1944 Aerial War Comes to Life in Radio Play

1944 Aerial War Comes to Life in Radio Play

(EXCERPT) By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2004 * World War II was a "radio war."

In these days of 24-hour immediate news coverage on television and
increasingly on the Internet, it's hard to believe that just 60 years
ago, the medium most people turned to for their news was radio.

Families tuned their huge A****er Kent radios in to the networks * CBS
and NBC * for the daily reports from the war zones. When important
news came across, networks would interrupt their shows to report.

That's the feeling evoked in The Albert Macuch Story. "We wanted to
capture the sound of the era," said Chuck Langdon, the producer of the
compact disc.

Albert Macuch was a tail gunner aboard a B-17 flying out of England.
On Nov. 16, 1944, his aircraft was shot down over Belgium. Macuch was
a 21-year-old staff sergeant with the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Air
Force, and the CD Langdon produced is his story of that time.

Langdon, president of the Metropolitan Washington Old Time Radio Club,
came upon the story by accident. Albert Macuch, who lived in central
New York, spoke to a high school student about his memories of that
day. Macuch died soon after, and his family found the cassette in
Albert's papers. "They had never heard him speak of this experience,"
Langdon said. "He did not want to discuss this day. It was painful to
him, and he wasn't a bragging type person."

One of the family members asked Langdon if he could make copies of the
tape on CD for all the relatives. "As I listened to it, I thought,
'Here's a radio play,'" he said.

The family gave permission to Langdon to try to produce the play. At
first, he didn't know how he was going to do it. He thought of using
the reminiscences as the basis for a script with radio actors. "But
when I heard him tell the story * his voice inflection, the way he
presented it -- it was just remarkable," Langdon said. "What it needed
was a little polishing up and pacing, and adding continuous sound
effects."

Langdon's concept was to put the listener in the situation, in the
era. The opening is a good example. The piece starts with period
big-band music interrupted by BBC news reports. This sets the era and
place for the listener, Langdon said. Following the news reports is a
bomber mission briefing and the sound of a B-17 cranking up. "Then
Albert begins to tell his story," Langdon said. "There are no visuals,
of course, in a radio play * everything is in the mind."

Macuch tells the tale of the mission. He tells what happens as the No.
3 engine is hit and it becomes apparent that the plane isn't going to
make it back to base. He tells how some crewmembers bail out of the
plane and catch on fire from the flames of the engine. He talks about
riding the plane down to Earth with just the pilot and himself aboard
the plane. He describes his feelings as the pilot tries to land the
B-17 in a Belgian field.

Macuch was badly injured in the crash. He was found by Belgian farmers
and taken to American medics. "It is a personal account, and we
checked out as much of the story as we could," Langdon said. The
Internet provided some information to Langdon and his co-worker Lee
Shephard. William Liket, a history buff living near the crash site in
Reimst, Belgium, provided more information and photos. "We found much
of what Albert said was right on the money," Langdon said.

Langdon said he is looking for other stories that can be turned into
radio plays.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2...200403256.html

---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com