John T. "Jack" Race was born Crystal Lake, Pennsylvania in May 1921. He grew up there. His father was a carpenter and a World War 1 veteran. His mother's father owned a hotel in town. He has one brother, a daughter, and a son. They are a very close family. He was blessed as a youngster living there. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Race what life was like during The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945.] They lived in the country without close neighbors, so it was a bit lonely. He loved to read and to make model airplanes that he could fly. His interest in aviation began in May 1927, when Charles Lindbergh [Annotator's Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh; American aviator] flew nonstop from New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] to Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France]. It was then that he decided he wanted to be a pilot. He worked delivering newspapers, mowing lawns, and working in his father's lumber yard. Race enrolled in the University of Scranton [Annotator's Note: in Scranton, Pennsylvania]. The CPTP, or Civilian Pilot Training Program, was beginning there in 1939 and 1940. College students could enroll and, through that, become commercial pilots with an instructor rating. He completed that in two years. He also became a licensed ground instructor in geography, navigation, and engines. He got his commercial license. He would not have been able to afford it without the government's help. He did save his money and took flying lessons before he got into the program. He was given a job as a flight instructor. The government was hiring pilots as civilians to teach flying and to get further engaged in aviation as ferrying and transport pilots. He did that for a time. After that he received a direct commission in the Air Corps as a pilot.

John T. "Jack" Race had to go through training to become an officer and to take a flight test to qualify him for a commission as a second lieutenant. He soon advanced to first lieutenant. He was sent to England and assigned to a transport and ferrying division [Annotator's Note: 326th Ferry Squadron, 31st Transport Group, 9th Air Force]. He was asked to fly VIPs [Annotator's Note: very important persons] around England early in the war. He was seconded to the British Royal Air Force [Annotator's Note: to the British 21st Army Group] to do this extra flying. He was asked to become the personal pilot of Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery [Annotator's Note: British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery] and his Chief of Staff, General Francis de Guingand [Annotator's Note: British Army Major General Sir Francis Wilfred "Freddie" de Guingand]. Race accepted and was transferred to a British Air Base at Thorney Island, England [Annotator's Note: Royal Air Force Thorney Island]. De Guingand was a fine man, and they became good friends. Race had that mission for the rest of the war. He flew the high command of the British Army wherever they needed to go. He was promoted to Captain. He was named Elder Statesman of Aviation of the NAA [Annotator's Note: National Aeronautic Association] slightly later when he left the Air Force. He had the British Air Force Cross [Annotator's Note: British Air Force Cross; awarded to officers for an act or acts of exemplary gallantry while flying, though not in active actions against the enemy], and Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy]. It was a happy time for him in spite of the war. At retirement from the airlines at age 60, he continued flying for an Eye Hospital called Project Orbis [Annotator's Note: a Douglas DC-8 airliner teaching eye hospital, non-profit organization dedicated to combating world blindness]. He volunteered for that and did not get paid.

John T. "Jack" Race received his commission in February 1943. Since he was on detached service with the British [Annotator's Note: Race was temporarily attached to the British 21st Army Group], he answered to them. It was a time of rivalry between the American and British forces during the war. Race was noticed as a good person in British-American relationships. For promotions and service, he was under the American command [Annotator's Note: 326th Ferry Squadron, 31st Transport Group, 9th Air Force]. He does not like to say he was one of the better pilots, but he was highly recommended for the job. When General Montgomery [Annotator's Note: British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery] was asked by the Americans what they could do for him, his Chief of Staff [Annotator's Note: British Major General Sir Francis Wilfred "Freddie" de Guingand] asked for an airplane. They gave them a transport airplane. Race was chosen as pilot for that. He was just as an RAF [Annotator's Note: British Royal Air Force] pilot in that capacity until the end of the war. He earned Senior Air Force Pilot Wings and many other fine positions with the British. They were fine people. He did not know of any difficulties in the rivalry between the Air Forces. The Brits [Annotator's Note: slang for the British] were splendid people, and he became friends with many of them. He enjoyed being an American with the RAF. There were many things that happened that point to this feeling of goodwill.

