oh oh oh, man.

are. the last. oh. i i. and i, i. worked in august 1945. v-j, the second world war at last is over with the surrender

of japan comes the great moment of joyous relief. after years of the anxieties and grief and horrors of universal war. in all of the allied. this was a time of rejoicing after a great victory at the entrance as though there had been a momentous event. the people who lined the streets, the veterans memorial building, were symbols of all the anxious people everywhere who, after two great world wars, were waiting for their leaders to find a way to a lasting peace peace and it seemed that the way had really been when here in san francisco, the victorious countries met to sign the charter of the united. national, as china was a member from the beginning, the signature of france symbolized

europe's longing to escape, ravaging by war. the presence of the soviet delegate justified the hope, a hope which later approved of that. from now on, every nation would live peaceably within own borders and respect the rights and sovereignty of other nations. the signing of un charter by great britain and by the united states and by other founding nations. and all 50 had signed this offer to mankind. genuine hope for freedom from the scourge of war. it really seemed that a new era of peace and goodwill among men of all nations was about to begin. as always, in america after a war there arose public clamor to bring the home. soon after, v-j day, transport vessels loaded with returning

troops were arriving stateside for all mobilization records were broken. the army then included our air forces. but down to 20% of its war time strength. the armed forces were a boxer. wind and then with training. aircraft and air of the army, air forces were speedily demobilized in great numbers. thousands of aircraft for possible future use, while thousands of others were either sold or broken up for their medal from. a powerful wartime force up to a million men. our personnel dropped to about one seventh of that strength. our recuperative powers remained, but our great strength in air was suddenly hardly more than a memory. it had been the most war in history in large segments of the world. cities were in ruins.

business and industry were at a standstill. countless people were homeless before long, the people of the stricken lands were at work on a long, long job, cleaning up the wreckage and. as always, the farmers had a lot to do with getting the world back on the track. our in the war had been complete. still some of our knew we had better look to the future. one of them was general arnold commanding general of the army air forces. we must be sure none of these victories is wasted and thrown away in the years to come. they will no longer any spot on earth, and certainly not in america. that is safe from attack by air for our protection. we must have an air force. second or not or for this. we need a great army industry, a

air transport system, and a great body of trained personnel. but we need more than planes and pilots and mechanics. we need scientists and mathematicians, and we need the full and very genius of the american people. we have things we can protect, a future ourselves and our allies with the weapons, the future. after the war. a small appropriation. it difficult to carry out the program that general arnold called for. although we knew the modernization of our air forces by the development of jet aircraft was a most urgent requirement. the change from propeller driven airplanes to jet airplanes to be gradual because low budget and because it takes to bring new aircraft from drawing board to operational.

but 81 of the early jet fighters made, a spectacular claim to public notice when it flew from long beach, california, new york city in 4 hours and 15 minutes while jet fighters were coming into. jet bombers were still in the development stage. but there came a day when a propeller driven bomber broke the possibility of a global force with strategic capability. here's the focus and dreamboat b-29. one day in october 1946, we towed her out at hickam field, honolulu. there were nine of us and the crew, and we had a fine commander, colonel clarence irvine. we'd waited 34 days quietly of weather conditions, partly because of mechanical difficulties. everything had to be right. we were going to try to make one of the greatest flights, air history, nonstop from here in hawaii over, the north pole, and

onto of our 10,000 miles away. the first time ever for such a wide and without refueling we had a few load of more than 12,000 gallons. the heaviest ever carried by a superfortress in combat gear. then we moved and she had helium in her tires to lighten the load. we had a perfect takeoff after a run of 8000 feet and all 551 on a friday we took us across the coast of alaska and, then over the north magnetic pole. the dream board took over the top of the world. she was racing an arctic storm and she no deicing equipment. she every test she had to. she was blazing an air trail over greenland. iceland, france and italy. and then egypt. everybody is pretty tired.

and why not? it's sunday now and we left honolulu friday morning. we've been in the air 39 and one half hours. we flown 9500 miles nonstop, crossing two continents and landing a third flight quite. unlike 1947. big decision at the top level of command. world war two had proved the vital significance air power. so now is a logical reorganization of our military structure. and for the air force will be a separate service. the army air forces become the united states air force a necessary move first proposed years previously by general billy mitchell. w.o. stewart symington becomes the first secretary of the department of the air force. general counsel sparks, veteran of the early aviation section of the army's signal corps, and

distinguished for his record, both world wars. they becomes the first chief of staff of, the united states air force. a year or so after world war two, there were more than 300,000 of us in the air force. and now we had a uniform, our own. we used to be in the army. now we had a new look. and there were about 4000 of us left to. some of us used to be wacs in the army air forces, and a lot us joined up after the air force, a separate service. and. in october 1947, admiral test center in california history was

made by this aircraft, the exact one and its pilot captain, charles yeager. this airplane and this pilot are about to be the first ever to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight. of a b-29 will take the ax at 1:00 and launch her an altitude of about 35,000 feet. the x-1 is not a military aircraft, but a flying research laboratory designed to test the effects of supersonic flight upon airplane. it is powered by four rocket engines. its weight empty is less than £5,000, but it carries £8,000 of fuel. may 29 i've done a lot of memorable things, but none of them ever before at a mission quite like this one. and no airplane ever did what the last one is about to do.

breaking the sound barrier in level flight will be more a spectacular feat. it will also give the airforce valuable knowledge of the resources of new propulsion system. captain yeager gets on board the aircraft one. it can be a long flight is going to have in the little aircraft at full power. the flights can't last more than two and a half minutes but it it's going to be a fast one. ready and the radar crews are ready to do the timing the only possible method for timing

aircraft at extremely high altitude. there she goes. a big moment in our history making flight. now she's the barrier, the speed of sound at 35,000 feet, a 660 miles per hour. a really big moment. through the sound barrier for the first time ever. and by the way for the first time. except indeed a man has blown an airplane faster than the speed of sound in her and captain yeager. many honored and the historic plane the access one and the resting in the smithsonian institution. captain yeager's feat was only

one sign that the jet age and the air force had caught up with each other despite. its low budget and great technical. as rapidly as could, we were developing modern aircraft like the very big saber jet, splendidly ready to prove themselves in battle, ready to serve our country by giving new strength to the rising power of the united states airport.