weekend. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. >> in the fourth of a five part look at hollywood directors that made films for the government in world war ii, we feature william weiler and thunderbolt. a 45 minute dumb that he made about a fighter for stationed in italy. -- a 45 minute film that he made fleet stationed in italy. >> a story of hollywood and the second world war. among the directors featured is william weiler -- wyler. he served as a major in the u.s. army air forces between 1942 and 1940 five and put together three documentaries including the 1947

film "thunderbolt." explained. had made a compelling documentary about the memphis belle, a flying fortress. this was the first war documentary to show what it was like to fly missions in a bomber ver occupiedand offe germany. there was no restaging of this. wyler and his men trained to fly. they went over to europe, they flew five missions, they were shot at. all of that commitment led to this documentary which was made to theeat attention military. he wanted to create a kind of you are their experience. >> one of the most important insurance.

>> there is four of them. >> they're coming around. >> b-17 out of control at 3:00. >> come on, you guys, bailout. >> that moving and the acclaim wanting toto wyler make a different movie about a different kind of bomber called thunderbolt. it was during the filming of extra footage for "thunderbolt," a little bit more footage she wanted to get of the italian coastline that he experienced this real personal tragedy which is that he got out of the plane and had on death in the air. he was shooting in unpressurized cabins.

freezing cold in the air. wasnoise from the engine's eardrum shattering. he finally alternately lost his literallyd with that overnight, his army service was over in this very unexpected way. so, the completion of "thunderbolt" became terribly important even though by the time he was well enough to finish the movie, the war was over and there was no use for this kind of propaganda film anymore. that is why you have the anomaly of a movie like "thunderbolt" which was intended for wartime consumption now being shown until 1947. even then, being barely seen, finished his pride

and took it to washington, the general stood up and said, what is this movie for? becausey had no answer the timeline of world war ii had just outraced him. so, you have your pick, to give and receive affection. in return for affection, the rational. the heart.prepare some have peculiar tastes. >> this is what the germans fear most, you don't blame them. this is the way that rommel got it. he is not the only one. clobber a highway, you burn plenty of ammo.

the cycle of the rate of fire, 800 rounds a minute. you have a to guns. guns.ht rockets. >> one of the things that people don't always recognize is that during the war of 1812, it was until early1812 1815. was about america reestablishing its independence against the british. this was sort of our second american revolution. this flag is the object for pennedrancis scott key the words which became our national anthem. the image in 1995 that the

flag was made to look whole and restored. there was a whole bottom section that was reconstructed. into the news exhibition space, there was a deliberate decision by the curators not to do that again. the flag becomes a metaphor for the country. the message is really the survival of both the country and the flag and we are not trying to make it look pretty, like it and is endured history. >> this year marks the 200th anniversary of the british naval bombardment of fort mchenry during the war of 1812. learn more about the flag that francis scott key wrote about too were the smithsonian's star-spangled banner exhibit. thehile we tour smithsonian's star-spangled banner exhibit. this year, c-span is touring

cities across the country exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit to salt lake city, utah. you're watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. ♪ ♪ >> today, we are at the reading room of the special collections department at the university of utah. today, we will be talking about