John T. "Jack" Race was Montgomery's [Annotator's Note: British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery] personal pilot but was more the personal pilot of the Chief of Staff of the 21st Army Group [Annotator's Note: British Major General Sir Francis Wilfred "Freddie" de Guingand]. He was part of Main Headquarters which was more in the second echelon. He had direct interactions with Montgomery, including having tea. Race did not have occasion to fly him anyplace. Montgomery was a fine person and a real gentleman and scholar. Some in the American forces did not feel that way. Race and de Guingand became friends. After the war, Race would visit him and his family in South Africa. Race's greatest pastime is reading. His downtime in the war, gave him an opportunity to see Britain. He traveled around quite a bit. The British were fine people. He experienced air raids sometimes in London [Annotator's Note: London, England]. Late in the war, certain highly important bombs were dropped on London. He could hear them whistling down and would try and find an underground shelter. It happened occasionally and not very often.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks John T. "Jack" Race to discuss when he flew British Major General Sir Francis Wilfred "Freddie" de Guingand to see General of the Army Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force during the Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945.] Race was in London [Annotator's Note: London, England] with General Freddie when the battle began. They had to get back to Brussels [Annotator's Note: Brussels, Belgium] as soon as possible. The weather was terrible. He studied the charts as best he could. He found he could get as close as Amiens, France. He flew them there and the weather was dicey. Race did not take chances though. They went low across the Channel. At the mouth of the Sonne River [Annotator's Note: Saône River], he had to climb over the cliffs and follow the road to Amiens. That was noted in de Guingand's book [Annotator's Note: "Operation Victory"; published January 1947] where he said that he was glad to be done with the air. They took ground transportation to Brussels. The weather cleared the next day, and Race flew back to Northall [Annotator's Note: Northall, England] to get the remaining officers. Race did not think he risked anyone's lives, but he knew there might be reasons to turn back. He accomplished his mission though. It was the first of many flights that required a lot of careful planning which he did the best he could. The war went on another six months.

John T. "Jack" Race had a flight to the surrender of the Germans [Annotator's Note: on 8 May 1945]. He flew the German General [Annotator's Note: German General Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff of the High Command of the German Army] who was head of the German forces in Europe to the unconditional surrender signing. That flight was written up by John Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower]. From Race's point of view as pilot, there were inaccuracies that had nothing to do with the flight. Eisenhower's book was "The Bitter Woods" [Annotator's Note: "The Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge"; published 1969] and was his telling of a story from his point of view. Race told his in his own book called "I'll Fly Away." [Annotator's Note: "I'll Fly Away: A World War II Pilot's Lifetime of Adventures from Biplanes to Jumbo Jets" by William Hallstead and Jack Race, published 2006]. Race retired from the Air Force and flew for Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways] for 25 years or more. He was blessed. He studied for the pastoral ministry at Baptist Seminary outside Philadelphia [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. He became a licensed pastor. He deserves no credit for the things he did. They just happened and he was happy to be involved in these things. Race does not like the word religious. He was brought up in the Episcopal Church but was an irregular churchgoer. Being a licensed pastor opened doors for him to be helpful to others. In his final years, he goes to church as much as he can. The denominations do not affect him that much. He feels denominations are unnecessary.

John T. "Jack" Race was already flying for the British High Command [Annotator's Note: British 21st Army Group]. General de Guingand [Annotator's Note: British Major General Sir Francis Wilfred "Freddie" de Guingand] was the ranking British officer in Germany at the time and led the delegation to sign the unconditional surrender [Annotator's Note: German Instrument of Surrender; legal document ending Nazi Germany and World War 2 in Europe, 8 May 1945] at Reims, France. Race was the pilot for that flight. The weather was not very cooperative to easy flying. It went well though. Race had to do some careful thinking about how to do it. There were times when he tried to fly VFR [Annotator's Note: visual flight rules] with reference to the ground, but he would have to go up high and could not see the ground. Close to Reims, he went down and tried to pinpoint his position. He was almost exactly on course. They landed at Reims and the surrender signing took place. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Race what being a part of that meant to him.] At that time, Race did not give it much thought because the war was over in Europe but not in Japan. To know that a part of the war was over was a great feeling of joy and hope that it would never happen again. He left the military and flew the rest of his career as a pilot for Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways]. He had interesting trips around the world. Flying was a gift from God because he enjoyed what he was doing. Race did not have a feeling of grandeur, but it was nice to be a part of something good. It was not an overwhelming feeling. Right now, he feels this way, but maybe he is leaving something out because it was a long time ago. His time in the Air Force was very rewarding and he made wonderful friends. He was overjoyed to know so many people who were in the military at that time.

