HIGH FLIGHT-1960'S original

[@mmd195401]

I'm 70 years old now. Back in the 50's and 60's we lived in an old farmhouse out in the middle of cotton and alfalfa fields. We had a black and white television. When the local television stations signed off for the night, there were very few times when I was able to manage to keep myself awake to midnight, or maybe it was 11:00 pm, I can't remember now. Sometimes right after the news. On those dark, late nights when I was lucky enough to still be awake, I could count on two things. High Flight and the National Anthem. I view myself as very lucky and blessed to have lived in a time when we all felt as one; where we loved each other, our country, and God.

[@-insert-]

I too am 70 and like you listened to this as the local stations signed off. I came across this accidentally and to my amazement, after nearly 60yrs of having not heard this I recalled with near perfect recollection the voice and words of the poem. Clearly this left an impact that I only now recognize.

[@vargr]

61, and grew up listening to this and the national anthem, then I went to bed surevthat akl was right, God was still on his throne, and slept soundly, until the Farm show at 5am. Good to hear it again, I might get vack to thise days tonight I left something unfinished. I'm sure she'll be with my pack of dogs waiting for me to join them at His feet.

[@klf153]

I am 81. I remember this from those nights while I was still in high school and I was the only one still awake when tv signed off. My father was career AF, a pilot in addition to his primary duties, stationed at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, CA, and I always thought it was a local thing. I so love this poem!

[@lavondacarter7228]

♥

[@deebynum5541]

The aerial footage is of my father, Larry Pool, when he was a test pilot.❤️ He “ slipped the surly bonds of earth “ many years ago- I love that this testament to his flying skill remains for all to enjoy.

[@Liz_S702]

How proud you must be!

[@SteveBrant55]

Thank you for your father's service. He contributed much to not just the Air Force but - thanks to this film - to lovers of aviation everywhere!

[@sano1062]

That's a timeless classic!

[@Positivekitten]

Thank you for sharing. I remember seeing this on TV late at night when I was a kid. I came looking for it because I was having a nostalgia moment.

[@Missmarti77]

​@@Positivekitten me too👍

[@charlessomerset9754]

I'm not sure why I thought of this today. I guess I just wanted to see if one uncorrupted shred of my childhood still remained somewhere. Still puts a smile on my face.

[@truthseeker4470]

A week ago in Sunday, my father (Army Air Corps veteran, WW II) lay dying in the hospital. As he lay there, heavily sedated, I set my phone by his ear and played this for him. I'd like to think he somehow heard it, and remembered it as he soared on his last flight in this mortal realm, and as he touched the face of God. Godspeed, Dad. I live you.

[@deniseshouse7430]

That was a wonderful thing to do for your Dad. Doctors sY that hearing is the last thing to go. ❤💔

[@marciamatteini7604]

God bless you. You made me cry, good tears.

[@miltonsmith974]

Just by reading this, I know that you were a wonderful son to your Father. I truly believe that he head every word of this beautiful poem as he rested peacefully. Someday, all of God's children will "put out their hands and touch the face of God." 🥲

[@emmawoodford9838]

Thanks for sharing this with us... ❤

[@And_Aaron_loves_to_kill]

I am sure he heard it ❤

[@kygent508]

I am 60 years old and I remember watching stations sign off for the day and playing this.

[@lyndamoser6604]

I too, remember this...im 61, but was there a verdion in color...1979-1980 or so?

[@kygent508]

@@lyndamoser6604 I do not recall

[@montgomerywolf3434]

@@kygent508 kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6mWiKibf7yfmJY color version.

[@theresalogsdon765]

I love that and glad it is still available

[@gregorybrown6719]

57, and I know it by heart.

[@margiestinson3737]

This still brings me to tears. I watched this everyday in the 60's. It's my absolute favorite poem.

[@magoo7635]

Same here

[@arlindeboer7141]

me too

[@SF1906Survivor]

Same

[@jimspy1001]

Mine too. I HATE poetry....except for this. And some limericks.

[@spikespa5208]

By far the best reading of the poem. And visuals.

[@johnpiersol3019]

I never got to fly that high or that fast, got my pilot ticket in 1949 but I always loved to hear KVOO in Tulsa Okla play it as a sign off. Still makes tears come to my eyes. May God bless these United States Of America.

