 Into the wild sky, yonder, hit the winds, level and prove. If you live, you'll be a great air wonder. Meet the moon, follow the moon. Flying man, guarding the nation's border, we'll be there, all of my war. In that long, precarious, for nothing will stop the army air force. This is a very important moment, a very important scene. And fortunately, it's happening more and more frequently. Some of you, it may be unfamiliar. Yet others of you may recognize the significance of that army command car and the curious look on the faces of that combat crew. And among them is the young man to whom this day is one of precious remembrance and importance. Yes, that's rear gunner Corporal William, or Pee Wee, as the boys call it. This is his day, but there were a lot of other days before this one. And it's worth telling about. It's quite a yarn. It all started where it started for most, right on that glass fishbowl. But what happened after that? Well, let's just track this story down. Yes, there's always a certain quote in the air force for a list of men. What branch do you feel you're qualified for, William? Kind of thought I'd like to get close to one of them flying fortress. I see, flying fortress, like the big ship. Yes, sir. Well, he got close to a big plane, all right. Very close. That's known as really starting from the bottom. And maybe Pee Wee and a lot of other little fellows don't feel so important, but the gunnery schools are always on the lookout for men short on height, long on ambition. Morning, Pee Wee. Morning. You don't feel like you'd kind of fit any inside of that fishbowl? Well, I'd sure like to be in there, sir. I'd like to shoot a gun again, too, sir. There ain't a one before? Well, not one of these caliber 50s, no, sir. But I had an old shooting iron back home I used to like. I used to knock down them black killers with. Black killers? Let's all them scrolls. We call them black killers. They're mean bird. They used to raid the duck nest. You know, I got soldiers that I could peg them on the wings. Pretty good shot, huh? Well, not bad. Sergeant. Take Pee Wee over to the ski range. You might make a gunner. Right, sir. OK, William. Let's go. OK, William. Paul. Is that all I have to do, hit that little thing? That's all you have to do, sir. OK. Paul. Paul. It's not a slick of you. William. Pee Wee, how'd you like to go to gunnery school? Oh, yes, sir. Like that boss. Whose fellows mean business? You'll be hearing from them. They're aviation's mightiest little men. Where do they come from? From every corner of America. And here they are, student gunners at one of America's three vast gunnery schools. Yes, and there's Pee Wee. It's his first day, and he's on the brink of a new world. Gentlemen, you volunteered to come to this station to learn to become combat aerial gunners. In as much as there are only 210 hours of available instruction time, it will be necessary for each and every one of you to thoroughly apply yourselves to make use of every moment while you are here. And they will be divided into small groups of six to 10 men. Each group will have one instructor who'll be your guide and teacher throughout the five weeks of this course. The job of the aerial gunner is a vital and important one. The lives of your combat crew and the success of a mission depend on your shooting ability. Your government is aware of the importance of flexible gunners in the victorious pursuit of this war. They know that the fire from your guns is the fire of freedom. Good luck. Aim well and shoot straight. Kick, hit! Aim well and shoot straight, that's a hot one. You know, back in Coney Island, I was a regular patty for shooting gallery. Used to blow all my dough trying to win a cupid out for my girl. My girl, she's nuts for cupids, and I can't hit the side of a bond. You mean he got prizes for shooting suddenly? Back in Kansas, we didn't get nothing, except maybe the pleasure of hitting down crows. At least you had a workout with a gun. Me, I'm starting to scratch. Let me tell you something sweet out of our mission to start. Me too. I wonder how long for them classes, John. How long? My brother, you're starting in right now. Now, the first thing you have to know about the caliber 30 machine gun is the nomenclature and the part functions of the gun. Now, this is your accelerator. It's the timing device for all recoiling parts. This is your cocking lever, which is your fire control. This is your driving spring. Williams, you increase the sight base. What must you do to the diameter of the ring sight in order to keep the same miles per hour reference sight? Well, you have to increase the diameter? Very good. Questions and answers every day faster than bullets. This is a class in exterior ballistics. In other words, what happens to that bullet after it's fired? What are the five forces that affect the trajectory? The propellant charge? Movement at a mile. Air resistance? Gravity and drift. Now, remember, men, this is a 150 