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.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of Montana Air National Guard.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.
Photo courtesy of Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum.
Photo courtesy of The History Museum.