[@dmac1032]

Ditto, John. Love the internet and search engines which allowed me to find and view this great video. It is amazing to think this poem was written by a 19 year old.

[@wacnwacn5701]

@@dmac1032 I put this on a CD. Man this poem is still beautiful.

[@pax1sw]

Got this from OETA's KZbin video of this (I prefer this video, it's the one I remember fondly): "The words are from a poem called "High Flight" written by 19-year-old Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee who was KIA December 11, 1941."

[@stevewilson6235]

It,s Now or Never\High Flight (signal)🎇🌍🎆.4/16/2020 -2:14 am.

[@pamelamayfield8489]

Hi John, I listened to this on KVOO out of Tulsa, too. It always thrilled me to hear it, and it still thrills me now.

[@thomasrogers2700]

So beautiful and epic. What a way to end your day before turning the television off for the night. American society has devolved so much since the 1960's.

[@barbaraberry8032]

I remember watching this when the stations would sign off. This is so beautiful.

[@roxannaglogowski9359]

In 1960 I was also 10 years old. It made such an impression on me I remembered it my whole life. I have listened to other narrators, but I love only the one from the 60's. I also cry when I hear it. To the young man who played it for his father, I know he heard it! God bless you!

[@spikespa5208]

Yes. By far the best reading of it. Anyone know the voice?

[@allenronaldson4381]

This is one thing I’ll never forget from when I was a kid.

[@rickk10000]

I worked the signoff shift for WHYN-TV-40 at the transmitter... watched this 4 nights a week for two years... it always moved me

[@vlw4165]

As a kid, on the rare occasions when I was allowed to stay up long enough to encounter this clip, it always sent a thrill down my spine. Very moving poem, and no one reads it better than this guy, whoever he was!

[@keithpopko7068]

Same with me. As an adult I tracked down a copy of it at an Air Force recruiting center and memorized it. That was more than 40 years ago, and I still remember it.

[@pegbars]

No, that's not Orson Welles. Stop spreading lies.

[@NEPatriot]

This came before the sign-off announcement. Do you recall what national anthem film was played? I saw a 1986 sign-off where what is now WGGB-TV used Aim High America.

[@Daveat23]

Hey Rick! I am a Springfield Massachusetts native, now living in the Midwest. I used to love WHYN 40!

[@chriswalker6776]

I remember this on TV the sign off video before the stations quit transmitting signals. It's always been with me and I've had my own kids watch it and they even had tears because of what was said at the end. Godspeed to all our military and the pilots who flew the skies where eagles sored. Thank you to all our service people God bless everyone

[@terrypierce8815]

69 yo here. As a kid I used to stay up until midnight, when parents allowed, just to watch this as televisioned signed off for the night

[@leomannpictures]

Heck yeah, making it until the station sign off was a rite of passage. It's heartening to know there are so many others out there with inspiring memories.

[@larryholloway9942]

Thank you: my earliest memories are of this video playing when the TV channel would sign off every night.

[@ironpony9892]

Dad was a career USAF flight officer and I remember this being played on whatever station we recieved at Holloman AFB near Alamogordo NM way back in the '60s. Thanks for getting it up on line for all of us.

[@winddanceroo2]

When I was a little girl and heard the opening music, I would run in from wherever I was to watch this. I absolutely loved this poem both then and now. I think I loved the thought that a person could be so free up there in the sky and then be able to TOUCH the face of GOD.

[@elizabethbarnette2813]

you're right on the money..right on it

[@pixamite1]

I too have such fond memories of this. If was still up, I had to see the airplane commercial as I called it as a little boy. Somehow I had a passion for aviation before I could really say the word airplane. In addition to my love for aviation, this sign off was part of my inspiration for eventually becoming a pilot in my adult years. Like you, the part about reaching out and touching the face of God moved me then and still does to this day.

[@Karloffrules]

+Cher Ebersole Same. I would toddle out and crawl in my father's lap (18 mos to 2 years old I think). He flew for the Navy and was in school. It is my very first memory, and one that I draw great strength from. Miss you, Pop.

