Actor Clark Gable Served in Uniform, Flew Combat Missions in World War II

• Written by: Robert F. Dorr on August 11, 2010
• Capt. Clark Gable in 1944. Robert F. Dorr collection.

Clark Gable was a Hollywood star and among the most famous figures in the world when two events altered his life. First, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, hurtling the United States into World War II. Then, the following month, Gable’s beloved wife Carole Lombard was killed in the crash of a DC-3 airliner returning from a war bonds tour.

Devastated, patriotic, and at age 40 a bit old for military service, Gable didn’t feel that the work he and Lombard had been doing to raise money through war bonds was enough of a contribution. He sent a telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt asking for a role in the war effort. The president replied, “STAY WHERE YOU ARE.”

Gable didn’t. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces, went to the 13-week Officer Candidate School, and was trained as a photographer and aerial gunner. Because of his Hollywood connection, he was made a part of the First Motion Picture Unit (FMPU) located at what troops called  “Fort Roach” – the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, Calif. FMPU was commanded by producer Jack Warner, who was recruited as a lieutenant colonel. Flight operations were commanded by “Hollywood Pilot” Paul Mantz, famous for his stunt flying in films, who became a major. Other FMPU stalwarts included Alan Ladd, Ronald Reagan and Van Heflin.

Few of them went overseas, but Gable was assigned to go to Britain to film Combat America, a propaganda movie about air gunners.

Capt. Clark Gable (third from right) prepares for a combat mission with the crew of a bomber named "Jennie." Robert F. Dorr collection.

When the 351st Bombardment Group, equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses, was formed at Biggs Army Air Field, Tex., in 1942, clerk Corp. Calvert P’Pool wrote to his parents: “Today, Clark Gable is supposed to arrive to be assigned to our group. They tell us he is the same as any other soldier-officer (1st Lt). But they had a carpenter build a special luggage rack in a bomber here and the bomber has gone to Los Angeles for him and is to return this afternoon. He will be a top gunner in a bomber.” P’Pool wrote that the 351st would become “a pretty nice outfit with me and Clark Gable. Tell the boys hello and tell ‘em me and Clark Gable are putting this 351st outfit in shape.”

Former Technical Sgt. Ralph Cowley recalled events after the 351st arrived at Polebrook, England, and began flying bombing missions over the Third Reich:

This portrait of a B-17G Flying Fortress of the 351st Bombardment Group was taken by Capt. Clark Gable. Robert F. Dorr collection.

“Gable was assigned to our squadron but not to a particular crew,” said Cowley. “The group controlled his assignments. They wanted him to have an outer-wing aircraft with a clear view of the skies for his air-to-air photography, He stayed with us right up from 1942 to 1945 and I can tell you, they didn’t put him on the milk runs. He took a lot of pictures of flak bursting beside his aircraft.” Records indicate that Gable flew five combat missions but Cowley and other veterans remember that he flew many more.

“They were very real missions in which he could have been wounded or killed,” said Chrystopher J. Spicer, an Australian scholar who has scrutinized Gable’s career. “His film Combat America makes a valuable contribution to our historical knowledge of the war from the flyer’s perspective these days.”

According to lore, Germany’s Hermann Goering offered a sizeable cash reward to anyone who could capture Clark Gable.

By the fall of 1943 Gable’s crew had exposed 50,000 feet of film.

Gable and a cameramen and sound engineer followed the crew of a B-17, named “Ain’t It Gruesome,” through 24 missions, including one where the aircraft was shot up by German Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters and lost an engine, with the crew eventually bailing over a field in England when fog closed in. Gable’s combat missions including one over Gelsenkirchen where he was nearly hit when antiaircraft fire damaged the airplane. At least one of his missions was aboard another B-17, “Delta Rebel 2″ of the 91st Bomb Group, where ball turret gunner Sgt. Steve Perri remembered him as “a great friend of the enlisted men as well as a great all-around guy.”

Interviews with veterans debunk the myth that Gable wanted to die because of his grief over losing Lombard. They describe him as a sturdy man with unnaturally large hands who took his duties seriously, maintained a military posture, but was willing to party when appropriate.

