"In 1943, the U.S. Navy was desperate for trained aircraft carrier pilots and deck-crews. Because every carrier that could float was in use, there was no place to give fledgling sailors a taste of launching and recovering planes at sea. Then a Navy commander decided to convert two Great Lakes steamers into training carriers. That was the beginning of a small, but important part of Chicago's and the Navy's history that has been almost completely forgotten. "'Top Guns of '43' tells the story of the Navy's Lake Michigan carrier training program through interviews with some of the people who went through the program, through film the Navy made at the time--including some that was classified--and through archeological work done on the floor of Lake Michigan. All those elements combine to give a complete picture of this small, but significant part of Chicago's history. History that would have been lost had 'Top Guns of '43' not been made."--1989 Peabody Awards entry form.