John T. "Jack" Race came back to the United states almost immediately. He spent several months enjoying being home. He knew he wanted to be with an airline and was interviewed by a few. He chose Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways]. He worked his way up to flying C-47s [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft; he likely means the Boeing 747 commercial jet airliner which Race also flew for Pan Am] so that was a real pleasure. He was a check pilot and instructor pilot on a jet aircraft. He always had a feeling for the soldiers, airmen, and sailors that did not have that opportunity. There were a lot of very minor jobs that had to be done in the Air Force and Army. A lot of very unpleasant work too. He always felt for those people. His military experience was very, very good. He never liked the thought of killing people. War was war and you had to do that, but the day will come when that will not be necessary. The world is rocky, but people are good. There are more good than bad. We just have to grasp the opportunity and move forward.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks John T. "Jack" Race where he was when heard of the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945.] He was ferrying airplanes in the United States. Even before that, when the cities of Japan were being bombed, he was saddened that that was thought to have to have been done. More knowledgeable people than him pointed out a reason for it, but he has a hard time believing that. He is a loyal, American patriot and he supports America and whatever it has done, even if he does not understand it. It is a great country. It can always improve. When he hears about Hiroshima, he gets a little hyper. Race was in Germany when the heard that Japan had surrendered. He left the service in June 1945 and went on terminal leave to use accumulated vacation time until around the end of 1945. He was a Captain when he left the service. The Americans that were seconded to the British [Annotator's Note: Race was attached to the British 21st Army Group] were not given easy promotions. He thought he should have been a higher rank but did not dwell on it. He was having a wonderful time as a pilot. Race would fly with different copilots. It was all seniority and what you bid for on the lines. In his C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] days, they had a three-man crew in the front, a pilot, copilot and flight engineer, all of whom were pilots. When he first flew a C-47 he wondered how he was ever going to land it, but he did. It flew very nicely. The flying community was pleasant. Lindbergh [Annotator's Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh; American aviator] flying across the ocean [Annotator's Note: first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight, 21 May 1927] was Race's dream and he completed that.

John T. "Jack" Race was flying very important people around in a regular line C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft]. In the early days of long distance transport there were a few custom outfitted DC-6s [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-6 commercial airliner]. The C-47 he flew for the Brits [Annotator's Note: slang for British people] had a special interior and selected crew. [Annotator's Note: Race confuses the interviewer's question to be about his postwar career.] Most of the people who flew with Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways] were Americans but they had people from every country. They had to be American citizens he thinks. Race did not consider making the Air Force a career seriously. The regimented life could be hard to take. He honors those who became pilots for Air Force One [Annotator's Note: official air traffic control call sign for any aircraft carrying the President of the United States]. He would not have refused if asked, but it was nothing he strived for. Aside from the military, the jobs became rather plentiful. Small airplanes, flight instruction, and transportation grew so much. After the early days of some danger, it grew so safely and good, that once a pilot started flying for airlines or companies, it was a pleasing experience. Race fell in love with flying. Lindbergh [Annotator's Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh; American aviator] was his hero in the early days. He has met some great pilots all over the world. He met a great British ace who had only one leg and still flew combat missions. At 99, he tends to forget a name here and there. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer prompts Race with the name.] Douglas Bader [Annotator's Note: British Royal Air Force Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader] was a nice guy. Race met him after the war.

