Changes

General LeMay specifically exhorted [[Hollywood]] producers to produce at least two films showing SAC in a sympathetic light:

General LeMay specifically exhorted [[Hollywood]] producers to produce at least two films showing SAC in a sympathetic light:

#In 1955, Actor [[James Stewart]] appeared in ''[[Strategic Air Command (film)|Strategic Air Command]]'' as an Air Force reserve officer recalled to duty by General LeMay (whose name is changed in the film) in the early years of LeMay's tenure as SAC commander. The period covered includes the then-current use of the B-36 and the introduction of the B-47.<ref>''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048667/ Strategic Air Command]''. Directed by [[Anthony Mann]]. With [[James Stewart]], [[June Allyson]], [[Frank Lovejoy]], and [[Barry Sullivan]]. [[Paramount Pictures]], 1955. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from the [http://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database].</ref>

#In 1955, Actor [[James Stewart]] appeared in ''[[Strategic Air Command (film)|Strategic Air Command]]'' as an Air Force reserve officer recalled to duty by General LeMay (whose name is changed in the film) in the early years of LeMay's tenure as SAC commander. The period covered includes the then-current use of the B-36 and the introduction of the B-47.<ref>''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048667/ Strategic Air Command]''. Directed by [[Anthony Mann]]. With [[James Stewart]], [[June Allyson]], [[Frank Lovejoy]], and [[Barry Sullivan]]. [[Paramount Pictures]], 1955. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from the [https://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database].</ref>

#In 1963, Actor [[Rock Hudson]] appeared in ''[[A Gathering of Eagles]]'' as a hard-nosed Air Force regular officer assigned to command a SAC wing whose previous commander has allowed it to become operationally unready. For this film, General LeMay gave specific orders to the [[456th Strategic Aerospace Wing]] ([[Beale Air Force Base]], [[California]]) and its personnel to allow filming on their base and cooperate fully with the producers of this film. He also allowed the producers to visit the command post at Offutt AFB.<ref>''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057090/ A Gathering of Eagles].'' Directed by [[Delbert Mann]]. With [[Rock Hudson]], [[Rod Taylor]], [[Mary Peach]], [[Barry Sullivan]], [[Robert Lansing]], [[Kevin McCarthy]], and [[Leif Erickson]]. [[Universal Pictures]], 1963. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from the [http://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database].</ref>

#In 1963, Actor [[Rock Hudson]] appeared in ''[[A Gathering of Eagles]]'' as a hard-nosed Air Force regular officer assigned to command a SAC wing whose previous commander has allowed it to become operationally unready. For this film, General LeMay gave specific orders to the [[456th Strategic Aerospace Wing]] ([[Beale Air Force Base]], [[California]]) and its personnel to allow filming on their base and cooperate fully with the producers of this film. He also allowed the producers to visit the command post at Offutt AFB.<ref>''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057090/ A Gathering of Eagles].'' Directed by [[Delbert Mann]]. With [[Rock Hudson]], [[Rod Taylor]], [[Mary Peach]], [[Barry Sullivan]], [[Robert Lansing]], [[Kevin McCarthy]], and [[Leif Erickson]]. [[Universal Pictures]], 1963. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from the [https://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database].</ref>

The second film illustrates the B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker and also contains a few brief sequences showing Titan missiles. It also contains an early sequence in which Rock Hudson's character demonstrates the tight [[positive control]] that SAC always maintained on its nuclear arsenal, with its authentication codes and required checking and crosschecking at every level of command, from SAC headquarters to the cockpit of every nuclear-armed bomber. This is an obvious counter-message to the unflattering inferences that General LeMay (then Air Force Chief of Staff) knew that two upcoming films would encourage viewers to draw:

The second film illustrates the B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker and also contains a few brief sequences showing Titan missiles. It also contains an early sequence in which Rock Hudson's character demonstrates the tight [[positive control]] that SAC always maintained on its nuclear arsenal, with its authentication codes and required checking and crosschecking at every level of command, from SAC headquarters to the cockpit of every nuclear-armed bomber. This is an obvious counter-message to the unflattering inferences that General LeMay (then Air Force Chief of Staff) knew that two upcoming films would encourage viewers to draw:

#In ''[[Dr. Strangelove]]'', a SAC wing commander launches a totally unauthorized attack on the Soviet Union on nothing but his own personal authority, using a war plan that precluded any interdiction from the [[President of the United States|President]]. Unless the rogue wing can be recalled, a Soviet-built "doomsday system" will set off multiple thermonuclear detonations—automatically, and not subject to interdiction by anyone.<ref>''Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb''. Directed by [[Stanley Kubrick]]. With [[Peter Sellers]], [[George C. Scott]], [[Sterling Hayden]], and [[Slim Pickens]]. [[Hawk Films]], 1964. Because most of the characters' names carry connotations of mature themes, this film is cited without an outside link.</ref>

#In ''[[Dr. Strangelove]]'', a SAC wing commander launches a totally unauthorized attack on the Soviet Union on nothing but his own personal authority, using a war plan that precluded any interdiction from the [[President of the United States|President]]. Unless the rogue wing can be recalled, a Soviet-built "doomsday system" will set off multiple thermonuclear detonations—automatically, and not subject to interdiction by anyone.<ref>''Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb''. Directed by [[Stanley Kubrick]]. With [[Peter Sellers]], [[George C. Scott]], [[Sterling Hayden]], and [[Slim Pickens]]. [[Hawk Films]], 1964. Because most of the characters' names carry connotations of mature themes, this film is cited without an outside link.</ref>

#In ''[[Fail-Safe]]'', a false-positive missile-launch registration leads an airborne alert squadron of bombers to pass their "fail-safe points." Their crews then refuse to heed repeated and fervid appeals to turn back—and the President resorts to a ''very'' drastic action to ensure that the incineration of [[Moscow]] does not lead to all-out, full-scale, unlimited war.<ref>''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058083/ Fail-Safe]''. Directed by [[Sidney Lumet]]. With [[Dan O'Herlihy]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Ed Binns]], and [[Henry Fonda]]. [[Columbia Pictures]], 1964. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from the [http://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database].</ref>

#In ''[[Fail-Safe]]'', a false-positive missile-launch registration leads an airborne alert squadron of bombers to pass their "fail-safe points." Their crews then refuse to heed repeated and fervid appeals to turn back—and the President resorts to a ''very'' drastic action to ensure that the incineration of [[Moscow]] does not lead to all-out, full-scale, unlimited war.<ref>''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058083/ Fail-Safe]''. Directed by [[Sidney Lumet]]. With [[Dan O'Herlihy]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Ed Binns]], and [[Henry Fonda]]. [[Columbia Pictures]], 1964. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from the [https://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database].</ref>

No one has yet adduced any hard evidence that either scenario could possibly have played out during the Cold War era. However, Broyhill<ref name=Broyhill/> maintains that any of a number of human beings at SAC could have yielded to panic during the Cuban Crisis and for years afterward—and speaks with high praise of everyone in SAC because this did not happen.

No one has yet adduced any hard evidence that either scenario could possibly have played out during the Cold War era. However, Broyhill<ref name=Broyhill/> maintains that any of a number of human beings at SAC could have yielded to panic during the Cuban Crisis and for years afterward—and speaks with high praise of everyone in SAC because this did not happen.