Clark Gable posed with the left waist gun of a B-17 Flying Fortress on June 6, 1943. Robert F. Dorr collection.

Promoted to first lieutenant before reaching England and to captain soon after, Gable followed up his filming ofCombat America by returning to Fort Roach in October 1943 to edit the movie.

Unfortunately, the 63-minute Combat America was released at the same time as, and completely overshadowed by William Wyler’s Memphis Belle, another saga of a B-17 crew in combat.

The FMPU eventually completed 300 training and propaganda films and was responsible for 3,000,000 feet of combat footage. Reagan, who went on to become president, called the film office “an important contribution to the war effort.”

Gable was relieved from active duty as a major on June 12, 1944 at his request, since he was over-age for combat. Because his motion picture production schedule made it impossible for him to fulfill Reserve officer duties, he resigned his commission on Sept. 26, 1947, a week after the Air Force became an independent service branch.

Gable’s postwar motion picture career, including a film appearance with Marilyn Monroe, drew mixed reactions from critics. He died on Nov. 16, 1960.

A Wonderful Life: Jimmy Stewart, Actor and B-24 Bomber Pilot

While others served at home, Stewart put his life on the line during combat missions over Germany

• Col. Jimmy Stewart, U.S. Army Air Forces

“It may sound corny, but what’s wrong with wanting to fight for your country? Why are people reluctant to use the word patriotism?”

– Jimmy Stewart

When America entered World War II, Hollywood patriotically stepped forward to help in the war effort. Studios sent their movie stars across the country on war bond drives. It produced patriotic movies, cartoons, and other films and documentaries. Stars participated in USO shows abroad; a number of stars enlisted. Almost all were slotted into roles that capitalized on their fame and kept them far from combat. But one who rejected this “easy way out” of service to their country and successfully fought for duty that put him into harm’s way was B-24 bomber pilot Capt. Jimmy Stewart, who arrived in England on Nov. 23, 1943. When he returned to the States in September 1945, Col. Jimmy Stewart was a bona fide hero. On his chest was the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, among other decorations. What makes his service even more remarkable is that this actor, who won the Academy Award in February 1941, enlisted the following month (March 22) before the country entered the war and after he had been rejected by his local draft board because he was under weight.

Maj. Jimmy Stewart confers with a B-24 crew member after a mission in 1943. Far from being a typical Hollywood actor working stateside bond tours, Stewart was a combat pilot who regularly flew on the most dificult missions. U.S. Air Force photo

Entering the Army at age 32, Stewart was significantly older than other cadets. Because of his maturity, educational background, and particularly because he was a licensed private and commercial pilot with more than 300 hours flying time, Stewart’s request to be assigned to the Army Air Corps was accepted and he proceeded straight into pilot training. On Jan. 19, 1942, he successfully passed the pilot training program and was commissioned second lieutenant.

Over the next year, Stewart completed additional pilot courses, qualifying as a twin-engine and four-engine bomber pilot and as instructor in both types of aircraft. It was at the graduation ceremonies following qualification as a B-17 pilot in February 1943 that Stewart received a shock. Unlike everyone else in his class who received combat assignments, 1st Lt. Stewart was classified “static personnel” and assigned to the 29th Training Group at Gowen Field near Boise, Idaho, where, in accordance to that hold order in his personnel folder, he would remain as an instructor for the duration of the war.

Stewart swallowed his disappointment and went about his duties like a good soldier, receiving a promotion to captain. Several months later he became alarmed over a rumor that claimed he would be taken off flying status and assigned to make training films and sell war bonds. Stewart promptly went to his commanding officer and pleaded for a combat pilot command. At this point, Stewart had more than 3,000 hours of flying time and had proved himself a respected and popular leader. Hours later, Stewart found himself going into combat.

Stewart shown in a scene from It's a Wonderful Life, one of his most famous roles. Though he will be remembered for his work as an actor, Stewart's service as a pilot and officer in the U.S. Air Force was to him the most important role of his life.