[@vlw4165]

YES! Me, too. I was profoundly touched. I think the seeds of faith were planted and nurtured by this presentation. And I didn't come from a religious home, either. I thank God for this clip. Tragic story about the author, though. He was only 19 when he wrote this, and was later killed in a flight training exercise. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gillespie_Magee_Jr.

[@kiplindsay1250]

Me, too. It still touches my heart.

[@patbrown1808]

This video is the reason I started flying. 54 years and 12,000 flying hours later this still gives me goosebumps when I watch it. After all these years, I still marvel at the sights I get to see at altitude.

[@Coyote...2022]

Remember seeing this as a teenager...it gave me chills then and still does. Oh that the younger generation could have experienced the era of the '50's and early '60's when there was a deep respect for country and people.

[@nyobnyob9986]

I used to see this film clip as a child on Saturday mornings after the "Star-Spangled Banner," when the tv stations would first come on the air for the days broadcast. I've always loved this poem. It would always come to me whenever I would do a HALO at 3500 feet. So I would reach out in an attempt to "Touch the Face of God."

[@garyhiggs3749]

There was respect for a few people - white men; women and ”people of color” were left out. I remember clearly.

[@nyobnyob9986]

@@garyhiggs3749 Unfortunately, ALL TO TRUE. Yet even today people fail to see beyond what is right in front of them and rely TOO much upon the premises of the past.

[@Coyote...2022]

So, since you weren't alive back in the good ol' days what makes you think your opinion is even relevant?

[@nyobnyob9986]

@Samantha Jones Frist of all your assumption of my gender is in error. Secondly, it was not the video of the fighter jet that drew me to this but the poem that enthralled me as a child. Lastly, as I grew older, I learned a wee bit of the history of the author. He was an American who joined up with the CRAF during the early days of WWII. When his unit was ordered to Britain, he began his training with the RAF to perform the aerial defense of that country. While in training he composed this poem and sent a copy home to his parents. Three months later he died in a horrific air accident in the skies over England. Imagine what this lad might have accomplished if had survived that war. Maybe what creations he might have conjured with that mind if he had lived. So it's NOT the image that you see before you but the words of a young man cut down way too soon in his life.

[@chickinpickin1]

I just cant help but to tear up every time i come across this. It reminds me so much of mom and dad when i was a youngster, may they both rest in peace. Now at the age of 73, i know my yrs and days are coming to an end soon. When my day comes , i look forward to two things. Reunite with my parents, and that i may also be blessed to touch the face of god.

[@martyreese3057]

Thank you for this, I am a child of the 60's and I remember this VERY well.

[@cathykauffman797]

When I was a new graduate nurse working night shift in the Emergency Room, we had a little TV for the doctors in the break room. 1975. It was 2AM I think, when this came on to shut down the networks, and if I was not busy with a patient, I would run to the breakroom to watch. To this day, it still gives me chills.

[@2bakidagain]

With so much pointed out about the horrible 6o's, this is what stands out in my mind as a child watching that black and white tv with the rabbit ears! Even as we tried to right the wrongs in our nation, it was still patriotic and proud! the greatest nation in the world! This poem represents the ultimate freedom....a sensation embedded in all of us! What a glorious feeling! What a privilege to be an American!

[@pixamite1]

Well spoken.

[@randolphpatterson5061]

The author was Canadian, BTW.

[@vincentsartain3061]

@@randolphpatterson5061 He was an American citizen who enlisted in Canada's Royal Air Force shortly prior to the US entry into WWII.

[@LindaB651]

This is my mother's favorite poem. I looked it up tonight because she's in the hospital, unconscious. I'll play this for her tomorrow (if she survives the night) and, hopefully, she'll hear.

[@beaconmike]

Phil Driscoll does a beautiful version of this on KZbin.

[@LindaB651]

@Kenneth Krueger Thank you. She didn't die in the hospital, but died at home a couple of days later. I looked after her there, and played it for her on her last night, but don't know how much she heard/understood, as she was in and out of conciousness. She had, while verbal, expressed that she was at peace, and accepted her situation. May we all be so fortunate!

[@angelinagiannetti1401]

Mine too

[@Antonia1138]

Blessed Be 🙏

[@cre8tivetouch]

Thank you for posting this video and so glad you have it in black and white. That's how it was when I was growing up. Always loved the last line of the poem about "touching the face of God," it still gives me a warm feeling 💖....... Mirsades

[@caroledyer9903]

Always loved this.