mile per hour ring sight, only when used with an 80 sight base. As you know, the sight base, the distance from the gunner's eye, the ring sight. You got that? Pretty scientific stuff, and it's all in the first week. And there are a few other items our young gunners are learning, like bullet patterns and methods of fire. And toward the end of that first week, that itching trigger finger of Pee Wee's gets its first work out. Ready, go! Well, get a load of those mounted turrets. This is what they've been waiting for, but we're still in the first week, and the boys aren't ready to start firing yet. Right now, they're really getting acquainted with the operation of a turret. They're discovering how to turn on asthma from zenith, and where that master gun switch is. That's some work out for gunners just a week old. But they're already getting the feel of that turret, and before you can say caliber 50, they'll be veteran. And what do you think? After two weeks of going to school, we find himself on the BV range. But on the second week, the boys are formally introduced to grandpa. There's one advantage that you may have. You've got a great gun in your hand to protect yourself. I don't forget that. I guess they're a gunner's best friend and his grandpa. William, how do you estimate the apparent speed of an enemy aircraft? Well, the time it takes to get from the center of the ring site to the outer edge of the ring site. That's right. What's the first thing you notice before firing? Identify the enemy's presence. That's right. The red flag. That means there's firing going on. Berlin and Tokyo, beware. These young marksmen are picking up the art of rapid sight alignment and the proper handling of a gun. Whoa! No country club or millionaire shooting lodge offers a finer ski range than this one of Uncle Sam's, where gunners acquire the precision and practice of learning how to lead the target. Whoa! Gunners on wheels, trucking on down. This is the moving base range, and it's plenty tricky. A little surprise for the boys who thought they were getting to be expert shooters, with the truck rolling along in one direction and the target flying out of the other in different directions. Well, just try it, Pee Wee. It's not bad. It looks as if you're learning a few new twists by getting your lead behind the target. It's a gay day and a sweet song when these lads start heading out for actual firing on moving targets, assimilating combat shooting on the ground to ground turrets. Yeah, you can do this. The speed. I'd estimate your lead. Here's your problem. Range from, uh... Mount, front track is 200 yards. The speed of the target is 30 miles an hour. What's your lead? A quarter of an inch, outside my inner range. Okay, I'll track your target and fire our whistle. Let's dip it in different color, lift the graphic paint, leave their mark on the canvas. That's enabling the instructor to see how many hits the gunner has scored. Hey, Pee Wee, get low to my score there! Boy, I'd find I had to go like that 50 caliber. Just think of the amount of cupidons I could have knocked down with Coney Island. These men wear any cubies in the airport, Spenny. But if you keep on shooting like this, we'll let you get a couple of jabs. It saves some for the rest of us, darts. Not so fast there, gunner. More ground school and study in midnight oil. But all the better to shoot well. Sight hominization. The adjustment, the sight, the gun. There's a line of sight to intersect the trajectory of the projectile at the desired range. There it is, the beginning of the fourth week and they're back on the range. But there's one difference. Up until now, the gunner has learned how to shoot under normal conditions. Now, however, on this malfunction range, he runs into trouble. He finds out what to do when things go wrong. Another precaution for the gunner's protection. Man, in each one of these guns we have put broken parts or damaged rounds. You will learn to determine by the action of your gun just what the malfunction is. Now, remember this. The gunner in the air must be able to find the cause of a stoppage or a jam with the greatest possible speed and without completely stripping his gun. Williams, charge your gun and fire. Won't be. What do you think's wrong? I don't know. It's right. It needs a new spring. What type of aircraft is this? JU-87B German Stuck. Identifying characteristics. It's a fixed landing gear. Negative values are weak. And this time, we have been in the offset cockpit. And that, the SPW is far from that Kansas farm now. He's explored a labyrinth of technical and ballistic knowledge that makes the American aerial gunner the king in the world. Hey, Vince. Well, let's get a letter from Lieutenant Ames. He's holding a smartphone and a B-20 for the whole ship. Oh, shit. Putting you to jail. Okay. Figures I kind of fit can't see. You know, that's about the best moves I ever had. Hey, you've got a comedy there. Well, you know, back around home, guys