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Voice Of The Army 47-03-26 (347) Jets To The Rescue
00:15:10
Voice Of The Army 47-03-26 (347) Jets To The Rescue
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Wonder if we'll ever see that California sun again. Oh, this cand last forever. I hope not. Pilot to radio operator. Radio operator, pilot. Pick up anything on the radio, sergeant? Not a thing, Lieutenant. We must be pretty close to the magnetic pole. Can't get any results from radio or radar. You'll have to fly on celestial navigation only. Thanks. Keep trying, though. Yes, sir. Have to see some stars before you can navigate by them. These clouds go all the way up to 24,000ft. I think I see an opening ahead, Russ. Yes, I'm sure I do. About time. Here we come out to the open again. Where do you suppose we are? Compass has gone completely haywire. The radio's out. So is radar, mister. We're just plain lost. We're lucky the gas held out enough until we came through those clouds. We've been in the air 18 hours. We'll have to set this key bird down the first clear space we see. There seems to be a bit of clear ice over at 9 o'. Clock. See it? Not exactly my idea of a perfect landing field, but it's as good as anything around here. Let's make for it. Right. Pilot, the crew. Pilot, the crew. Hang on, gang. We're going in. Good luck. Thanks. Keep your fingers crossed. We'll have to keep the wheels up. Make a belly landing. Okay, here we go. Watch that cross wind, huh? Good old Kee bird. We made it, all right. Hope nobody was hurt. Here we are. But actually, where are we? We may be halfway across the top of the world since our last known position and the Arctic's a pretty big place. That was slow, sir. Everybody's in good shape. Glad to hear it. That's fine. We'll just have to wait until someone comes and gets us. If they can find us. We can't fly out, but we're not in too bad a fix. Got some food and there's enough motor oil to keep a fire going. Well, Vern, I'm going to give Sergeant Leader a hand with a radio. We've got to try and make contact with Ladd Field. I hope they find us soon. You never can tell. You never can tell. You sent for me, Colonel? Yes, Captain. I have just had good news. The Kee bird has been heard from. They made an emergency landing on the ice. That's great, sir. Everyone all right? Yes, all 11 men are safe. But they can't get off. They're downed? As near as we can tell. Somewhere in Washington. Land over on the northern tip of Greenland. I'm afraid we won't be able to do much here at Lad Field about getting them out. We can at least try to locate them, can't we, sir? Yes, that's just what I want you to do, Captain. I want you to get your planes off as soon as possible. I first want to spot the Kee bird. Can drop food and so on. You know what to do. Yes, sir. I'll get on the phone to the Air Transport Command headquarters. General Tunnel will see that we get a rescue plane that can get those men out of there. Well, take off as soon as they get here, Fred. Everything's all set, Bobby. This plane has been checked more times than my belief. Here they come now. Fred, help him get set back there, will you, please? The one on the left is Captain Dorsey, the medical officer. And the other is Captain Shaw, the expert on dog teams and Arctic Rescue. Right, Bobby. Be back with Jimmy. Pilots a crew chief. Pilot the crew chief. We're taking off. Stand by. All set, Bobby. Let's go. We'll fly from here right to Sandra Fjord. We'll stay there only long enough to pick up emergency supplies to drop to the keeper crew in case anything goes wrong and we can't land and pick them up. What do you think our chances are? Well, if anything can do the job, jet propulsion can. The ground crews worked on this plane until 2 o' clock this morning, installing Jado. With that extra power on the takeoff and a little luck, we'll get them. Pilot to Captains Shaw and Darcy. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Go ahead. Good. It's a matter of 2,300 miles from Westover Field to Sandra Fjord. So you both better try to get some rest. Thanks. We'll do that. From the fjord, we'll head for Thule. They'll have all the latest weather reports waiting for us, won't they, Bobby? Right, Fred. That's only about 200 miles south of where the plane's grounded on Washington land. We'll have to wait at Thule till the weather's right to attempt the rescue. That northwest tip of Greenland is treacherous. We ought to be sighting them any minute now. Pilots, a radio operator. Radio operator to pilot. What does the Key Bird say? They filled up a big fire with motor oil. They say you should see it from quite a distance. I'm sorry they don't have a welcome mat. But if they had, it'd be out and lit up for us. I imagine they'd be glad to have visitors. They say. Wait a second. They say they think they can hear our plane