Shortly after his arrival in England, Stewart was promoted to major and transferred to the 453rd Bomb Group, part of the Eighth Air Force, and made a squadron commander. During his deployment, he maintained a pattern of behavior that endeared him to the men under his command and caused heartburn among some superiors. Stewart flew as often as possible as the flight leader on a mission and made a point of leading dangerous missions piloted only by volunteers. He quickly gained a reputation as a lucky pilot who always brought his crews back safely. On those occasions when he was not flying missions, he always remained at the control tower until the last B-24 returned home or was accounted for.

As the war continued, Stewart gained ever more responsibility, rising in rank and serving as executive officer, operations officer, chief of staff, and wing commander. On March 29, 1945, he was promoted to colonel. A little over a month later, the war in Europe was over. Eighth Air Force Commander Gen. Jimmy Doolittle later wrote that, “If the war had gone on another month, Jimmy would have become a group commander, which was the most important job in the Air Force.”

Stewart’s service in uniform didn’t stop with the end of World War II. Instead, it turned into a second career that lasted 27 years and promotion to brigadier general in 1959. Stewart led a glamorous life before and after the war. Yet, whenever questioned about the 22 months that he spent in the European theater of operations, he said that experience was “much greater” than all his years in the acting profession.

Fallen Lone Eagle

Charles Lindbergh, the America First Committee, and the Nazis

• Written by: Dwight Jon Zimmerman on June 19, 2011
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Charles Lindbergh speaking at an America First Committee (AFC) rally in Indiana. The Lone Eagle's involvement with the isolationist AFC earned him the ire of President Roosevelt and in the end tarnished his legacy. Courtesy of CharlesLindbergh.com

“I am absolutely convinced that Lindbergh is a Nazi.”

– President Franklin D. Roosevelt

On May 20, 1927, Capt. Charles Lindbergh (U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve) became the first aviator to successfully complete a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. For that feat, which made him a world famous hero and earned him the nickname the Lone Eagle, the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor. But, by 1941, Lindbergh was so hated within the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt that FBI head J. Edgar Hoover, with Roosevelt’s blessing, personally ordered a secret, and illegal, FBI investigation to determine if Lindbergh was conducting “subversive activities.” Ironically, the Lone Eagle’s falling out with the Roosevelt administration had its foundation in a request for assistance by the Army.

Hermann Göring with Charles Lindbergh during one of his visits to Germany. Library of Congress photo

Lindbergh and his family were living in Europe in the mid-1930s when he received an invitation from Maj. Truman Smith, military attaché to the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany. Smith, who was tasked with reporting about the German rearmament program, wished to enlist Lindbergh in what amounted to an un-secret intelligence mission assessing the Luftwaffe. Smith felt that Lindbergh’s status would give him entrée with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe and the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany after Adolf Hitler. Lindbergh agreed. The mission turned out to be too successful. Lindbergh visited Germany six times between 1936 and 1938. As Göring’s guest, Lindbergh received unprecedented access to Luftwaffe facilities, and was allowed to fly the Ju-88 bomber and Bf-109 fighter. Göring also awarded Lindbergh the Order of the Golden Eagle, a decoration that Lindbergh’s wife Ann presciently called “The Albatross.” And, indeed, it did come to taint his reputation.

Lindbergh came away more than just impressed; he had swallowed whole Göring’s exaggerated claims for the Luftwaffe. His reports to the U.S. Army were filled with details of the superiority of the Luftwaffe’s aircraft, production capability, and esprit.

Charles Lindbergh examines a sword as a guest of Hermann Göring. Library of Congress photo

When Lindbergh and his family returned to the United States, Lindbergh began to speak out against intervention, even though he was now a colonel in the Army Air Corps Reserve. In 1940, he joined the isolationist America First Committee. He proved an eloquent spokesman for the isolationist cause. In a nationwide radio address on May 18, 1940, ten days after the launch of Germany’s offensive against France and the Low Countries, Lindbergh accused the Roosevelt administration of creating “a defense hysteria.” He said that there was no reason for the United States to get involved in the war in Europe – that only “a small minority of American people” was pushing the country toward war. When the Lend-Lease Bill was working its way through Congress in early 1941, Lindbergh claimed it was “another step away from democracy and another step closer to war.” And, in testimony before Congress, he said, “It is not the duty of the United States to police the world.”