used to keep me. Well, they used to say I was the most unlikely to succeed. Well, they cheated me so much, I began to think they had some. But this letter is going to change all that. You said it while you were belonging to that fishbowl like, uh, like corn and a husk. Sure. Sure. You can tell them all the time it is now. Look, here we... I've been taken again. Now, let me tell you something. The more I stick to my tales, the gunner boys didn't give an out with this stuff. That's going to decide this plan, Vince. Well, yeah... Of course, it's only my personal opinion, but... Well, you know, the way I look at it, it takes all kinds of guys doing all kinds of jobs to win this war. I figure it's a mighty big job. And by golly, it makes you feel big, just... Hey, fellas, hurry up. It's nine o'clock. We're due out in the range for night firing. For July, it's just shooting in the dark, learning the use of tracer bullets. And in case you didn't know, the object of tracer bullets is to give the gunner an idea of his accuracy and lead. Those gunners will tell you that this is fascinating stuff. Those bullets, by the way, are chemically treated so that they light up, and the gunner a perfect preview of where his live bullets are going. Hey, Vinnie! Yeah? Wait, it's going on your path. Listen, Shum, if the four weeks in this school I'm going to realize a lifelong efficient. Yes, it's the fifth and last week and water week. The gunner takes to the air, putting into practice everything he's learned during the past month. He's about to get a sniff of ozone at an altitude of 10,000 feet. You going to have a nice and check, Pee Weep? That's probably modest. Right? Yes. Well, I'm nervous, but not scared. Good boy. No, they're not scared. These budding gala hats of gunnery, they're eager and anxious to get the feel of actual combat. And here, in air-to-air shooting, they get it. Approaching the tow target, the gunner's aim is leveled. This is straight beam firing and is the first step in air-to-air shooting. And store your gun, get ready to fire when target comes into range. His become a little more elaborate. Learning relative speed firing, the plane dives for speed and it's a keen-eyed marksman who can calculate his target with some neat and clean cross-under firing. William, are you? Congratulations, William. Yes, this is a golden moment. A moment of proud achievement when Pee Wee Williams, along with hundreds of other gunners, come out into the Vistals of Victory. Is that a black? Is that a Doyle? Yes, how are you? This Vistals waiting for you at one room apartment, just for you. Looks like home. Realizing a long, visual dream, Pee Wee, a full-fledged, flexible gunner, becomes a part of America's fast-striking Air Force. And he joins the valiant flyers heading for a place called over there. But things happen thick and fast over there. Pee Wee got his first taste of combat under fire. Zero pushing from the left. Those weeks that gunnery school are flashing through his mind. Pee Wee and his brother gunners of the crew had a lot of notches in their belts, notches for annihilating Niponese planes. Then, one dawn, July 15th, the crew took off on a bombing mission, a particular mission of strategic importance. Pee Wee discovered that sitting out on the tail turn of a bomber is a great spot. Of course, you can always see the enemy before he sees you. They also found out that the guy in the tail is protected by the finest all-steel armor played in the world. They were ordered to attack an elusive Jap aircraft carrier. Once the target recited, every keen-eyed member of that crew swung into action. The pilot's bombardiers, the gunners of their stations. 100 pounders of TNT were right in here on Hito's face. But then, the real trouble started. Five zeros heading in and manned your stations. Came in bloody handy then. Two yes, one more trailing up, stand by. It looks bad, they're just waiting for us to drop. I hope those gunners can hold him off. Take cover. We can share this memorable day with you. War doesn't always allow us much time, so just let me say that time is proud of you as the crew members who managed to fly into this day. I've had the pleasure of sending medals to many gunners since this conflict began. From the Air Force past tribute to you, it also recognizes the heroic and brilliant work of the gunners who since the beginning have proved how indispensable they are in achieving victory. Their importance to the Air Force can never be stressed too much. Our pilots fly the plane. Our navigators tell them where to go. Our bombardiers bomb their targets. Those same gunners are continuing every day to help blast the enemy from the sky. But you are the men who bring them home safe. You gunners are the modern Knights of Fire, the administrators of life and death, an integral part of the greatest all-American team. Two and thousands of intrepid, brilliant gunners of the Army Air Force. With this distinguished service medal...