Active bush pilot in alaska. He drove here from alaska by himself and will be on board one of the b17s. Rear admiral Edward Whitey fatener shot down nine enemy aircraft wildcats and f6 hell cats for the navy. Today hell be flying in one of the texans that comes by early in the flyover. Al tucker flew the p38 lightning in europe during world war ii before being shot down over germany on his 22nd git gatcombat mission. He was a prisoner of the germans. Mr. Tucker will be in one of the steerman biplanes during todays flyover. Weldon briton lives in virginia, but in 1945, he was a p51 mustang pilot based in the Pacific Theater and hell be participating in the flyover as a passenger in one of our b17 flying fortresses. Also with us today on the ground are foreveterans who participated in a Discussion Forum last night at the national air and space museum. Many thanks to bud anderson for joining us last night and again here this afternoon. As grateful as we are for their bravery, sacrifice and service, were here to celebrate not just the in a speech that he made in december of 1940, president Franklin Roosevelt recognized that the great arsenal of democracy would play a pivotal role in our countrys anticipated involvement in the war that was already raging across much of the globe. President roosevelt understood the raw power of the United States and its people, when they focused their will and resources on a single common goal. He knew that once this country became involved in hostilities the immense u. S. Industrial complex would transition from peace time manufacturer of automobiles, tractors, bicycles and airliners to the war time production of jeeps tanks, machine guns and warplanes. And he was right. For the second time in less than a quarter of a century the American People were called on to help save the world from the forces of tyranny and oppression and in the battlefields of europe, the waters of the south pacific, and the factories throughout this great country of ours, they responded to that challenge as americans always have. In the intervening years, the stories of what those brave americans did and how they did it have been told less and less frequently. In the schools and the history books in our schools the narrative of world war ii has been reduced to a few paragraphs or a day or two of instruction. Those stories deserve more. Americans should know that not so very long ago our way of life, our freedom and the fate of much of the world hung in the balance. And the resolve with which this country rose to that challenge is even 70 years later quite remarkable. Over the last several months as we prepared for this commemoration of ve day and the historic flightover that will begin in just a few minutes, several themes emerged. First, everyone participated. If not in uniform, then working in the factories, building the machines, and producing the munitions and supplies that our boys put to such effective use on dozens of different battlefields around the world. Second, there is a genuine heart felt humility among these men who walked into harms way to protect and defend this country. As recently as yesterday evening, i had a personal hero of mine tell me and a small group of people that he was just doing his job. And finally and most poignantly, the deep respect that the veterans here with us today have for those they consider to be the real heroes of world war ii those men who didnt come home. The warriors who gave their last full measure of devotion to the epic struggle that took place seven decades ago and far away places like burma, baston casino, and the coral sea, and like tinian, tunisia. Today it is our challenge and our great honor to use a remarkable collection of vintage military aircraft to tell their stories. Well start the arsenal of democracy with the airplanes that taught our boys to fly, the trainers. In 1938 when general hap arnold the commander of the u. S. Air forces considered this countrys preparedness for war, he recognized that america did not have nearly enough airplanes or pilots to fly them. Three years before the japanese attack on pearl harbor the u. S. Army air forces was comprised of 21,000 airmen and 1800 aircraft. But by the end of the war, the Army Air Forces included 2. 3 Million People and production of aircraft of all types reached nearly 300,000. In a war that military leaders learned would be determined by air superiority, this unprecedented, almost inconceivable increase in american air power was widely recognized to be one of the most important factors in the allies victory. The three years before pearl harbor, that challenge had not yet been solved and the United States was looking at an immense disparity between what it had and what it would soon need. So drawing on the expertise of prominent aviation leaders the military created what would become the civilian Pilot Training program. By this time by the time the program ended, it had trained 435,000 pilots including senator john glenn. The nations top ace richard balm and one of our guests here today, tripolis colonel bud anderson. Now, ladies and gentlemen approaching are the trainers, all u. S. Military pilots completed a Training Program accomplished in three phases primary, basic and advanced. These two warriors learned to fly a wide variety of aircraft among the grasshoppers, like the l16 champ known as a piper cub. Here they come now. Ladies and gentlemen, those in the plaza, please kneel down or find a seat so youre not blocking the view behind you. Thank you. In addition to training the aircraft, all the planes have war time functions. One Army Air Force pilot recorded six confirmed kills