Walt Disney's Support of the Military in WWII

Walt Disney:  An American Original by Bob Thomas (Simon & Schuster, 1976) is a good business biography.  It covers Disney's life, often highlighting his passion to entertain people, the power of his vision, and his creativity.

It was particularly interesting in describing Disney's support of the military in World War II. Several events stood out.

• Early in the war, Disney started making training videos for the War Industry as well as for the military.  Some of his films included Four Methods of Flush Riveting for Lockheed Aircraft and Aircraft Carrier Landing Signals for the Navy.
• Disney was losing a lot of artist to the draft.  The Draft Board assume that the artist were just making Mickey Mouse.  Walt Disney decided to bring the Draft Board into the studio to see the war efforts. The Draft Board members had to be cleared by Army Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, and the FBI, and they were still areas of the studio which were off limit due to the top secret nature of the work.  The Draft Board changed its mind and re-assigned drafted employees back to Disney Studios.
• Walt Disney was a big fan of the book Victory Through Air Power by Alexander de Seversky.  Disney worked with de Seversky to make a film about the principles in the book.  Roosevelt and Churchill saw the film in the summer of 1943.  The film is credited with the increased role of air power in the D-Day invasion.