now. George, Stay with them. Sergeant. You see anything of them, Fred? Not yet. Wait. Huh? Yes. There they are, Bobby, at 2 o'. Clock. I see them. Let's just circle round and see where we can land. The lake they're on looks pretty short to me. There seem to be lots of larger ones around. Without arctic landing gear, this is gonna be a tricky job at best. Why don't we ask the experts? Okay. Captain Shaw, are you there? Yes, go ahead. What's your opinion? If we land on that lake over to the left, that's about five miles at a rough guess. What would you say would be their chances of reaching us? They could probably make it. But it'll be a lot safer to go back for dock teams. I'd hate to do that. How about you, Captain Dorsey? How does it look from a medical point of view? Well, the men all seem to be in good shape and they say they're fine. But they're almost surely suffering to some extent from shock and exposure at 30 degrees below zero. I wouldn't advise a 5 mile trip except as an absolute last resort. Thanks. I'm inclined to agree with them. If only I was sure the ice would hold us. I wouldn't be too concerned about the size of the lake. Radio operated pilot Lieutenant Arnet of the Key Bird. Sensbert. The ice is plenty thick enough to support your plane. He thinks you can make it. Thanks. I'll bet my next boogie he's right. If we try to land, we'll be betting a good deal more than that. We'll be betting eight lives. All right, we'll land. Pilot the radio operator. Tell them we're coming in. Radio operated. A pilot will do. They've already told me. If you're going down, they'll guide you in by posting themselves at 300 yard intervals on either side of the Runway. That'll help some, Fred, but the snow is almost a foot deep on the ice and I'm worried about our nose wheel. Oh, well, here goes. Pilots, a crew chief. Yes, sir. We're going in. Prepare for a landing. Yes, sir. I'm going to land without full laps. Want to keep air speed up to about 120 so we'll have enough speed to get off if anything goes wrong. Your hope at ice hold up. Lieutenant Arne. Right there. Just a minute. Here's Lieutenant Cobbler. Hello, Lieutenant Arnett. It's good to see you. You and your men better hurry aboard and stay out of the line of the propeller. At this temperature, you could freeze to death in the Prop 1. Okay, hurry aboard. Man Pilot the crew chief. Pilot the crew chief. Jettison every bit of equipment we don't actually need. Just toss out everything. With 11 extra men in the plane, we'll be overloaded as it is. And get those men as far back in the tail of the ship as possible to keep our nose wheel clear. We'll taxi up and down a couple of times, Fred. Maybe we can flatten the snow a little bit. Captain Dorsey, what in the world is the matter with those men? I have spent a good many years in the Arctic, but I've never seen a man's face turn black before. Bothered me at first too, Captain Show. But it's nothing more than smoke from the motor oil fires. They've been burning. Oh, I see. All right. All right, Fred, this is it. Flaps down 10 degrees. Jack, you think you can clear those. Those ice hummocks ahead, Bobby? I hope so. When we hit 50 mile an hour, we'll touch off the jets and that ought to give us enough for the clearance. Hold on, fred. Westover Field, Massachusetts the 11 members of the crew of the Kee bird and their rescuers, piloted by youthful Lieutenant Bobby Joe Kavner, are excited. Expected to land here any moment. Lieutenant Cavner and the other members of this rescue party will later go on to Washington to be decorated by General Spots, Commanding General of the Army Air Forces. The rescue was a triumph of modern air travel. Gunmen, if you are properly qualified, you may enlist directly in to the Army Air Forces to perform essential work in radio and other fields, both in the air and on the ground. But that is just one of the countless opportunities open to you if you can measure up to the high standards of the regular Army. To mention just one other, you are permitted on three year enlistments to join one of the famous ground forces divisions in Japan or Korea. If you are ambitious and looking ahead to your future, see your friendly local United States army recruiting sergeant and find out if you have the qualifications to join the regular Army. Thousands of young men like yourself are saying it's smart to join up, yes, and it's smart to stay in your regular Army. Serves the nation and mankind in war and peace. Choose this fine profession now. This program was brought to you by the United States army and the featured roles were played by William Calvert, Jim Bowles, Henry Norell, Gregory Morton, Robert Noel and Whit Vernon. The story was written by Corporal J. Smolin and was directed by Major Phil Lampkin. This is Sidney Paul speaking. This transcribed feature has been another in the series of the Voice of the Army. It.