of german tanks while flying a piper grasshopper outfit with a bazooka. These two aircraft flying over a part of that lbird gaggle. All nicknamed grasshoppers and all having a top speed of a blistering 90 to 95 miles an hour. All u. S. Military pilots completed a Training Program that was accomplished in three phases. Primary, basic and advanced. This process was designed to gradually increase the complexity of a pilots training. One of the iconic trainers was the boeing steerman biplane, an open cockpit aircraft constructed of wood, fabric and tubular steel, there were more than two dozen different variants and more than 2,000 built, used also by the rca another well known nickname, the kdebt. These are the steerman biplanes. Primary training introduced the principles of flight, basic training introduced them to the complexities of Radio Communication and flying in formation and advanced training was designed to prepare the air crews to go into combat. Another primary trainer was the fair child pt19, a plane that was used by the Army Air Forces the British Royal air force and the Royal Canadian air force. Like the steerman, the pt19 was an open cockpit design. Advanced training was accomplished in aircraft like the north american at6 texan, weighing in at three tons with a 600 horsepower radial engine and retractable landing gear the t6 was designed to prepare pilots to fly state of the art aircraft they would use in combat. By the end of the war, north american aviation had built more than 15000 texans including the at6 variant for the Army Air Forces and the snj version for the u. S. Navy. When world war ii began, the Bendix Corporation was a big name. They manufactured parts for the b25. The company is now bendix king part of honey well aviation one of our sponsors of the arsenal of democracy flyover. There was perhaps no Single Company that made a bigger contribution to americas success in world war ii in the air than the grumman corporation. Grumman designed and built the f4 f wild cat and f6 f hell catfighters. In 1994, the company merged with northrop to form northrop grumman, a sponsor of todays democracy flyover. Well see several planes in the formation flyovers today. When the group acquired vot aircraft industries, they acquired a part of aviation and world war ii history. A critical tool in the war against japan and after several name changes and acquisitions the company that was once chance bought is now part of the triumph group, a sponsor of todays flyover. General Electric Company was a vital part of the american arsenal of democracy, and in addition to groundbreaking research and development of the first jet engine designed in the United States ge pioneered the development and integration of turbochargers into aircraft engines. Many thanks to ge for also being a sponsor of todays flyover. In just moments, the t6 flight will be coming over, the texans. Also used by the Royal Canadian air force and the Royal Air Force, they called it the harvard. It was indeed an aircraft of higher learning. Here come the texans, the 600 horsepower, two flights of four, listen to the sound that they make as they go over. There were also multiengine trains. One was known as the at11 kansasen built by beechcraft. Also had a light cargo designation of c45, the twin beech as it was known in civilian life also served many functions, including as a training platform for bombing, navigation and gunnery. With two 450 horsepower pratt and whitney engines, it will have a great sound all its own. Look over the memorial. Its inbound now. Ladies and gentlemen the at11 the twin beech. Inbound right now are two p40 war hawks. A 1937 design that at the time of pearl harbor was our number one fighter in the pacific. Directly to our left the two p40 war hawks with allison b12 engines in them, liquid cooled. In april of 1942, after a series of stinging setbacks in the pacific, Lieutenant ColonelJimmy Doolittle led 16 b25 mitchell bombers off the uss hornet on a bombing raid to tokyo and four other cities. The raid was american improvisation at its finest. The b25 wasnt designed to fly from an Aircraft Carrier and American Strike on the heartland of japan so soon after the attack on pearl harbor provided americans with a much needed boost in morale. Although the raid resulted in minor damage to its targets, it had a profound impact on japanese strategy. Causing military leaders to be more concerned about attacks on japan than they otherwise would be. The two surviving doolittle raider raiders commemorated the 73rd anniversary of the raid just last month. Ladies and gentlemen, three b25 mitchell bombers, two of them b25s, one actually a marine corps pbj 1 livery. In early june of 1942, as the japanese and american navies converge on a tiny volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the stage was set for a dramatic shift in the momentum of the Pacific Theater. Tipped off to japanese plans by u. S. Cryptographers, they searched hundreds of miles of ocean for enemy ships. One found a japanese fleet storming toward midway and radioed the information to American Military planners. This ladies and gentlemen is the pby catalina. From three u. S. Carriers, wild catfighters flew escort for slower devastator and dauntless bombers but problems and bud luck plagued americans as they began their attack. Most of the american torpedo bombers were shot out of the sky, in the first three hours of the battle, not a single u. S. Bomber torpedo hit a japanese ship despite eight separate attacks by a total of 94 airplanes. Then, the tide turned. As the japanese focused their attention on the torpedo bombers flying just off