[@ehaynes0013]

I also remember this when I was a kid, staying up late just hoping to see this sign-off. This was always my favorite, though there were others that were on as well. I remember one with the Marines and another one with the Air Force, both with the National Anthem. But this one was always my favorite. Can you believe that such an amazingly beautiful poem like this was written by a 19 year old kid? Unfortunately, he died 3 months later in a mid-air collision. But his words live on.

[@carlfreeman6687]

56 now, made me cry immediately. What beautiful memories this brings. The world so full of possibilities then... Love it ❤️

[@PGoodmanCOG]

This was Dad's favorite poem. I remember as a kid staying up late on weekends and watching this when they shut down transmission for the night. Thanks for this.

[@SteveBrueck]

I grew up in Nashville and watched this as a kid. My dad was an Air Force fighter pilot that flew F-86's, and I have a picture of him standing next to his jet with this poem below it.

[@lensman8]

No joke,I woke up at 5 in the morning thinking of this 2 minute prose with music. I remember seeing this many times in the 60's as a kid staying up late till TV signed off for the evening/early morn. I also remember sitting with my father a few times as he watched it. As the music cresendoed, and the narrator said ' then I reached out with my hand and touched the face of God.'..I'd see my father with a tear in his eye. I wept myself this morning. It had inspired me to join the Air Force in 1974.

[@gulfbeach47]

Back in the 60's, we always watched this aviation poem when TV used to stop broadcasting at night on our 3 TV stations. In my area, TV did not stay on much past midnight or so. After John Glenn's passing today, I just had to listen to it again. "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings" ...........

[@edbatten4943]

Thank you God, our Father, for the privilege and the opportunity you gave to me--to have served our nation in the USAF. And thank You for all the times You safely guided my crews and me through countless successful missions in Vietnam( 1965, '67and '69 ) and on numerous other flights (1970-71, often sensitive and critical). Thank You for always feeling Your presence. Thank You for always knowing that You were there--with us! And... thank you, John Gillespie McGee, for "High Flight"! And for the divine inspiration it has always been--and will forever be.

[@OneLaBonBon]

And thank you for your service to our country, Ed Batten. God Bless!

[@julie11997]

God bless you Sir and thank you for your service to our Country!

[@teksal13]

Thank you, Ed!

[@brianferrell5346]

Thank you Sir for your service to this fine country.

[@carlfreeman6687]

Ty for your service ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@dagnabbit6187]

Yep This was even better than the National Anthem sign offs and as a kid and teenager this was usually on at Am early Sunday morning. Truly beautiful !

[@charlibaltimore7641]

Im 69 and this was my favorite, God and Country always! My grandkids couldn't believe it! They were shocked at only 4 channels!! Lol!! Memories 🥰

[@parsifal40002]

The music and poem are so beautiful and inspiring. I truly miss seeing this video when our local TV stations signed off with the poem. Thank you for posting this video it brought back many memories of my childhood!

[@stevensonrf]

What a blast from my past! Thanks for saving this beautiful video memento. Although in BW it is still the best. I originally saw it on KCRA as they closed their broadcast day. Sacramento was an Air Force town in those days and I think it was their way of saying thanks to the Freedom the Air Force provided our Country.

[@moldyoldie7888]

I believe it was the only Sacramento station that used it as a sign-off. I watched it too, after Jack Paar's show was over.

[@robertromero8692]

I don't remember seeing this when the station signed off, but I DO remember seeing it sometimes on Saturday afternoons. I always loved it. What a nostalgic rush to see it again!

[@LemonSpringsGirl]

Thank you. I was 10 years old in 1960, and I fondly remember this signoff. Even as a 10-year-old, I was deeply moved by the words, he music, and the scenes. I am even more moved since recently reading the bio of the poet, an American pilot who died at the tender age of 19. I will share the poem and video with my high school students.

[@webcamfann]

At that time, I was in college USAF ROTC , aspiring to be a jet fighter pilot. It was a long 5 years, till I finally was flying a supersonic jet. After that, my life has been rushing by, mastering one plane after another.. This video always stops me in my tracks and grabs my emotions and memories of all those years.

