 September 2, 1945 was a day of rejoicing for Americans. World War II had ended with the surrender of Japan. The formation of the United Nations gave false hope to many, a belief that peace had finally arrived to stay. Demobilization was rapid. Former soldiers, sailors, and Marines turned quickly to peaceful pursuits. An Army Air Force's B-29 was flown from Honolulu to Egypt non-stop, demonstrating intercontinental capability of strategic forces. In the United States, the aircraft industry was developing a giant airplane, the XB-36. Six piston engines developed 3,500 horsepower each. Four jets each provided 5,200 pounds of thrust. It had a range of 4,000 miles. The B-36 became a major U.S. weapon in the Cold War that was developing between the United States and Russia. The jet airplane was born in World War II and in 1946 the P-80 set a new speed record from Long Beach to New York. Flight time 4 hours 13 minutes. In recognition of the importance of air power, national leaders designated the Army Air Forces as a separate service. The United States Air Force was born September 1947. The follow-on model to the P-80 started to roll off the assembly line. It was an aircraft destined to make a name for itself in later years, the F-86. Over the Mojave Desert, a B-29 full of recording instruments dropped a 5,000 pound airframe, the XS-1, from its Bombay mountain. The aircraft carried 8,000 pounds of fuel and Air Force pilot Captain Charles E. Yeager was the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight. In Berlin, the differences of opinion between the free world and the communist world blossomed into a very warm Cold War when Russians in East Germany decided to cut off 2.5 million West Berliners from their food and fuel. The people and allied occupation forces in Berlin were faced with what appeared to be a decision to surrender or starve. The only way into Berlin was by air. The United States and Great Britain used this route to supply the isolated populace. For 15 months, 300 planes and 20,000 men were committed to Operation Bittles. Daily they airlifted 4,500 tons of coal, sugar, coffee, flour, butter, milk and other foods to Berlin. At the end of World War II, the Japanese occupation of Korea had ended. By agreement, the United States accepted the Japanese surrender south of the 38th Parallel and Russia accepted surrender north of the 38th Parallel. North Korea immediately geared for war production. The South concentrated on industrial expansion to produce consumer goods. North-the-South was unprepared when on the 25th of June 1950 a North Korean invasion force crossed the 38th Parallel heading south. The North Koreans were apparently convinced that no nation would aid the South Koreans, but they were wrong. The United States set a fleet of B-29s to Okinawa within range of Korea, moved F-80s to southern Japan for immediate use across the narrow part of the dividing sea and stationed F-51s at Taegu in southern South Korea. The immediate tactic was to mount airstrikes against North Korea delaying that nation's efforts until ground troops could mass to repel the invaders. The United Nations committed member nations to assist South Korea. Of the bulk of the job fell upon the U.S. and early fighting was from the air as U.S. Air Forces went to work on enemy supplies, ammunition and airplanes. Any aircraft for any job. Ground troops went to Korea in C-47s and C-54s. They celebrated the 4th of July 1950 in a foreign land. The initial communist invasion drove Allied forces into a small area around Busan in the southern part of South Korea. By August, U.S. and U.N. troops had dug in along the Busan perimeter to buy time and keep a toehold on the Korean Peninsula. F-51s provided a close air support. B-26s and B-29s flying from Japan attacked North Korean airfields giving the F-51s air superiority. Again, the U.S. had to gear up. Air crew training became a high priority. The need was for large numbers of pilots and navigators to fly troop and cargo transports that would be constantly flying between the U.S. and Korea. The U.S. needed crews for heavy and light bombers and fighter pilots to learn the skills of flying the new jet fighters that were coming off assembly lines. By September, military air transports and civilian contractors were flying 250,000 air miles a day. With preparations complete, the U.N. offensive began. B-29s dropped thousands of bombs destroying North Korean transport supplies and communications. Then after heavy naval bombardment, General McArthur directed an Allied invasion from the sea at Incheon. The offensive cut off the enemy between Incheon and the south. The forces at Busan broke through. The combined air ground forces took another leapfrog jump in October. 3,000 paratroopers landed 30 miles north of the Korean capital of Pyongyang. The U.S. shut off large North Korean units from their supplies. United Nations ground forces blitzed all the way to the Yellow River on the border of Manchuria. But at that point, the complexion of the war changed. China entered on the side of the north. Under massive attack, U.N. troops withdrew southward, consolidating their forces in the vicinity of the 38th parallel, the original border set up between the north and the south. Close air support of the U.N. withdrawal assumed vital importance. The Air Force was now facing a new enemy. Russian-built MiGs operating in North Korea posed a dangerous new threat in the air. They were excellent fighter aircraft. But the pilots of the United States Air Force and U.S. Navy achieved a 7 to 1 record over the MiGs due to superior flying skill and tactics. 39 Air Force pilots became aces. The final score would be 893 to 139. In mid-January 1951, U.N. forces attacked northward again. In mid-June, the North Koreans asked to go to the peace table. Two stocks began in July 1951, a little more than a year after the invasion by the north. It was to be the start of two long years of negotiations. All through this time, U.N. air forces continued to neutralize enemy activity with air assaults on their transportation, communication, airfields, and ground forces. Even before hostilities ended, the two combatants agreed to exchange prisoners. In April of 1953, the first of these, known as Little Switch, occurred. Some months later, Big Switch completed the agreement. Effective ground action combined with the pressure of the U.N. air attacks against the north convinced the North Koreans they couldn't win. They finally conceded. On July 27, 1953, the war ended. The U.S. Air Force played a vital role in holding the line against communist aggression.