John T. "Jack" Race does not know how his war experiences influenced his postwar career, except to say that even though he was always a patriotic citizen, after this war of so much killing and the bombs over Japan [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945], he was turned off on that part of aviation. He is not putting that down as someone has to do it to protect the country. He just does not want to do that. He does not feel anything negative about those who fight a war. It is just that the overall context of killing is hard to accept. Race spent three years in Afghanistan [Annotator's Note: 1962 to 1965]. The Afghan airline was formed by an American citizen who hired foreign pilots. It was Ariana Afghan airline [Annotator's Note: Ariana Afghan Airlines Company Limited]. A friend of Race's was chief pilot for Ariana. Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways] was providing technical support. Someone was needed to train the Afghan pilots to be airline pilots. Race went over and was paid by the State Department [Annotator's Note: United States Department of State] and trained them. He has Afghan friends today. There are so many good people all over the world. Pan Am was contracted for the airplanes and training. The people had to be coached how to be in an airplane. [Annotator's Note: The video fades to black at 1:06:47.000.]

Once when John T. "Jack" Race was flying a cargo flight for Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways] from Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California] to New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York], he was told he had a passenger going back with him. He was told it was General Lindbergh [Annotator's Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh; American aviator]. Race went up to meet him. He had met him in Germany years before [Annotator's Note: in 1953] but did not think he would remember him. He welcomed him aboard and Lindbergh had to ride on a jump seat. Race had one rule in his flying that was not talk about anything but flying until they were above 10,000 feet. It was a clear night and Lindbergh opened the conversation about flying. They talked all the way across the country. On the landing approach, it was gusty and rainy, and Race thought to himself, "please Lord, let this be a decent landing." Lindbergh clapped Race on the shoulder and said, "nice landing, Captain." That was like getting the Victoria Cross [Annotator's Note: the highest and most prestigious award of the British honor system] to Race.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer tells John T. "Jack" Race he has seen a photograph of Race's aircraft with bullet holes in it and asks him how it happened.] That happened in the New Year's Eve battle with the Germans [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. The crew lived in an apartment in Brussels [Annotator's Note: Brussels, Belgium] where they were based with the British. It was at midnight or later. In the morning, they got in a jeep and went to the airport. His C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] was full of bullet holes. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Race what his most memorable experience of World War 2 is.] He never really sorted it out. He cannot think of anything especially. They all felt good to him. In his civilian career after the war, there were many things. An unforgettable one was landing out in back of where his house is now. He taught his son David to fly and watching him do his first solo flight was nice. His son John as well. [Annotator's Note: A woman off camera reminds him he worked with King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan.] He was ordered by Pan Am [Annotator's Note: Pan American Airways] to go to Jordan. There had been a series of serious accidents with the Jordanian Royal airline [Annotator's Note: Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines], and they asked Pan Am to assist them to see why. Race and a flight engineer went to Amman, Jordan. Race noticed there was a lot of sloppy flying. He saw that their fleet of 707s [Annotator's Note: Boeing 707 commercial jet airliner] were purchased from other airlines and not new. Different airlines have different instrument layouts. There was no consistency and that was a factor. They changed that and had better flying. He was there a couple months. He went to write up the report and said the condition had to be remedied. The general manager invited him to see the King. King Hussein asked Race to come over and be their Operations Manager. Race turned him down. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Race which impressed him more, meeting Charles Lindbergh or meeting King Hussein.] Meeting Lindbergh [Annotator's Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh; American aviator]. [Annotator's Note: Race laughs.]

John T. "Jack" Race thinks the greatest impact on aviation from the technological advances in the war was the jet engine. Other things improved like radar, instrumentation, instrument flying set ups, but the jet engine was the greatest event in aviation that he was part of. Race served in the military for two reasons. One, since he loved to fly, going into military flying seemed to be the best way. Secondly, he had a patriotic sense. He was glad to serve. Even then he hoped he would not have to do anything bad. He cannot speak any more about Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945]. He feels good about serving his country in a dangerous part of life on Earth. His country in turn, served him by giving him the opportunity to advance in aviation. World War 2 is relevant and important today because it happened to correct excesses in the world that were going wrong. He thinks it would be great if we did not have to fight to solve problems. He supposes he sounds like an unrealistic peacenik, but war has never solved anything. It has been necessary through the ages to set things right. His wish and hope would be that all differences between people on the Earth could be handled peacefully. Settling conflicts without killing is somewhere ahead, way ahead. Race thinks The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is very important, even though it is a museum about war. It is well worth the effort and very important. How are we going to learn if we do not show the things that happened? Race knows if he were talking out on the lawn, he would have more stories to tell.