[@charlesx593]

+webcamfann I first saw this in 1962 when I was 7 years old and it inspired me in a way that hard to express. I can't remember a time I didn't want to fly supersonic jets, but high blood pressure kept me from military service, so as a young adult I became a sport skydiver with just under a thousand jumps and a private pilot in an attempt to get as close to High Flight as I possibly could. In the 70s, 80s and 90 with a sense of nostalgia I tried finding this and it wasn;t until the internet came along that I had any luck, and it's amazing how every time I see High Flight I'm overcome with the same emotion that I had way back in 1962 when I saw it for the first time.

[@philraimi3903]

God, I SO loved seeing this at night when TV stations used sign off - it totally captured and fired my imagination! I think it was one of the things that really inspired me to get my private pilot's license when I was 17. When I was at a high school football game last night, I was talking to a guy is in the Marine reserves who was an F-18 pilot when he was on active duty. We talked about how much we both loved High Flight and I told him about this version and how I used to love it when I was a kid. Thanks for posting this - what memories!!!

[@sharonkapp4687]

Phil Raimi

[@rkinkead11]

That's the one. Thank you. So many memorties. "... put out my hand and touched the face of God." I was hooked. No regrets.

[@danmart1879]

In the 60s this video poem always brought tears to my eyes. I am now in my 70s and it still inspires me to tears. Can't figure it out---I'm still an agnostic, but I too wish I could stretch my arm and touch the face of God...

[@xtremenortherner]

You already have...,in your heart.God is not just high up in heaven but close to all those who seek Him!

[@phillippizza]

I was twelve years old and would stay up too just to see this. Fills me with pride for our county and with love of God. Thank you for finding this.

[@codypulley7682]

This reminds me of the good old days for sure. I just turned 64r the other day

[@davidwillis8184]

I used to try to listen to this sign off as often as I could when young. It is the reason that I joined Army aviation & spent 9 years both serving my country & absolutely loving each & every chance I got to "Slip the surly bonds of earth" and to "Touch the face of God."

[@imxio]

David: Thank you for your service!

[@jdstrahm3555]

I remthis so well, it seems so many years ago, but the was the best times of my life...

[@Nyckname]

It was always special when I got to stay up late to watch a movie, and I'd see that as a station signed off for the night.

[@andymartin2571]

High Flight by aviator John Gillespie Magee, Jr Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air... Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark or even eagle flew -- And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

[@Antonia1138]

If memory serves,he was British and flew a Spitfire during the war.

[@JohnSmith-y8v]

Wow, I have not seen this video since I was a boy in the 60s. I always looked for it to play at TV sign-off. It moved me then as now. I'm surprised how much of the words I remember. It gave me hope as to the achievements from the coordination of good people.

[@leomannpictures]

Same here! This classic TV sign-off framed that era of my young life. Definitely unforgettable. thanks for stopping by.

[@Zylec]

I loved this as a young lad. It was late night sign off here in NC. The orchestral arrangement and chorus was just wonderful then and now. A perfect accompaniment to the Leo Mann's recitation and the video.

[@vincentsartain3061]

@Zylec, IS it Leo Mann who narrates this and its 1972 remake? I can't find any information on him in Google.

[@raceron1120]

Must've seen it a thousand times or more! Great memory from the 60s and beyond.

[@Antonia1138]

It never gets old.

[@ThePyramidone]

" Put out my hand, and touched the face of God." The sonnet is "High Flight" written by Canadian RCAF pilot John G. Magee, Jr shortly before his death in a training accident in December 1941.

[@TheCarnivalguy]

Having heard this so many times during my childhood of the '60s, I finally memorized it, and to this day can still recite it.

[@edwardkohout3494]

This was always shown on TV at the end of the broadcast day when they signed off. Remember it well as a kid. Yes!!!!!!! Wish they would do that now.

[@davidwillis8184]

This was, is & will forever be my favorite poem. It is what inspired me to join the US Army and enter the aviation field. My greatest memories of my time in service were when I would "slip the surly bonds of earth & dance the skies on laughter silvered wings."

[@marciamatteini7604]

Thank you so much for serving this country of ours. My Dad was in WW11, and now he has seen the face of God. Blessing to you✝️

[@jusgettenby]

thank you so much leomann my father who is a vet said when he was a kid he would stay up till midnight to watch this on his tv and since his family was the only one on the block that had a television the neighborhood kids would sneak out to watch it too. this made him smile tonight so thank you.

