The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

U.S. Navy Lt. Gregory Gagarin (an MIT graduate) surrounded by Russian officers on a hill in North Carolina as he explained the American political system…in Russian

As long as I can remember, Russians have been the people “we love to hate.”

• During the 1944 Dewey-Roosevelt Presidential election, Dewy promised voters said he would rid America of the “red commie menace” his sources indicated were attempting to seize control of the Federal Government. Dewey lost the electoral vote 432-99; the largest defeat in history.
• From 1952-1957 Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy orchestrated “the Red Scare” to identify communists and left-wingers in government media. His destructive barrage ruined careers, before he was publicly berated for wasting taxpayer money by a special U.S. Army counsel.

Russian and American Naval and Air Force officers take a break during OJT training on American-built state-of-the-art warplanes

• During the height of the Cold War (the 1950-s and 60’s) Americans built bomb shelters and stored massive amounts of food in anticipation of a Russian first strike. Interestingly, Russia built even more shelters, convinced, America planned a “first-strike” missile attack against Moscow and St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad).
• Did you know that 35% of the most popular American movies of all time depict Russians as spies, and power-hungry deviates?
• Recently, the CEO of America’s leading TV network predicted the new TV season would “break ratings records” because there would be more Russia-as-villain programming than ever before.
• Guards wielding machine guns behind barbed wire barricades at Mulkowsky Airbase (25 miles from Moscow City Center), patrol 24/7 waiting for “the inevitable American incursion.”

Project Zebra’s unlikely protagonists: 300 Russian airmen and 12 US Naval officers

It is against the past and current Red-Frenzy, that I accidentally uncovered discovered one of the last great, untold stories of WWII. Two years later, after hundreds of interviews, and trips to Russia, Philly, and the Deep South, Project Zebra. Roosevelt and Stalin’s top-secret mission to train 300 Soviet Airman in America, began to appear in online bookstores around the world.

The book’s message is simple: there was one moment a time when Russians and Americans worked together to crush the dreaded Nazi scourge. Yes, Project Zebra mission was a tremendous military success, But, perhaps even more importantly, this band-of-brothers, despite language barriers and historical misconceptions, learned to understand, to respect, to trust. Some even became lifelong friends.

If you’re one of those folks, like myself, who believe we should leave the world a better place for future generations, you might want to consider reading Project Zebra. But, careful not to become pollyannaish because the Russians still may be coming.