Joseph Heller At War This 6min 38sec clip that I found on YouTube is most likely out-take footage that was going to be used in the documentary, "Training For Combat" which was the "boondoggle" that Joseph Heller took part in in 1944 - there is a few moments of him in the bomber’s nose, where he is playing "Pete, the replacement bombardier."
Fascinating. Almost as if truth wants to be found and so eventually reveals itself to just the right person who has enough dots to join together. Wow.
That footage as whole was very interesting. 9L "Prop-Wash" with the starboard engine fault that caused it cut out. Restarted but failed again, possibly a fuel supply/blockage. It was shot down in Italy on 26th February 1945 https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/43-27517
Heller may not have been able to sublimate his anger the way many GIs have had to over the years, but he put it to worthy use in his writing.
My father was a nose gunner in a B-24 Liberator in the Pacific Theater. He would not talk about his role and was openly annoyed when the navigator of their crew showed up for a visit several years after the war because he preferred to forget it help build the middle class under the GI bill. The only anger he ever showed was when he told us about having to scrape food off their plates into a trashcan when leaving the mess tent rather than giving it to the starving Okinawan children that would come around seeking food. He understood that they were always a target and that luring kids to the area by providing food would put them in harm's way, but he felt very criminal about the "taunting waste." Those GIs who'd missed meals as kids during the Depression knew the pangs in those kids' bellies.
Fascinating history, TC, thank you. The idea that Heller was angry over not sticking to his guns and proceeding with his protest makes perfect sense to me. That was a big moral dilemma. As another commenter here pointed out, the truth eventually reveals itself, like a splinter working itself out of your finger, or something.
Useless trivia, but related to this story: the husband of my High School AP English teacher was in Mexico working on the Catch 22 movie when I was in her class.
I haven't read the book yet but now I will because what you wrote today brought up the eternal quandary of when to put personal interest above duty, and what the personal cost of a guilty conscience can be. That issue might torture some people in Congress if they has a conscience.
Going to the library today to check out Catch 22. I will look for "The Bridgebusters" and will be pleasantly surprised if I find it in my tiny county library. If they don't have "The Bridgebusters", they will buy it through a wonderful program called ZIP Books.
This will take me into new territory and I look forward to it.
The universe is gently but insistently nudging my towards reading aviation related books, a writer on another substack today suggested that I read "The Razor's Edge", by W. Somerset Maugham.
A very funny story. The late Jim Hornfischer was my agent at the time; he was a conservative. He shopped it at all the "majors" to no response, and then Alex Novak (Robert's son) then at Regnery bit - they wanted to start a "popular history" WW2 series. Coming from Hollywood, my only requirement for those who say "yes" to a project is that the checks arrive on time and don't bounce. Completely transactional. They were the ones who said yes. When Alex and I talked and he told me all they wanted to do, I thought it advisable to give him a decent "heads up" about who he was dealing with. His response was "Well, there's no political differences over the war." I bit my tongue on that. This is the book that got the rave review from the guy who read it all and loved every word - Steve Bannon; just before he became "Steve Bannon." It was kind of funny to do all these radio interviews on RW Radio and have the DJ saying things like "All you home-schoolin' moms, this is a book you should use." I thought to myself, "Yes! Do that! Give your kid an opportunity to learn to think." Yes, I've been a subversive for a loooonnnnnggggg time. :-)
I just Laughed Out Loud AGAIN. and I'm glad you found Osprey. I used (back in graduate school) used to think that Regnery was just garden-variety "Conservative." but it's become downright FASCIST.
and of course, subversive is the only thing to be. at least from Regnery's perspective.
Thanks, David. Because it's about a WW1 pilot, his disenchantment after the war, and his quest for truth and meaning in life I thought it was related to Heller's experience First, though, I'll be reading Catch-22.
it sounds like you're right about Heller changing history in the book. isn't that even what writing fiction is often about?
as I think I posted before, when I knew him, he was pretty mellow, but I never got to know him well enough to get that close. he was inseparable from my friend (and old professor) Fred Karl, who was also his neighbor in the Hamptons. he was part of a regular group of Dim Sum enthusiasts which included Mel Brooks and Zero Mostel (whose son Josh is a friend of mine, as well as being my best friend's "other" best friend...the family suffered HORRIBLY during the McCarthy period, with the usual FBI schmucks observing their apartment from their car ALL THE TIME).
reading the first chapter of "Closing Time," Heller's "Catch-22" sequel, he seems to indicate that the cause of what was obviously the very real PTSD he lived with after the war was his actual experience of watching the original Snowden die while he watched helplessly. reading the book again, it's pretty obvious. I hadn't remembered how powerful and beautifully written that scene is until the second reading. there's a lot of stuff that doesn't register when you read certain books in high school, which is when I read it the first time.
Fascinating. Almost as if truth wants to be found and so eventually reveals itself to just the right person who has enough dots to join together. Wow.
