Command Decision Page #9

This was a battle.

Here and from other fields...

... hundreds of Forts and Libs

would rise at dawn...

... higher than men can dream.

Kids who worked in drugstores

last year...

... played at the country clubs,

failed in algebra...

... would guide the formation

to the heart of Germany...

... with instruments

Marconi and Edison never knew.

The field order went down.

Division to combat wings,

wings to groups.

Okay, there's a mission tomorrow,

maximum effort.

Six hundred miles

through the fighters and flak...

... fastened to life

by short hoses of oxygen.

Six hundred miles to come home again.

Maybe.

A thundering battle force 30 miles long.

All this now

for a four-minute bomb run...

... over one small vital town in Germany.

Once more, the patient ground crews

loaded the tons of bombs...

... preflighted the engines...

... checked every wire.

On this base, as on all the bases...

... the combat men could sleep safe

in that knowledge at least.

Two thousand, seven-hundred eighty

gallons of gas in each Fortress.

Enough materials and guts

and skill to run a city.

Now it was nearly ready.

The men on the ground

had almost done their work.

The engines were still again.

The dark fields silent,

waiting for the crews.

Three o'clock, and all over England

at this exact moment...

... they roused them from their sleep.

We have a mission this morning.

Breakfast in half an hour.

Breakfast at 4:
00?

It had always

been a heartbreaker to watch.

But this morning, I felt the whole story

for the first time.

Not just the kids

who wouldn't come back today.

A deeper meaning in their sacrifice.

Dennis' fight...

... and Kane's.

Our own long carelessness at home.

Your target for today

is Schweinhafen.

It was all in the kids' hands now.

Well...

...see you later.

- Keep your temper with the big wheels.

- What?

I said keep your temper

with the big wheels.

I don't wanna get back and find you

with a Legion of Merit and a ticket home.

- Good morning, general.

- Good morning.

- Good morning.

- Good morning, gentlemen.

- Good morning.

- Good morning.

Well, this is really

worth getting up to see.

Let's hope and pray that all of our boys

will come back this time.

- Is that Colonel Martin?

- Yes, the first one.

You know, my boy, when I see all of this,

I can't help but feel a little bit guilty.

If I weren't here,

you'd probably be up there...

...in Colonel Martin's ship

leading them today.

I suppose nobody ever really gets

used to this, does he, general?

Never.

I can imagine.

Weird.

The weirdest kind of war

on Earth, Mr. Stone.

A few hours from now, they'll be fighting

on oxygen five miles over Germany.

Tonight, some of them

will be dancing at The Savoy...

...and some of them

will still be in Germany.

- Yes, sir.

- Right-o.

The air crews should

hardly get their feet wet.

Hello, 16 Group.

Wrecked aircraft,

priority flying control, please.

Fifth division here. We have a B-17

early return reported fixed in the North Sea.

What do you know?

What's cooking? Something hot?

- That's something. Look at that.

- This calls for a celebration.

- Imagine that.

- Well, what do you know?

Here it is, George.

He really hit the jackpot.

- Strike signal already?

- This is Mrs. Martin's strike signal.

Cable from the States for the colonel.

"New 8-pound copilot

made first landing 4:14 this morning.

Everything fine. Helen."

Well, how about that?

Colonel Martin's got a son.

- Hold the phones...

- Enemy fighters attacking. Roger.

The German air force has been the balance

of power in the world ever since Munich.

It took the German army

everywhere it's been.

It beat the Polish air force in three days,

and the Norwegian in three hours.

It forced the Maginot Line,

and beat the French in three weeks.

It knocked off Yugoslavia

and Greece for practice.

Captured Crete

and dominated the Mediterranean...

...and chased the Russians

back to Moscow and Stalingrad.

Now we've made them pull

whole groups...

...off the Russians

and away from the Mediterranean...

...and put them over there,

across the channel, facing us.

Gentlemen, you've had a glimpse...

...but all the complicated

activities of this division...

...are only a fraction

of General Kane's responsibility.

All right, Homer.

Gentlemen, you must make

the country understand...

...that the credit for what we do here

belongs to the boys.

Often at night,

I think on the parable of the talents.

It must have been a terrible ordeal

for those men...

...who were trying to serve their master

as best they could...

...with what they were given.

You mean you want

more planes, General.

Mr. Stone, if the nation wants

aerial supremacy, we must have them.

The nation wants

aerial supremacy everywhere.

Excuse me. What is it, George?

A message I thought

you'd like to see, sir.

Well, it looks like it's going

to be pretty noisy over the 32nd tonight.

Congratulations, uncle.

Excuse us, gentlemen,

but this is a first-priority communication.

- Colonel Martin's got a boy.

- Wonderful.

Well, I can't tell you

what this means to us.

I've known Colonel Martin for 15 years.

Why, this is as if I'd had a...

Well, I won't say a grandson,

but another son of my own.

- Wonderful.

- General Kane...

...it's an inspiring thing for us to come over

here and see the American flag flying...

...and to be privileged to inspect these

fine achievements of our bomber boys.

Howsomever, I'd like

to get back to this mission...

...that Colonel Martin is leading today.

General Dennis, if I may,

I'm gonna ask you a few questions.

You explained a while ago

that this was as far...

...as your bomber planes could depend

upon protection from our fighter planes.

And I think you also said

that for the third day in succession...

...your bombers have been deliberately sent

far beyond this limit.

- That's correct.

- In other words...

...about half your plane strength,

and the lives of a thousand men...

...have been lost

within the last two days...

...and we still don't know

about this afternoon.

- Has this been entirely your decision?

- It has.

- On nothing but your own authority?

- Yes.

General Dennis was quite

within his authority, Mr. Malcolm.

When these losses are fitted

into the average...

Oh, I understand

the overall average, general.

And I appreciate your loyalty

to your subordinate.

But it seems to me our boys are paying

a bloody price for General Dennis' record.

They're paying a price

for the country's record.

So the country is responsible

for your sending them...

...far beyond friendly fighter cover?

- Yes.

Or more precisely, some of the country's

elected representatives.

May I ask how?

How did you vote on appropriations

for the Air Force in 1938?

- What?

- How did you vote on appropriations...

...for the Air Force in 1938?

By golly, he's got you, Arthur.

Well, we'll see who's got who.

General Kane, I appreciate

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