Upcoming documentary looks at B-26 Marauder and young crew members in World War II

"I'm in this plane about to go miles and miles across the ocean, with a good chance I'm not returning. I'm in a cramped space that's hot. If I'm not going to be shot down, I'm going to die of heat exhaustion."

That was how Chris Billings — a graduate of Lake High School and now a student at Kent State University at Stark studying sound design — described being in the restored B-26 Marauder bomber at MAPS Air Museum in Green.

He was feeling what it would be like to be a young World War II bomber crew member, getting into his role as on-camera host of the upcoming three-part public television documentary "Marauder Men: In Their Own Words."

The series was produced by award-winning television producer and MAPS volunteer Steve Mitchell and filmed by celebrated videographer Carl Palmer, both of whom live in Lake Township not far from Billings, who was enlisted for the project for his performing ability and his age.

"By using a recent high school graduate as host," explained Mitchell, "it demonstrates to the audience how young the 19- and 20-year-old pilots were who flew in World War II."

Billings said he felt that youthful innocence, as well as the need for hasty war-forced maturity.

"It was just kids straight out of high school, boys going into these planes," said Billings, a 2022 graduate of Lake. "It made me ask myself, could I do the same thing?"

'Marauder Men: In Their Own Words' debuts later this year

The three programs spotlighting the restored B-26 Marauder aircraft at MAPS Air Museum ― one of the few left in existence, as well as the men who flew in B-26s in World War II — will be shown in November around Veterans Day on PBS Western Reserve (WNEO and WEAO).

Mitchell and Palmer, both winners of regional Emmy awards, previously worked together at Western Reserve.

The three parts of the series are:

• "Forgotten Bomber of World," which tells the story of the MAPS B-26 restoration.

• "Aleutian Islands and the Pacific Theatre of Operations," which recalls the use of the B-26 at the battle of Midway and explores "the harrowing life in the inhospitable environment in which they had to survive to fly their missions."

• "Mediterranean and European Theatre of Operations," which tells the tale "of losing friends and bombing rail yards next to the architectural treasures of Europe."

Mitchell began the project after doing a documentary at MAPS on Rosie the Riveter. Looking for another project, he discovered that the B-26 Marauder Historical Society, which is holding a reunion this week in the Akron-Canton area, has an archive of filmed interviews of B-26 "Marauder Men" at the University of Akron, as well as an archive of still photographs and other information at Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. Mitchell researched both those archives.

"The curator (at the Pima museum) had catalogued all the B-26 material, so I ended up using him on camera as an expert," said Mitchell. "Then I came back and logged the interviews. I had more than 100 clips."

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay in the five-year project.

"I needed to go to the National Archives to get footage of the B-26 in action," explained Mitchell. "I had to wait close to two years while they were closed."

During that time, Mitchell searched online for still photos at the Library of Congress. And, he talked to volunteers at MAPS about the B-26 restoration.

"It took 21 years to restore that plane," Mitchell said. "I talked to four men who worked on the project."

David Pawski, Rick Johnston, Ray Hamlin and Bryan Brubaker appeared on camera, with Johnston and Pawski contributing images. Roy Hamlin also contributed pictures, but did not appear in the documentary.

Enlisting a 'Marauder Man'

Mitchell plucked Billings off the stage at Lake High School to be his on-camera host. The student had played the "Beast" in a production of "Beauty and the Beast," and the producer saw his potential for the project.

"I had him read from the script and I was totally impressed with how poised he was, how well he read, and how his expressions were just perfect," said Mitchell, who noted that the documentary series was Billings' only experience working in front of a TV camera. "Then we went back to MAPS and found him an authentic set of khakis that had a patch on them that they would have worn in the war. They fit him perfectly."

Then Palmer, theater technician for Jackson Local Schools, became involved in the project. A videographer for more than three decades who does freelance videography work through his company, Wildlife Media, Palmer captured the shots of the MAPS Museum's B-26 and of Billings aboard it.

Palmer found shooting images inside a World War II bomber a bit of a challenge.

"It's kind of tight in there," said Palmer, whose interest was heightened by the fact his father flew a different and later model of the B-26 — the "Invader" — in the Korean conflict. "It's cramped and sharp and I cut my knee, but it was worth it."

Despite his dad's background in military flight, the experience educated Palmer about many things of which his father never spoke.

"I learned how tough it was for everyone involved," he said. "Maybe you're fearless (but) I couldn't imagine going through all that."

Capturing the feeling

As Billings was reading the script aloud, he was shocked at some of the details.

"I've studied World War II a lot, but it has been purely informational," he said. "This is the story of the people who actually did it.

"You get an idea of the knowledge they had, the skills they possessed, the contributions they made, the fear they felt, and the pride they had in their aircraft," explained Billings, who is enrolled in an officer candidate program for the Marine Corps while attending college.

Telling that story of Marauder Men — and their plane — was Mitchell's goal when he started work on the project.

"I hope that viewers of the three episodes," Mitchell said, "have their interest piqued enough to explore more of the story."

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com.

On Twitter: @gbrownREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marauder Men talk about flying B-26 in World War II PBS documentary