EntertainmentTVDrama ShowsMasters of the AirMasters of the Air true story: here’s what happened to the 100th Bomb Group after the showWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentTVDrama ShowsMasters of the AirMasters of the Air true story: here’s what happened to the 100th Bomb Group after the showWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Apple)

Masters of the Airtells the true story of the 100th Bomb Group, AKA the Bloody Hundredth, and their experiences during World War 2.
If you’ve watched the series on Apple TV Plus, you might be wondering what happened to the core characters after the war finished. We’ve gone into details below on key members of the Bloody Hundredth and what they got up to once the fighting ended – that means there are technically Masters of the Air spoilers here, though of course it’s all history.
So, to find out what happened to the likes of Gale Cleven and John Egan after the war, head to our guide below for all you need to know.
Gale “Buck” Cleven
(Image credit: Apple)

Cleven really was best friends with Egan in real life (and he really did ask him “what the hell took you so long?” when they reunited in the prisoner of war camp). After the war, Cleven remained in the Air Force and retired in 1964 as a Colonel, after serving in Korea, Vietnam, and working at The Pentagon.
He also earned some impressive academic credentials, securing an MBA from Harvard Business School, a doctorate in interplanetary physics, a masters in geology, and a maths degree. Cleven went on to take over Webber College in Florida and turned it from a struggling institution to a thriving business school.
In the series, Cleven proposed to his girlfriend Marjorie, and in real life the duo married in 1945, with Egan as best man. Tragically, Marjorie died in 1953. Cleven later remarried, and he and his second wife Esther Lee Athey were together until Cleven died in 2006 at the age of 97.
John “Bucky” Egan
(Image credit: Apple)

Like Cleven, Egan survived his stint in the POW camp. He remained in the Air Force after the war, and, in 1945, he married a fellow pilot named Josephine Pitz. They had two children together.
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Sadly, Egan suffered a heart attack and died in 1961, aged just 45. He was awarded the Legion of Merit posthumously and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
(Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Robert Rosenthal
(Image credit: Apple)

When the fighting finished, Rosenthal, who was a lawyer before the war, was involved in the Nuremberg trials against the surviving Nazi leaders as an assistant to the US prosecutor Robert Houghwout Jackson. He even interrogated one of the top ranking Nazis, Hermann Göring, as well as field marshall Wilhelm Keitel.
On the way to Germany, Rosenthal met Phyllis Heller, another lawyer involved in the prosecution at Nuremberg – they married and had three children together.
Rosenthal died in 2007 at the age of 89.
Masters of the Air is streaming on Apple TV Plus now. Fill out your watchlist with our guide to thebest shows on Apple TV Plus.
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