[@CottonCreativeStudios]

Mr. Gillespie's poem is one that will bring you to tears because it is so beautiful. Thank you for posting it.

[@richardgrenier2401]

This sure brings back a lot of old (good) memories from the sixties. The 104 was the high tech of the times. Beautiful then and beautiful now, both plane and poem. The only poem I can recite from memory and I have written nearly 200 of my own since 1959. Thanks for making this available. R.

[@63gstone]

"Put out my hand, and touched the face of God", they don't have uplifting things like this today on tv, that's for sure!

[@miltonsmith974]

Always moves me when I watch this. For a now elderly man, It brings back memories of long ago. Pleasant memories of when I was young.

[@OneLaBonBon]

How my late mother loved this. She, too, would stay up late just to watch. Thank you so very much for posting. This clip really means a lot to me.

[@melodicman3032]

I remember when this would come on late TV at midnight just before the channel went off the air. Everything was so innocent then.

[@bryonscheer2759]

T-38 70's version is my faverite watched it a hundred times when I was a kid !!!!

[@rrrogster]

Yes but the music was something out of a bad porn film of the era. They sure screwed that one up.

[@bryonscheer2759]

@@rrrogster So true....

[@justalittlemommy]

Fabuladico - I too remember this when I was a little girl. Only, I don't know if it was the poem that caught my attention and caused me to be drawn to jets and aviation, or if it was the jet that fascinated me and made me remember the poem. I've always wanted to be a pilot (one of these days) and this clip is the reason why. I'm not into poetry at all, except for this one. While watching the Mel Gibson movie, The Man Without a Face, a heard him recite this poem (on VHS before DVD was around). I must have played that part and re-wound it a hundred times so that I could write it down. I was finally able to type in some of the phrases on the computer and finally learned the name of the poem and it's author. After that, once DVD's came into the picture (but before KZbin) I found this clip on a DVD and had to buy it. Also, President Reagan read this poem during a ceremony following the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

[@shadowalker1776]

I always love listening to this poem.

[@FungusWhisperer]

That music is really stirring. So perfect for this footage, the poem - the entire milieu of the Camelot era. Now gone with the wind, long since shattered by trainwreck of hit-and-run events, one after another. My kingdom for any info on that soundtrack music - ? Hearty thanks to leomannpictures for brining us youtubers this blast of past inspiration. We don't forget.

[@pisca531]

This is wonderful.....I remember hearing this as a child.....good memories!

[@chardtomp]

When I was a little kid in Tulsa in the 60s I remember staying up late at night in the summer to watch the station sign offs. This was one of three I think they rotated. One of the others was the Navy hymn Eternal Father played over a ship crashing through the waves. I never been able to find a clip of that one.

[@unionrdr]

chardtomp Yeah, even in Cleveland, where we lived, they rotated a couple sign-offs & this was one of them. Early 60's as I remember. The shooting stars out of NASA on the other end of Hopkins flew over our house & were really loud!

[@edbatten4943]

"High Flight"...forever inspiring!

[@angel6298]

I remember seeing this when WICU-TV would sign off for the night. I liked it so much I wrote to the station asking where I could get a copy. A few weeks later I received a copy, free in the mail. It now hangs framed in my kitchen.

[@JimMarshall57]

I'd be asleep, but my ears picked up this and i'd wake & go in the living room to watch it.. After the end, full of fresh inspiration, I'd turn off the tv.

[@BlueSky-qv7cd]

From what I have read John Gillespie was coming back from a high alt test of a new model of Spitfire and had a mid air collation with another aircraft at traffic pattern alt. to low to bail out. One wonders with such a artistic mind what other things he would have written.

[@theresalogsdon765]

I Loved this, I watch almost Every night. I was so Meaningful and Respectful.

[@DoctorPretorious616]

Awesome. This aired well before my time, I first saw it on an episode of Mad Men; part of the 1960's period detail, the poem, the narration and the aerial photography are inspiring and uplifting.

[@TheRjjrjjr]

This is a poem that truly does exalt the soul of man. I wish I was the kind of poet that could do such things.

