The Cold Blue

Stunning original footage with a thoughtful narrative and truly moving recollections from the few remaining veterans.. .Those ignorant enough to condemn the bombing of the third reich as a "war crime" should be sat in a chair and advised to watch this film... This campaign ,as terrible as it was ,put a stop to the V1 rockets the V2 rockets and the gas chambers .Without doubt it saved Europe at a huge cost to the young men of The USAF and RAF and should be properly remembered in exactly this way..

A fantastic tribute to all the brave and heroic men of the 8th Air Force. I would also recommend watching the History Channel Air War.

We owe so much to these boys plucked from farms, shops, and their homes to fight Hitler in Europe in 1942. These boys left home, some of them not yet 20 years old. Fighting cold, German fighters, and fear of not coming home at the end of a mission, they were the 8th Air Force flying daylight bombing missions against the German fatherland. Flying 5 hours there and 5 back while flying thru German fighters and flak to lay a few bombs on a target they may had hit the day before and the day before that too. Sometimes barely making it home with only part of a tail or on 3 engines to land and have their ground crews patch them up for the next mission. So proud of these teenagers and early 20's boys forced to grow up too fast and too early in a war they didn't start or want either.

Frankly, I often just listen to many docs as the background while commuting or doing chores. This movie disallows you to do that, both for the respect and empathy for guys and for the video and information load the movie is charged with. Atomizing the endevour in chapters is very useful as they get embedded into memory. Fume tales from engines warning Nazis 50 miles ahead the formation is approaching. The code of Americans flying in daylight (why? never gets explained here but you could find an explanation elsewhere) while Brits did it at night. FLAK mortal danger. Red flares on airfield approach signalling there is a wounded serviceman aboard. Frostbite as flying fortresses have not been pressurized. And ever increasing number of missions which sends you back to Catch 22. In a somewhat weird way, this two great movies - Cold Blue and Catch-22 - get intrinsically intertwined.

Weather you are a history buff or not, this is worthy of watching. The odds of surviving the required 25 missions was pretty slim. The old guys in the 10 man crew were barely 21 years old. More airmen of the 8th airforce died over Europe than our Marines who fought the brutal Pacific island campaign.

This documentary will not dissapoint