It is the Fourth of July, 1945 and the celebration is even more significant this year – the war in Europe has ended. As a country, everyone hopes and prays that the war in the Pacific will come to a quick conclusion. A young boy and girl sit on the front lawn with their faithful companion and enjoy the fireworks in the town below. These children symbolize the post-war hope that perhaps soon all will live in peace. In the distance a thunderstorm, the “cloud of war,” begins to move away. High in the sky overhead a civilian version of the new Lockheed Constellation ushers in a new era of peacetime air transportation. - WSP