That footage as whole was very interesting. 9L "Prop-Wash" with the starboard engine fault that caused it cut out. Restarted but failed again, possibly a fuel supply/blockage. It was shot down in Italy on 26th February 1945 https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/43-27517
Heller may not have been able to sublimate his anger the way many GIs have had to over the years, but he put it to worthy use in his writing.
My father was a nose gunner in a B-24 Liberator in the Pacific Theater. He would not talk about his role and was openly annoyed when the navigator of their crew showed up for a visit several years after the war because he preferred to forget it help build the middle class under the GI bill. The only anger he ever showed was when he told us about having to scrape food off their plates into a trashcan when leaving the mess tent rather than giving it to the starving Okinawan children that would come around seeking food. He understood that they were always a target and that luring kids to the area by providing food would put them in harm's way, but he felt very criminal about the "taunting waste." Those GIs who'd missed meals as kids during the Depression knew the pangs in those kids' bellies.
Fascinating history, TC, thank you. The idea that Heller was angry over not sticking to his guns and proceeding with his protest makes perfect sense to me. That was a big moral dilemma. As another commenter here pointed out, the truth eventually reveals itself, like a splinter working itself out of your finger, or something.
Useless trivia, but related to this story: the husband of my High School AP English teacher was in Mexico working on the Catch 22 movie when I was in her class.
I haven't read the book yet but now I will because what you wrote today brought up the eternal quandary of when to put personal interest above duty, and what the personal cost of a guilty conscience can be. That issue might torture some people in Congress if they has a conscience.
And then you can read the true story - "The Bridgebusters," which has recently been re-released by the publisher in a nice trade paperback edition.
Going to the library today to check out Catch 22. I will look for "The Bridgebusters" and will be pleasantly surprised if I find it in my tiny county library. If they don't have "The Bridgebusters", they will buy it through a wonderful program called ZIP Books.
This will take me into new territory and I look forward to it.
The universe is gently but insistently nudging my towards reading aviation related books, a writer on another substack today suggested that I read "The Razor's Edge", by W. Somerset Maugham.
The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing, by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, published by Regnery.
for those with Kindles, the e-book edition is a mere ten bucks, which is a bargain now that Amazon has raised e-book prices to obscenely high levels.
I hadn't noticed the publisher was Regnery. how the fuck did THAT happen?
A very funny story. The late Jim Hornfischer was my agent at the time; he was a conservative. He shopped it at all the "majors" to no response, and then Alex Novak (Robert's son) then at Regnery bit - they wanted to start a "popular history" WW2 series. Coming from Hollywood, my only requirement for those who say "yes" to a project is that the checks arrive on time and don't bounce. Completely transactional. They were the ones who said yes. When Alex and I talked and he told me all they wanted to do, I thought it advisable to give him a decent "heads up" about who he was dealing with. His response was "Well, there's no political differences over the war." I bit my tongue on that. This is the book that got the rave review from the guy who read it all and loved every word - Steve Bannon; just before he became "Steve Bannon." It was kind of funny to do all these radio interviews on RW Radio and have the DJ saying things like "All you home-schoolin' moms, this is a book you should use." I thought to myself, "Yes! Do that! Give your kid an opportunity to learn to think." Yes, I've been a subversive for a loooonnnnnggggg time. :-)
I just Laughed Out Loud AGAIN. and I'm glad you found Osprey. I used (back in graduate school) used to think that Regnery was just garden-variety "Conservative." but it's become downright FASCIST.
and of course, subversive is the only thing to be. at least from Regnery's perspective.
"The Razor's Edge" is really more of a post-war novel, but the war involved was WWI.
Thanks, David. Because it's about a WW1 pilot, his disenchantment after the war, and his quest for truth and meaning in life I thought it was related to Heller's experience First, though, I'll be reading Catch-22.
I envy you. it's quite a book and quite an experience.
it sounds like you're right about Heller changing history in the book. isn't that even what writing fiction is often about?
as I think I posted before, when I knew him, he was pretty mellow, but I never got to know him well enough to get that close. he was inseparable from my friend (and old professor) Fred Karl, who was also his neighbor in the Hamptons. he was part of a regular group of Dim Sum enthusiasts which included Mel Brooks and Zero Mostel (whose son Josh is a friend of mine, as well as being my best friend's "other" best friend...the family suffered HORRIBLY during the McCarthy period, with the usual FBI schmucks observing their apartment from their car ALL THE TIME).
reading the first chapter of "Closing Time," Heller's "Catch-22" sequel, he seems to indicate that the cause of what was obviously the very real PTSD he lived with after the war was his actual experience of watching the original Snowden die while he watched helplessly. reading the book again, it's pretty obvious. I hadn't remembered how powerful and beautifully written that scene is until the second reading. there's a lot of stuff that doesn't register when you read certain books in high school, which is when I read it the first time.
Such knowledge of history from TC and Craig. Thank you both for opening a window for us.
War is Hell. Sherman said it, Heller lived it in his psyche.