{"id":68450,"date":"2023-10-05T16:58:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T16:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/05\/spielberg-hanks-wwii-series-masters-of-the-air-gets-premiere-date\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:28:15","slug":"spielberg-hanks-wwii-series-masters-of-the-air-gets-premiere-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/10\/05\/spielberg-hanks-wwii-series-masters-of-the-air-gets-premiere-date\/","title":{"rendered":"Spielberg-Hanks WWII series \u2018Masters of the Air\u2019 gets premiere date"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cMasters of the Air,\u201d the third installment of the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-led World War II trilogy \u2014 following \u201cBand of Brothers\u201d and \u201cThe Pacific\u201d \u2014 finally has a release date, according to Apple TV+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nine-episode miniseries, starring Oscar-nominees Austin Butler<\/a> (\u201cElvis\u201d) and Barry Keoghan<\/a> (\u201cThe Banshees of Inisherin\u201d), is slated to launch with a two-episode debut on January 26, 2024, and will continue with one episode per week until March 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on Donald L. Miller\u2019s book<\/a> of the same name, \u201cMasters of the Air\u201d follows American bomber pilots of the Eighth Air Force\u2019s<\/a> 100th Bomb Group, also known as the Bloody Hundredth, who repeatedly risked flying at 25,000 feet in frigid temperatures \u2014 in broad daylight \u2014 to bring the fight to Hitler\u2019s doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years \u2014 1942 to 1945 \u2014 of death-defying bombing runs by the Eighth\u2019s Flying Fortresses over cities like Berlin, Dresden and Hanover were, for much of the war, the only battles Allied forces waged inside the territorial borders of Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the missions proved deadly. So much so that the odds of a B-17<\/a> crewman surviving the 25 missions required to complete a tour were only one in four. Until the 1944 introduction of the P-51 Mustang to the air war over Europe, the B-17\u2032s impressive distance capabilities meant daylight bombing runs over Germany would have to be done without fighter escorts, leaving inexperienced B-17 crews to fend for themselves against more seasoned German pilots of the Luftwaffe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eighth\u2019s effort to pry Europe from the claws of the Third Reich \u2014 one that included unleashing 697,000 tons of bombs \u2014 proved to be overwhelmingly costly. By war\u2019s end, over 47,000 of the 115,000 U.S. Army Air Force casualties were from the Eighth.<\/p>\n\n\n\t