The death toll of the The Bloody Hundredth bombardment group towards the end of World War II is harrowingly depicted in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ Masters Of The Air, which recently came to an end on Apple TV+.
The show was full of heroic moments, like when Ken (played by Raff Law) fixes a plane as it taxis, desperately trying to avoid his death. But there were, of course, heavy losses. Following almost two years of battles fought across Europe, it was recorded that 757 people were killed or deemed missing in action and 923 men were taken captive as prisoners of war.
As the nine-part television series depicts, the real-life pilots listed below lived to fight another day. Here's what happened to them after the war (spoilers ahead, if you haven’t already read the history books).
Major Gale Cleven, aka Buck (played by Austin Butler)
Cleven returned to the US and married Marjorie Spencer, with Bucky (Major John Egan) as his best man. However, Marjorie died unexpectedly just eight years later. Cleven remained in the Air Force, and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and then retired as a full colonel in 1955. He also earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and a doctorate in physics. He died in 2006, and was survived by his second wife, Lee.
Major John Egan, aka Bucky (Callum Turner)
Egan went home and married Josephine Pitz, a member of Women Airforce Service Pilots, and they had two daughters. Egan remained in service and went to fight in the Korean war, eventually becoming Director Of Air Force Operations for the Pacific Area. In 1961, while working at the Pentagon, he died from a heart attack, aged just 45.
Major Harry Crosby, aka Crosby (Anthony Boyle)
Crosby left the Air Force in 1945, and went back to Iowa to his wife, Jean, and their son, Steve, and they went on to have three more children. He went to Stanford University and received a PHD in literature in 1953. He became a teacher at the University of Iowa and in 1993, he published a book of his memoirs of the 100th group called A Wing and a Prayer: The “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group of the U.S. Eighth Air Force in Action over Europe in World War II. He died on July 28, 2010, aged 91. At his memorial service, Governor Michael Dukakis said: “He was smart. He had a strong sense of values that was in everything he said and did. He was the nicest guy in the world, but he could be tough – and in being tough he was often the best kind of friend.” You can read more about Crosby in here.
Major Robert Rosenthal, aka Rosie (Nate Mann)
After the war, because of what he witnessed, Rosenthal helped prosecute Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg trials. This included interrogating Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, as well as the makers of Zyklon B, the poison used by the Nazis in the concentration camps. He received a number of awards including two Silver Stars, two Purple Crosses and the Croix de Guerre. He flew a total of 52 missions during the two-year stint of the 100th Bombers. He died in 2007, aged 89.
2nd Lt. Robert T. Daniels (Ncuti Gatwa)
Daniels was a recipient of the Prisoner of War medal for his actions during World War ll, and afterwards, he became an air traffic controller. He died in 1987, aged 69.
2nd Lt. Alexander Jefferson (Branden Cook)
Jefferson remained on active duty in the Air Force until 1947, when he joined the air force reserve. He moved to Detroit with his wife and became a science teacher, teaching for more than 30 years. He was one of the last standing men from the Tuskegee Airmen, and lived to be 100 years old, and died in 2022.
Lt. Richard D. Macon (Josiah Cross)
Macon escaped the POW camp and left the Air Force as a captain in 1945. When he went back to Birmingham Alabama, he set up a flight school and then earned his MA in mathematics and taught at Miles College. He then joined his friend Jefferson in teaching in Detroit. He died aged 86 in 2007.
Colonel Neil Harding aka Chic (James Murray)
Harding stayed in the Air Force until after the war, and retired in 1957. He died in 1978, aged 73.
You can watch the full season of ‘Masters of the Air’ on Apple TV+ now
