ANNCR:
EXPLORATIONS — a program in Special English by the Voice ofAmerica.
Today, Richard Rael and ShepO’Neal tell the story of one of America’s most famous pilots,Charles Lindbergh.
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VOICE ONE:
Charles Lindbergh is probably one of the best-known people in thehistory of flight. He was a hero of the world. Yet, years later, hewas denounced as an enemy of his country. He had what is called a”storybook” marriage and family life. Yet he suffered a terriblefamily tragedy.
Charles Lindbergh was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, onFebruary Fourth, Nineteen-Oh-Two. He grew up on a farm in Minnesota.His mother was a school teacher. His father was a lawyer who laterbecame a United States Congressman. The family spent ten years inWashington, D-C, while Mister Lindbergh served in the Congress.
Young Charles studied mechanical engineering for a time at theUniversity of Wisconsin. But he did not like sitting in a classroom.So, after one-and-one-half years, he left the university. Hetraveled around the country on a motorcycle.
VOICE TWO:
He settled in Lincoln, Nebraska. He took his first flying lessonsthere and passed the test to become a flier. But he had to wait oneyear before he could fly alone. That is how long it took him to savefive-hundred dollars to buy his own plane.
Charles Lindbergh later wrote about being a new pilot. He said hefelt different from people who never flew. “In flying,” he said, “Itasted a wine of the gods of which people on the ground could knownothing.”
He said he hoped to fly for at least ten years. After that, if hedied in a crash, he said it would be all right. He was willing togive up a long, normal life for a short, exciting life as a flier.
VOICE ONE:
From Nebraska, Lindbergh moved to San Antonio, Texas, where hejoined the United States Army Air Corps Reserve. When he finishedflight training school, he was named best pilot in his class.
After he completed his Army training, the Robertson AircraftCompany of Saint Louis hired him. His job was to fly mail betweenSaint Louis and Chicago.
Lindbergh flew mostly at night through all kinds of weather. Twotimes, fog or storms forced him to jump out of his plane. Bothtimes, he landed safely by parachute. Other fliers called him “LuckyLindy.”
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In Nineteen-Nineteen, a wealthy hotel owner in New York Cityoffered a prize for flying across the Atlantic Ocean withoutstopping. The first pilot who flew non-stop from New York to Pariswould get twenty-five-thousand dollars.
A number of pilots tried. Several were killed. After eight years,no one had won the prize. Charles Lindbergh believed he could winthe money if he could get the right airplane.
A group of businessmen in Saint Louis agreed to provide most ofthe money he needed for the kind of plane he wanted. He designed theaircraft himself for long-distance flying. It carried a large amountof fuel. Some people described it as a “fuel tank with wings, amotor and a seat.” Lindbergh named it: “The Spirit of Saint Louis.”
VOICE ONE:
In May, Nineteen-Twenty-Seven, Lindbergh flew his plane from SanDiego, California, to an airfield outside New York City. He made theflight in the record time of twenty-one hours, twenty minutes.
At the New York airfield, he spent a few days preparing for hisflight across the Atlantic. He wanted to make sure his plane’sengine worked perfectly. He loaded a rubber boat in case ofemergency. He also loaded some food and water, but only enough for ameal or two.
“If I get to Paris,” Lindbergh said, “I will not need any morefood or water than that. If I do not get to Paris, I will not needany more, either.”
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May Twentieth started as a rainy day. But experts told Lindberghthat weather conditions over the Atlantic Ocean were improving. Amechanic started the engine of “The Spirit of Saint Louis.”
“It sounds good to me,” the mechanic said. “Well, then,” saidLindbergh, “I might as well go.”
The plane carried a heavy load of fuel. It struggled to fly upand over the telephone wires at the end of the field. Then, climbingslowly, “The Spirit of Saint Louis” flew out of sight. Lindbergh wason his way to Paris.
VOICE ONE:
Part of the flight was through rain, sleet and snow. At times,Lindbergh flew just three meters above the water. At other times, heflew more than three-thousand meters up. He said his greatest fearwas falling asleep. He had not slept the night before he left.
During the thirty-three-hour flight, thousands of people waitedby their radios to hear if any ships had seen Lindbergh’s plane.There was no news from Lindbergh himself. He did not carry a radio.He had removed it to provide more space for fuel.
On the evening of MayTwenty-First, people heard the exciting news. Lindbergh had landedat Le Bourget airport near Paris! Even before the plane’s enginestopped, Lindbergh and “The Spirit of Saint Louis” were surroundedby a huge crowd of shouting, crying, joyful people.
From the moment he landed in France, he was a hero. The French,British and Belgian governments gave him their highest honors.
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Back home in the United States, he received his own country’shighest awards. The cities of Washington and New York honored himwith big parades. He flew to cities all over the United States forcelebrations.
He also flew to several Latin American countries as arepresentative of the United States government. During a trip toMexico, he met Anne Morrow, the daughter of the American ambassador.They were married in Nineteen-Twenty-Nine.
Lindbergh taught his new wife to fly. Together, they made manylong flights. Life seemed perfect. Then, everything changed.
On a stormy night in Nineteen-Thirty-Two, kidnappers took thebaby son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh from their home in NewJersey. Ten weeks later, the boy’s body was found. Police caught themurderer several years later. A court found him guilty and sentencedhim to death.
The kidnapping and the trial were big news. Reporters gave theLindberghs no privacy. So Charles and Anne fled to Britain and thento France to try to escape the press. They lived in Europe for fouryears. But they saw the nations of Europe preparing for war. Theyreturned home before war broke out in Nineteen-Thirty-Nine.
VOICE ONE:
Charles Lindbergh did not believe the United States should takepart in the war. He made many speeches calling for the United Statesto remain neutral. He said he did not think the other countries ofEurope could defeat the strong military forces of Germany. He saidthe answer was a negotiated peace.
President Franklin Roosevelt did not agree. A Congressmanspeaking for the president called Lindbergh an enemy of his country.Many people also criticized Lindbergh for not returning a medal ofhonor he received from Nazi Germany.
Charles Lindbergh no longer was America’s hero.
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Lindbergh stopped calling for American neutrality two yearslater, when Japan attacked the United States navy base at PearlHarbor, Hawaii. The attack brought America into the war.
Lindbergh spent the war years as an advisor to companies thatmade American warplanes. He also helped train American militarypilots. Although he was a civilian, he flew about fifty combatflights.
Lindbergh loved flying. But flying was not his only interest.
While living in France, he worked with a French doctor to developa mechanical heart. He helped scientists to discover Maya Indianruins in Mexico. He became interested in the cultures of people fromAfrican countries and from the Philippines. And he led campaigns tomake people understand the need to protect nature and theenvironment.
VOICE ONE:
Charles Lindbergh died in Nineteen-Seventy-Four, once againrecognized as an American hero. President Gerald Ford said Lindberghrepresented all that was best in America — honesty, courage and thedesire to succeed.
Today, “The Spirit of Saint Louis” — the plane Lindbergh flew toParis — hangs in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D-C. Andthe man who flew it — Charles Lindbergh — remains a symbol of theskill and courage that opened the skies to human flight.
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ANNCR:
This Special English program was written by Marilyn RiceChristiano. Your narrators were Richard Rael and Shep O’Neal. I’mShirley Griffith. Listen again next week for another EXPLORATIONSprogram on the Voice of America.