[@solariscyberdeliko]

Wow! I've searched this one for years on You Tube, and now here it is--the original HIGH FLIGHT! Thank you, this is godhead stuff. Beautiful.

[@wb5oxq]

We played a b&w version at sign off at KWTX-TV 10 in Waco, Texas every night in the late 60s when I worked there. I am sure it was used many years before I got to the station. It was a 16mm film and it was scratched and full of splices too. One day we got a new color copy and transfered it to video tape so not to wear out another film copy. The station owner was an air force veteran and I am sure loved this poem very much.

[@craigbartek2486]

I remember the color copy. Not so much this b&w version, of course I was born in 66 so…..

[@russell5078084]

I'm 57. I remember this from the 1st time I saw it. The memory has stuck with me all these years. I appreciate it more today than I did in my youth.

[@glenclark530]

Often i would stay up to watch this beautiful poem video as TV stations in Detroit would sign off. And now, to think TV stations are 24/7 (31), and no remembrance of this classic, we do seem to "soon to forget".

[@thomaslee849]

I recently decided to memorize the poem, "High Flight", the fruit from a seed planted many years ago as a kid by this brief film somewhere in the '60s. I decided to see if the film was still in existence and, sure enough, here it is. So, I sat down this evening to write a remembrance of seeing it on one of the Des Moines, IA, TV stations as their signoff. Turns out 450 other people have already done it! Isn't it wonderful to think that such a stirring poem and the aerial footage of that F104 would make this profound an impression on so many of us, sort of bringing us all together for a few moments? The phrase, "the high, untrespassed sanctity of space" speaks of an era that feels long gone now. I never became a pilot but I certainly feel uplifted by this poem.

[@2259r3z]

One of our local stations played an updated color version of this featuring a USAF T-38 when I was a kid/teen in the early -mid '70s. I always looked forward to watching it when I was able to stay up that late on non school nights. I later ended up in the USAF on heavies.

[@MoonlightGR]

Loved staying up late to see this. Kind of scary for a young kid, however, when the television screen would turn to static.

[@sharonkapp4687]

Wasn't there also the same poem, but spoken by a Different man? If so, I liked that one bētter

[@mssrus]

His voice is so similar to Walter Pidgeon's. I lived watching and listening to the old sign-off!

[@nathandebartolo8330]

In 1967, my mother wrote to KTUL in Tulsa inquiring about this film. They mailed her a four paragraph fact sheet that I hope answers several questions posted here. The Story of "High Flight" During the early days of World War II, John Gillespie Magee Jr. wrote this inspired poem, which has been compared to World War I's immortal poem "Trees" by poet-soldier Joyce Kilmer. At the time of this inspirational writing John Magee Jr., son of the Harvard University chaplain, was undergoing flight training with the Royal Canadian Air Force. A short time later, he was killed in an aircraft accident. The Air Photographic and Charting Service (MATS - Military Air Transport Command) United States Air Force, has put "High Flight" to sound and music with dramatic aerial photography to communicate the esthetics of the miracle of flight. The film features the F-104 Starfighter (1,600 mph plus) and contains original Air Force music. The narrator is Jack Canavan who was formerly a radio and TV newscaster and is now with the Air Photographic and Charting Service.

[@Fabuladico]

I used to watch this when I was a kid. I fell in love with flying just watching this. John Gillespie Magee wrote this after a high altitude test flight of a Spitfire as soon as he landed. It was sent to his wife in a letter. It sounds very much like William Conrad reading.

[@bobbobb6595]

Some say it was done by Richard Basehart and Walter Pigeon and then by William Conrad. Personally, I think it sounds like Richard Basehart first (The 104 and the T-38 versions) and then, William Conrad done one some years later(F-15). However, I could be wrong.

[@vincentsartain3061]

@@bobbobb6595 Some say Leo Mann (never heard of him), others say William Conrad but there are extant versions by Conrad and the voices don't match. The narrator of this one is clearly the same guy who recites the '72 version. So if it's a toss-up between Richard Basehart and Walter Pidgeon, I'm guessing the latter because I, too, thought it may have been him; Pidgeon's voice is the closest match from Hollywood that I can imagine to that of the "unknown" narrator of this and the '72.

