ONE OF THE LAST GREAT UNTOLD STORIES FROM WORLD WAR II. Elizabeth City, North Carolina. 1942-1944. Declassified 2013. Project Zebra was a top-secret mission created by Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. And it would be the only time in history, America would build 185 huge, state-of-the-art warplanes hand-painted with Red Army stars in the Philadelphia Naval Yard. Once built, the planes were ferried to the sleepy, patriotic town of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. There a select group of US Naval officers trained 300+ Soviet airmen during a period of 18 months before dispatching a Soviet squadron at a time to the Atlantic and Pacific battle theaters. Project Zebra was far more than just a bold military mission; it was a historic human event. Despite language barriers, cultural differences, and the subsequent Cold War, the Soviet and American Zebras built life-long friendships based on mutual respect and trust—something that might serve us well to remember during today's turbulent times. (Contains 200+ rare photographs and documents).