The

Long Way

Home

Film

Illustration: Pan Am B-314 & Globe

Illustration: Pan Am B-314 & Globe

Illustration: Pan Am B-314 & Globe

A brief re-telling of the epic story of Capt. Bob Ford and his crew of Pan American's Pacific Clipper (NC18602) as they flew "the long way home" from the Southwest Pacific to New York just after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.(Pelican Films, 2024).

The short video uses archival footage, archival radio broadcast material, and graphics from a World War Two-era comic book to tell the dramatic story. (You might note how Orson Welles, narrating the radio program "Ceiling Unlimited" revealed what was then typical confusion about the International Date Line, mistaking the timing of events happening west of the line as 'December 6th.' The world seemed much larger in those days.)

The story of the trip made headlines in early 1942, and made Bob Ford a hero at a time when Americans badly needed some good news about the sudden war. You can read a detailed account about the story in Ed Dover's excellent book "The Long Way Home." at https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Home-Ed-Dover/dp/061521472X

WATCH

THE VIDEO

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