General Arnold Story DVD

Produced by the Army Pictorial Center, this installment of the popular weekly television series, The Big Picture, focuses on the life and times of General ‘Hap’ Arnold. An early flight advocate, Arnold was trained by the Wright brothers and was one the first qualified pilots in the US Army. Arnold set the high altitude record of 6,450 ft in 1912 and served as one of the earliest US mail couriers. In the winter of 1932, Air units under his command dropped food to snow-bound Indians in the southwest. In September 1938, Arnold was appointed Chief of US Army Air Corps and began building an elite air force which included the introduction of civilian schools the following year. After Pearl Harbor, Hap began pushing for Strategic Bombing: daylight precision attacks using massive formations of Flying Fortresses. Arnold’s vision was realized by around the clock bombing (the British conducted night raids) which helped defeat Germany and end the war in Europe. Under his leadership the B-29 bomber was first unleashed with devastating effectiveness on the Japanese mainland. With the war successfully concluded, Hap retired after 42yrs of military service but was able to see his dream realized in June 1947 with the creation of a separate wing

USA, 1963, B&W, 29 minutes.

NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)