Globemaster Down

Curtis LeMay

Commander of the Strategic Air Command

Mastermind behind KB-29 tanks

Advocate of forceful response to Soviet expansionism

Decision-maker behind last flight of 49-244

Paul T. Cullen

Married Ruth Gravett in 1938

Piloted multiple planes to survivable crash landings

Noted for expertise in aerial reconnaissance photography

First American military pilot to land and take off from Soviet territory

Struck up extramarital affair with Reva Joy Hurwitz during Operation Crossroads

Married Reva in Mexico in 1947 without having divorced Ruth Cullen

Hid existence of his adultery from the Air Force command, a serious security breach and a prosecutable offense

Joseph Stalin

Soviet leader who allied with the United States and Britain to defeat Hitler's Germany

Infiltrated Manhattan Project while U.S. and U.K. were focusing intelligence efforts on Germany and Japan

Became distrustful of alliance when his spies revealed U.S./U.K. atomic bomb development

After drawdown of U.S. forces in Europe, kept Soviet forces amassed on eastern front

Spy network probably had access to SAC atomic basing plans in U.K.

Lauris Norstad

Commander of the 8th Air Force Division in Europe

Clashed with LeMay over who controlled nuclear forces in U.K.

Protege of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Possibly influenced Gen. Cullen's U.K. appointment

Reva Joy Hurwitz

Red Cross worker in Marshall Islands during Operation Crossroads

Coordinated press coverage for U.S. military ahead of tests

Struck up love affair with then-Col. Paul T. Cullen

Traveled with Cullen to Mexico to marry an already-married man

Ruth Cullen

Married then-Lt. Paul T. Cullen in 1938

Daughter of a Denver pastor

Nursed Cullen back to health after multiple crash landings

Filed suit in Florida after Reva Cullen claimed survivor benefits when Paul Cullen was declared dead

James Hopkins

Operations officer for atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Piloted photographic plane on Hiroshima atomic bombing mission

SAC staff officer who accompanied LeMay on Washington trip as Truman declared national emergency

Second-most senior officer and only certified atomic-bomb pilot aboard last flight of 49-244

Clement Attlee

Succeeded Churchill as British prime minister

Headed UK government when SAC basing was approved in U.K.

Balanced U.S. defense demands with reconstruction needs

Embarrassed by exposure of multiple British pro-Communist spy scandals in U.S.

Winston Churchill

Delivered 'Iron Curtain' speech defining Soviet threat

Challenged Attlee's approval of U.S. atomic basing

Encouraged Truman and Roosevelt to hide atomic project from Stalin

Atmosphere of distrust boosted Cold War tensions

William "Butch" Blanchard

Succeeded Col. Paul Tibbetts as 509th commander

Commander at Walker AFB during Roswell Incident

Headed Eighth Air Force

Directed training of B-36 and B-50 atomic bombing crews

Lawrence Rafferty

Air Force captain present aboard 49-244

Member of SAC staff

Owner of valise recovered from 49-244 wreackage

Valise contents provided crucial physical confirmation of 49-244 ditching site

Hunter Harris

Walker Air Force Base commander

Brig. General who inspected KB-29 tie-downs

Previously headed nuclear research at Sandia