000 feet below
'are about to receive 4,000 tons of destruction.
'The first waves of B-29s have already found their objective.
'Succeeding bomber groups add their devastation to the smoking targets.
'Tactical plan 574 is now an accomplished fact.
'The bombers turn and go downwind across the burnt acres of Tokyo.
'Close-up cameras show the scars of those spectacular fire strikes last March.
'51 square miles of LeMay treatment.
'Across the bay and a tailwind speeds them south down the Chiba peninsular.
'This is fighter country.
'With the first call on the intercom
'our Mustangs peel off and go to work again.'
'With the big bombers homeward bound
'our P-51s dropped down for strafing runs,
'concentrating on definite objectives from here to the enemy coast.
'Skimming along at maximum speed,
'the fighters pair off and go to work cutting vital Jap lifelines.
'Blasting away at communications, radio installations, power lines.
'Swooping down on enemy transportation, railroads,
'marshaling yards, small suburban factories.
'And airfields.
'Then onto shipping targets-
'freighters, fishermen, trawlers,
'harbor and coastal craft.
'Destroyer or lugger, it's the same enemy.
'After strafing, our fighters climb back to rally point
'and the waiting B-29 navigator planes.
'With the first sight of Iwo, fuel gauges are down close to empty
'but fighters' spirits begin to rise.
'They wind up and finish with a kick
'coming past Suribachi at whiplash speed
'and zoom into their victory rolls.
'Once over for each Jap killed.
'After the last fighter groups are in,
'all hands sweat in those first limping B-29s.
'That runway is a beautiful sight
'as they let down with engines out, low on gas
'or beat up by flak and fighters.
'In three months nearly 2,000 crippled or gas-shy B-29s havened at Iwo.
'You can understand why those four-fan boys bless those marines
'and even name their planes after them.
'The lucky ones are fueled and depart for home bases in an hour.
'But Iwo still has its hazards.
'Weather can turn this station into a hopeless day-mare.
'Fog and quick overcast often blacks out the airstrip during these crucial periods.
'That means orders to bail out.
'Or with luck, a B-29 might drop in for a copybook ditching.
'From here you can see how the cloud cover smothers the runway
'and realize what one pilot went through.
'Sometimes a battle-scarred bomber staggers back to Iwo
'only to flatten out at the last heartbreaking second.'
'By some miracle, the whole crew got away to safety
'before 2,000 gallons of flaming gas enveloped them.
'Firefighters risked their lives to save the ship.
'This too takes courage beyond the line of duty.
'Far to the south, most of the wings are nearing their bases.
'Exhausted crews wait out the last endless hour
'when time seems to stop.
'Their position is radioed in
'and the controller gets word of the approaching flight.
'At last the familiar Marianas appear on the horizon.
'The bombers fly across Guam and turn in to the landing pattern.
'15 hours ago they left the other end of that runway.
'It's a pleasure to be back, a pleasure to roll on solid familiar blacktop.
'It's good to feel the sudden humid heat. To be among the living,
'swapping details with the ground crew.
'Flak, fighters, the close call, the one that got away.
'But some of those B-29 crews won't be able to talk it over today.
'11 men and a bomber that didn't quite make it.'
'The rescue squads tear away the hot metal.
'Somehow in that burning wreckage
'a man has lived to feel those eager gallant hands.
'One life saved and ten lost. That's part of today's toll.
'There were many other days and nights
'that took their toll of young American lives
'in the service of our relentless expanding air power.
'By the end of July,
'our B-29s had all but obliterated the enemy's ability to make war.
'1,000-plane missions were going to hit Japan
'with twice the monthly tonnage that ever fell on Germany.
'The question was how much longer would a beaten Japan hold out.
'In August we made a test that never was applied to Germany.
'While great land, sea and air forces gathered for the last invasion,
'our B-29s dropped two atomic bombs...
'which hastened the surrender of Japan
'and saved untold thousands of American lives.
'So the mission of our air forces, which began nearly four years ago,
'was accomplished.'