Thunder Under the Big Sky
First Aired Monday, March 11th, 2019
Fifteen-thousand military planes roared into Great Falls during World War II. Three years later, courageous Air Force pilots and crews trained 24-hours a day in Great Falls preparing for the Berlin Airlift. They stopped the Cold War blockade, and probably prevented World War III. At the same time, a new Air National Guard was formed to serve Montana, and they were later called up to support oversees wars. A decade later, there was the race in Montana to ready the Minutemen missile as Russia stockpiled missiles in Cuba. It all happened in north-central Montana, and often in top-secret conditions.
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Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/4623f95e8e_A-colmalmstrom.jpg)
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/0dad23e48a_Douglas%20C-54%20Skymaster%20practices%20a%20Tempelhof%20Landing%20at%20Great%20Falls%20Air%20Force%20Base.jpg)
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/a644b65ba0_One%20of%20the%20Alpha%20sites%20not%206%20or%202%201962.jpg)
Photo courtesy of Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/cdf6f65591_MTANG%20-test_first_organized_16x20.jpg)
Photo courtesy of Montana Air National Guard.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/d8ba06f4a9_1997.104.0038%20Sleeping%20in%20the%20Civic%20Center.jpg)
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/9c2723a504_1000-2.jpg)
Photo courtesy of Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/e695eea5b1_Crew%20of%20City%20of%20Great%20Falls.jpg)
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/302c236d80_MAFB%20Control%20Tower.jpg)
Photo courtesy of Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum.
![Filer image](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kusm-bento-live-pbs/Images/Local%20Programs/Thunder%20Under%20the%20Big%20Sky/128a5c41f1_greatfalls1.jpg)
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.