The UN said to
Israel in 1948, “You can have a country as long as
you can defend it without any outside help, and by the
way, we are imposing a total arms embargo against you, so
good luck defending yourself from the Arabs.”
Israel had no air force and no army. That was the
Catch-22 they were in. Until they were a country, legally
recognized by the U.N., they could not buy weapons with
which to defend themselves.
Israel was up against five Arab armies sworn to a war of
extermination against the Jews who dared to return to
their historic homeland of Palestine. The day Israel
became a country, May 15, 1948, it was invaded by the
armies of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
This is the story of a United States Marine who came home
from the war, then found out that Arab terrorists had
sworn to murder his family.
The year was 1948, and Captain Lou Lenart was in
Hollywood, getting used to being a civilian. But a series
of events rocked his world. The UN announced the
recognition of a new nation – Israel. Immediately,
five Arab nations – Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt
and Iraq – declared they would invade and
exterminate all the Jews.
That is what happened to United States Marine pilot Lou
Lenart. He returned from World War II and was starting to
have a civilian life, luxuriating in Hollywood. Then at
the end of 1947, the UN announced that it would recognize
the nation of Israel as a homeland for the Jews.
Immediately, the leaders of five Arab nations announced
they would invade Israel and exterminate every Jew.
Lou’s heart told him that he could not stay there
while the Jewish people in Israel were about to be
annihilated, in a new holocaust planned by the armies of
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Eygpt and Iraq.
Sometimes when you follow your heart, you change history
That is what happened to United States Marine pilot Lou
Lenart. He returned from World War II and was starting to
have a civilian life, luxuriating in Hollywood. Then at
the end of 1947, the UN announced that it would recognize
the nation of Israel as a homeland for the Jews.
Immediately, the leaders of five Arab nations announced
they would invade Israel and exterminate every Jew.
Lou’s heart told him that he could not stay there
while the Jewish people in Israel were about to be
annihilated, in a new holocaust planned by the armies of
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Eygpt and Iraq.
So he bought an old plane, rounded up a little team, and
went over there, and wound up flying the first mission of
the Israel Air Force. A mission that changed history.
The Flight of Angels Project is:
The UN said to Israel in 1948, “You can have a
country as long as you can defend it without any outside
help, and by the way, we are imposing a total arms
embargo against you, so good luck defending yourself from
the Arabs.”
Israel had no air force and no army. That was the
Catch-22 they were in. Until they were a country, legally
recognized by the U.N., they could not buy weapons with
which to defend themselves.
Israel was up against five Arab armies sworn to a war of
extermination against the Jews who dared to return to
their historic homeland of Palestine. The day Israel
became a country, May 15, 1948, it was invaded by the
armies of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
. . was totally improbable. But it happened.
“In 1948 Lou Lenart led the first fighter mission
of
the newly created Israel Air Force. He led an attack
against the advancing Egyptian Army, changing the
course of the war.”
- The United States Air War College report at the
“Gathering of Eagles” Conference, June 9,
2000, Maxwell Air Force Base, Mobile, Alabama.
slightly different synopsis
. . . here is
another, slightly different synopsis:
Destiny
by Lorin Roche and Camille Maurine
Genres: Drama, Thriller, History, War.
Tagline: The whole world was saying no, but they said
yes.
Plot: A ragtag group of young pilots takes on the Arab
Empire and wins.
Synopsis: Hollywood in 1948 is a post-war boom town. LOU
LENART is a lean and rugged 26-year old fighter pilot,
just retired from the Marine Corps. He is having the time
of his life, meeting gorgeous actresses at the Coconut
Grove, and working out at Muscle Beach in Venice.
California is the Promised Land.
A phone call shocks Lou out of his delight. A woman who
was on the train to Auschwitz with his grandmother FLORA
says Flora smuggled food onto the train to the death
camps, and did not eat, but fed and comforted the
children, right up to the moment when she was taken away
by the Nazis and thrown into the ovens. Walking on the
beach in Venice at dawn, Lou sees a vision of Flora, and
hears her prayer, saying, “Some of these children
will survive this terrible place. Help them find a home.
Everyone deserves a home.”
On the news, Lou hears that the UN is going to recognize
Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people. Then the
leaders of the Arab League announce that as soon as the
UN recognizes Israel, they will invade and finish the
work that Hitler begun: the extermination of the Jews.
Military experts around the world give Israel at most two
weeks to survive, because it has no army or air force.
The United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain
announce a total arms embargo against Israel – the
open secret is that everyone needs Arab oil.
Once Lou hears this, he knows he must act, no matter how
desperate the odds. As a fighter pilot, Lou’s
instinct is to get a squadron together and fly in
Israel’s defense. But Israel is not a nation yet,
and until it is, there is a worldwide arms embargo,
sternly enforced by the US, Britain, and the Soviet
Union. So Lou buys an old cargo plane. Then he starts to
round up a team of other pilots willing to fly such a
dangerous, hopeless mission: they have to cobble together
some kind of an air force for the nation about to be
born. They have five months. And every nation on earth is
against them because of the embargo.
Lou flies his plane to New York and rounds up a handful
of other daring pilots in their early twenties. They meet
at the Copacabana, the most glamorous night club in the
world, as they plan their next move. Then they travel to
Rome, which they use as a base for their smuggling
operations.
In Rome, they pretend to be smugglers dealing in American
cigarettes, and meet every day in outdoor restaurants,
wearing their jeans and flight jackets. A young Italian
beauty, CAROLINA, adopts the pilots and uses her
extensive contacts to protect and guide the young pilots
in their mission. At night the pilots fly dangerous
missions, flying a thousand miles over the Mediterranean,
to deliver rifles, bullets, and medical supplies they
have purchased in the black weapons markets.
Lou and his friends are hunted at every step by the FBI,
British agents, and Arab assassins. Their planes are
impounded, some of them are assassinated, and most of
their efforts are frustrated. Most of their deals fall
through and many of the planes crash. Finally just as the
deadline of Israel’s independence approaches
– May 15 – a deal is struck to obtain some
war-surplus Messerschmitts from Czechoslovakia. They
manage to smuggle these planes in pieces to Israel by May
22, and name their squadron “Angels of
Death,” in honor of the Angel in the Exodus story,
that God sent to persuade the Egyptians to let the Jews
go.
It is now May 29, 1948 and Arab armies are rampaging
through the newborn State of Israel, taking no prisoners.
The huge Egyptian army is only 18 miles from Tel Aviv and
about to conquer the city. The overconfident Egyptians
are parked bumper-to-bumper at a bridge, their hundreds
of armored cars, fuel trucks, and ammo trucks all in a
line.
Suddenly out of the late afternoon sun, four Nazi-built
warplanes appear, painted with the Star of David, bombing
and strafing. This is the first combat mission of the
Israel Air Force. Lou is the flight leader. It stuns the
Egyptians into abandoning their assault on Tel Aviv. This
first crucial victory gives Israel desperately-needed
time to equip its soldiers and consolidate its defenses.
Israel has an air force, tiny but effective, and the
world sees that the Jews can defend themselves. Walking
around Tel Aviv the next day, Lou sees children playing
in the street and is moved almost – but not quite
– to tears. He has helped to give the survivors a
home, at least for today.