the surface of the water sbd dauntless dive bombers attacked from a higher altitude fatally damaging three of four japanese carriers. An hour later a Second Attack destroyed the fourth japanese carrier. The balance of naval power in the pacific had shifted permanently. Right now, awaiting the sbd down the dauntlesses and the wildcats. Wildcats were designed by grumman as the f 4 f but were produced in great numbers by General Motors under the designation fm2 wild cat. The wild cat and the dauntless. When the u. S. Marines stormed the shores of guadalcanal in august of 1942 japanese conquests had reached their peak. This bold, unexpected offensive would prove to be a critical turning point in the war in the pacific. A small but Strategic Air field on the island was the focal point of six months of fierce battles on the ground in the air, and on the sea. By the time the japanese conceded the island in february of 1943, nearly 25000 japanese and 1600 americans had been killed with thousands more dead from malaria and other tropical diseases. Central to the battle was the venerable wild cat, which operated from carriers by u. S. Navy pilots and from henderson field by marine corps pilots throughout the guadalcanal campaign. Though badly outmachd by the faster and more agile mitsubishi zero the wildcats were able to hold their own because of their Rugged Construction and the unique battle tactics developed by the naval aviators who flew them. By the end of 1943, the first grumman hell cats were being deployed to the Pacific Theater, but during the early critical battles in the pacific in 1942 and 43 it was the wild cat that shouldered the burden as americas principle carrierbased fighter. The wildcats youll see here today are the fm2 variant built by General Motors and deployed on smaller escort carriers, for antisubmarine and picket duty. Interestingly, pilots of the wildcats told me that rather than flipping a switch to raise the landing gear after they took off they maintained about 90 or 95 miles an hour put their left hand on the stick, instead of the right hand and took the right hand and had to crank the landing gear up 29 turns to get it up. It was not a fun airplane in the pattern pattern. Ladies and gentlemen, here come the wildcats. Admiral kumomoto was commander in chief of the japanese combined fleet and mastermind behind the attack on pearl harbor. American code breakers intercepted and decoded a message with his itinerary for an airplane trip, between two islands in the Solomon Islands area of the south pacific. On april 18th, a flight of 18 lockheed p 38 lightnings was dispatched from guadalcanal on a long low altitude route to evade enemy radar and maximize the element of surprise. Here comes the forked tail devil, the p38 lightning, which shot down yamamotos plane. The mission nicknamed operation vengeance not only avenged the deaths of 2400 americans at pearl harbor, but also deprived the japanese of one of their finest military strategists. Known as hitlers gas station playesty was a huge complex of Oil Refineries that supplied germany with more than one third of its fuel. After identifying it as a high priority target, military strategists initially opted for a single large raid by b24 bombers attacking from an altitude of just 200 feet. Flying the mission at low altitude would help the americans avoid enemy radar and increase the accuracy of their bombs, but the low altitude would also put the aircraft and crews at greater risk. The b24 was selected for the mission because it was the only u. S. Bomber that could manage the 2400 mile round trip from libya to playesty and back. Though complex and finicky to fly, we produced more b24 bombers than any other. And Assembly Lines rolled out a new one every 58 minutes at plants in san diego, ft. Worth tulsa, and detroit. The americans lost nearly a third of their bombers and 500 airmen during that low level raid on august 1st of 1943. Military leaders adopted a new strategy of daily raids from a higher altitude, with long range fighter escorts like the p51 mustang, destroying the Production Capacity over a period of 14 months. As attacks on the Oil Refineries of romania continued during the summer of 1944, American Forces pushed into france, Army Air Forces commander general hap arnold noted the increasing number of vehicles along the side of the road that had just run out of gas. Here is the liberator with the mustangs. In the early days of the war after the allies had decided that the british would conduct nighttime bombing raids on german targets and the americans would bomb during daylight hourss, mission losses were horrific. Without escorts, the u. S. Bombers suffered unsustainable losses to german fighter and antiaircraft flack. By some estimates, the fatality rate of b17 and b24 crews was put at nearly 50 . That began to change with the introduction of the p51 mustang as a long range fighter. When outfitted with external fuel taverns made of a kind of papiermache here come the mustangs mustangs also flown by the 332nd Fighter Group the Red Tail Squadron of the tuskegee airmen. By 1944, the German Air Force was struggling to survive, in a single week that february the allies sought to hasten the end. Operation argument bet northern as big week was a series of large scale Royal Air Force and bombing raids on german aviation factories. On several raids, more than a thousand bombers were sent against their targets. Together, the allies dropped over 20 Million Pounds of ordinance between february 20th and february 25th, the raids were intended to bait german fighters into the air where nearly 900 p47 and p51 mustangs engaged them. The