[@JaySkulk]

Yes! Finally after hours and hours of searching I finallt found the version with the voice I remember so well. these are X-1's X-2, or X-15 aircraft. One of the television stations here in Wasilla used to close with that every night. Then I would roll over and cover Sarah.

[@rrrogster]

The one featuring that aircraft preceded this video version. Same poem and great music though.

[@alrickett2810]

Long, long ago. Almost a different world. I had little cares back in that time, my childhood.

[@starclone4]

Always, A Very beautiful poem, for the heart, and soul !!!! ❤

[@brucesebree1673]

I recall this wonderful poem set to the magical video, that used to play at the end of the day as the television stations were signing off for the night. It made me reflect my relationship with God, and gave me hope. Although this film was shot in the early 60's, it has retained it's magical quality even to this day.

[@plunkervillerr1529]

This has always brought tears to my eyes. GOD BLESS AMERICA .

[@leomannpictures]

You bet. Me too!

[@LuvvyDuck]

One of the most epic TV moments ever.

[@winkburgess6107]

pretty sure I was around 17... and seem to recall the black and white version.. great voice to fall asleep to ..

[@cyberarmy007]

On May 18, 1958, an F-104A set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph, and on December 14, 1959, an F-104C set a world altitude record of 103,395 feet. The Starfighter was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb.

[@Liz_S702]

thank you for this information

[@daneswanson]

I miss the days when television would sign off for the night, and the whole world would go to sleep.

[@vincentsartain3061]

@djswansn I hear ya, brother! The 1960's and 70's are my childhood and youth decades. I've seen too many unpleasant changes in this world and I pray to God that I won't be around in another 30 years to languish in what this society and the world itself will be like between now and 2048. The simpler times were more palatable for me. Yeah, there was Vietnam and the abused civil rights demonstrators and their leaders and all kinds of shady goings on behind closed doors, but this isn't just nostalgia over "the good old days" that never really existed! I LIVED in those "simpler times" and I wish to God that our present day and generation could go back to basics and regain the stronger moral compass that prevailed in the bygone days. And yes, I miss the lower tech and the pre-cable days, when there was far more worthwhile viewing on broadcast TV with its 5 or 6 accessible channels than could be found today on the several hundred 24 hour stations of modern cable. The future looks so bleak. Compare that to five decades ago when, even in the midst of Vietnam, and even in the agonies of the aftermath of the MLK and RFK assassinations, we as a nation still had an unwavering hope for an ever- brightening future and a sense of optimism and a "can do" attitude.

[@jkdm7653]

Yeah, dj...so many channels now and so little really worth watching!

[@JadedAnon]

I remember having my own little black and white television in my room. And although I wasn't suppose to be up with the tele on so late, I had to see this every night just before the station sign off... I would blow kisses at the screen as this was ending. I felt something that until today I could not explain as a child. I felt proud. Proud of my father for serving in this country's Air force. I felt proud to be a child of those who chose this land as theirs and even fought for it and it's freedoms. And are citizens of a country that opens it's borders to hard working immigrants who have the very same desire to be free and to live and be a part of this amazing land. Let's never forget that we are all here together, wanting the same things. I really want to feel that pride again. Thank you so much. xoxo 3/2/2019

[@doc2skate]

Never saw this on the sign off. In those days kids were in bed by 9:00 p.m., but it was shown in some theaters right after the previews and just before the movie. This inspired me to join the Air Force.

[@rrrogster]

me too. I ended up mowing lawns cleaning urinals. Ha!

[@katgirl3000]

From Wikipedia: "High Flight is a 1941 sonnet written by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed at No. 53 OTU outside London, and mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September, three months before he died in a training accident. Originally published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was widely distributed when Magee became one of the first post-Pearl Harbor American casualties of the war on 11 Dcember, after which it was exhibited at the American Library of Congress in 1942.] Owing to its gleeful and ethereal portrayal of aviation, along with its allegorical interpretation of death and transcendence, the poem has been featured prominently in aviation memorials across the world, including that of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster."

[@donaldgordon2794]

i love this so much triumph

[@binderfan436]

I've wanted to hear that for a long time. Haven't heard it in years ..like everyone else. Since the sign off days.

[@jeffersonrundell7540]

This brings back childhood memories. Thank you.