Rosenthal was a World War II ‘Master of the Air’
Robert Rosenthal was a highly decorated wartime hero and is portrayed in the Apple TV series.
Among the young World War II heroes of Steven Spielberg’s ambitious Apple TV series, “Masters of the Air,” is the legendary Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal. Although more than half a million Jews served in America’s armed forces, few had a more distinguished career than Rosenthal.
He was only 24 when he enlisted in the Air Force on the same day as the United States entered the Second World War on Dec. 8, 1941. Growing up in Brooklyn during the 1930s, he had seen an America riven by a strong, homegrown, antisemitic Nazi movement, particularly in and around New York City. In a career that spanned the entire war, Rosenthal was motivated by a strong desire to carry the battle against fascism directly to the heartland of Hitler’s Germany.
Earlier this summer, the World War II Roundtable, an Atlanta historical group, presented a discussion of the “Master of the Air” series. Leading the discussion was Jeff Johnson, the group’s president at the time, who was particularly impressed by the modesty of those, like Rosenberg, who survived.
“They were not narcissistic. They were humble,” Johnson believes. “Yes, they did heroic things, but they would always give credit, credit to the guys that never came home. And that makes them a bigger hero in my mind because they possess a quality that we don’t see currently in America, where we’re much more narcissistic these days.”
Rosenthal first appears in the fourth episode of the nine-part series. In September of 1943, he became part the 418th bomber squadron of the Eighth Air Force’s 100th Bombardment Group, known as the “Bloody Hundredth.” Flying on bomber runs was so dangerous and deadly that those lucky enough to survive 25 missions were given the opportunity to be shipped back home. Many, often, didn’t live long enough to successfully complete half that number.
Just one month after arriving in Europe, Rosenthal proved his skill in combat by bringing his plane safely home after a mission over Munster, Germany. His was the only plane of the 13 that started out. In the bombing run, he lost two engines, the plane’s intercom and oxygen systems didn’t work and there was a large hole in one wing. After he landed, a unexploded cannon round was found in one of the plane’s gas tanks.
Despite all the danger, Rosenthal took particular pride in one direct hit. It leveled the courtroom of the notorious Nazi judge, Roland Freiser, in Berlin. The judge had attended the infamous Wannsee Conference that approved plans for the Nazi’s Final Solution for the Jews of Europe.
Johnson believes the success of the Masters of the Air is, in part, due to the nostalgia for a time when American heroism paid off.
“I think that we as Americans, we hold on to World War II because that was the big one, and we won the big one. And it’s something to celebrate,” Johnson says. “It’s kind of like we’re No. 1 because we won World War II. It’s easy to romanticize and glorify that, particularly in contrast to what’s happened in the 80 years since when we stopped winning wars. But that one victory we hold on to.”
Before the war’s end, Rosenthal flew 52 missions, mostly over occupied France and Germany, on missions that could stretch as long as nine hours.
The heroism that comes through so strongly in this series, earns it a place besides Spielberg’s other monumental histories of the war, “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.”
The heroism shown is compounded, Johnson points out, by what these men had to endure physically. They had to fly at high altitudes in unpressurized planes where the outside temperature could drop to 50 below zero or more. “Master of the Air,” with its strong production values and seamlessly integrated special effects, captures the heroism as well as the horror of combat in the sky at 30,000 feet.
In his 52 missions, Rosenthal was shot down three times, but he evaded crippling injury and was never captured by the Nazis. He was, however, captured by the Soviet Union after a crash landing, but they patched him up and shipped him back to England.
Rosenthal earned 16 important medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross from America, the Distinguished Flying Cross from the British government, and the Croix de Guerre from the French.
He was a Lieutenant Colonel commanding the 100th Bombardment Group at the war’s end. He then served as a lawyer at the Nuremberg Trial of Nazi war criminals, where he participated in the interrogation of Hermann Göring, who had commanded the Nazi Air Force.
In 2005, Rosenthal was inducted into the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, He died the following year, at the age of 89.
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