[Boatanchors] 1944 Aerial War Comes to Life in Radio Play

[William L Howard]

Subject: 1944 Aerial War Comes to Life in Radio Play
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2004 2:16 PM
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 Atwater 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.
_______________________________________________________
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