Roosevelt, who did not anger easily, was livid. It’s possible that part of the reason behind the president’s fury was that Lindbergh was more right than wrong. All the more reason to discredit someone most Americans still regarded as a hero. In a press conference on April 25, 1941, Roosevelt castigated Lindbergh’s views on neutrality and scathingly compared the aviator to U.S. Representative Clement L. Vallandigham of Ohio, who was one of the leaders of the “Copperhead” Democrats who had opposed President Abraham Lincoln’s campaign against the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Stung by the accusation of disloyalty, Lindbergh resigned his commission.

Famed aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (right) with Maj. Thomas B. McGuire (left). During the summer of 1944, Lindbergh visited the Southwest Pacific Theater and helped develop economical flight techniques to extend the range of P-38 fighters. U.S. Air Force photo

Around this time the FBI opened a secret investigation on him. Though Lindbergh was an influential opponent of FDR’s interventionist policies, the investigation determined he was not involved in “subversive activities.”

While Lindbergh’s statements about Nazi Germany’s military power, his refusal to return the Order of the Golden Eagle, and controversial public anti-Semitic and pro-eugenics comments left him open to accusations of being a Nazi sympathizer, Lindbergh was also a patriot. When America entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Lindbergh attempted to return to active duty. But Roosevelt blocked that move. Instead, Lindbergh served as a civilian consultant to a number of aviation companies. In 1944, he went to the Southwest Pacific and during his six months there, advised pilots and participated in 50 combat missions, reportedly shooting down at least one Japanese airplane.

After the war, Lindbergh visited some Nazi concentration camps. The sights left him disgusted and angry. By now, the public had largely forgotten the Lone Eagle. For the rest of his life, he was rarely the focus of attention. Lindbergh died on the island of Maui, Hawaii, in 1974 at the age of 72.

Simpsons go green

People's Republic Pollution

At War With Ourselves - GreenTechnica.com

Ungarn Absurdistan - Glosse - Die Welt

Ungarn, Absurdistan

Zwischen den Kriegen waren die Ungarn noch gut drauf. Da ging ein Witz über ihr Staatsoberhaupt, den pompös als "Reichsverweser" titulierten Herrn Hórthy, wie folgt: "Wir haben einen Admiral ohne Flotte. Der regiert ein Land ohne Küste. Das ist ein Königreich ohne König." Denn Horthy, letzter Befehlshaber der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine, war ja Monarchist und "verwaltete" das, was von Ungarn als Konkursmasse des Habsburgerreiches übriggeblieben war, bis ein legitimer neuer Herr der Herrlichkeit in seine angestammten Rechte eingesetzt werden könne. Der Herr, der dann schließlich kam, hörte allerdings auf den sehr bürgerlichen Namen Hitler. Aber das nur nebenbei. Jedenfalls ist es gute Tradition zwischen Balaton und Puszta, sich mit den kuriosesten europäischen Alleinstellungsmerkmalen zu schmücken.

Das geht schon mit der Sprache los, die außer den Magyaren niemand spricht und auch nicht sprechen will. Das setzt sich nun dieser Tage fort mit der Einführung einer neuen Verfassung. Die schafft natürlich allerhand neue Sachlagen, die man aber nur in Ungarn versteht, weil ja, wie gesagt, das dort gepflegte erratische Idiom kein Nicht-Magyar beherrscht. Eines allerdings ist nun doch aufgefallen: Zur Bezeichnung des Landes fiel eines der unverständlichen Worte weg, die es bislang politisch definiert haben. Übrig blieb "Ungarn". Folglich muss es wohl das Wort "Republik" sein, auf das jetzt Verzicht geleistet wird. Also wieder ein Königreich ohne König? Orban als neuer "Reichsverweser"? Ein anderes Provisorium? Irgendwann muss es ja schließlich "Absurdistan Ungarn" heißen.