Newsletter #3 – May 22, 2026
I am often asked why I became interested in producing a documentary about Cornelia Fort. It’s an easy answer.
In 2009, I covered the 65th anniversary of D-Day from the beaches of Normandy with daily blog posts for a national publication. My trip started in London where I toured the Churchill War Room and the Imperial War Museum. Next stop was Portsmouth, England, a major equipment and personnel staging point for the planned Allied invasion. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, directed the invasion from Southwick House, located five miles north of Portsmouth. At Southwick House, as I walked into the map room, I was immediately drawn to weather charts on the wall. Eisenhower postponed D-Day from June 5 to June 6 because of weather forecasts he received in the days before the invasion. What a fascinating topic for a future article I thought.
After crossing the English Channel, I first walked through the Normandy American Cemetery where thousands of Allied soldiers are buried. Located on a hill overlooking Omaha Beach, the solemn scene was breathtaking. At Omaha Beach, I listened to D-Day veterans tell of their experiences on that day, still pausing with emotion as they remembered their fallen brothers as if it was yesterday. I took time to walk along Omaha Beach by myself and as I looked at Pointe du Hoc, I committed to keeping this history alive when I returned home.
That commitment led me to the story of Cornelia Fort, the first woman pilot to die while on active duty. I learned about Cornelia in 2019 through a small display at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in Honolulu. I decided to research her life in 2020 as I planned an online webinar for students to honor the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 2021. Cornelia was in the air as a civilian pilot instructor when the Pearl Harbor attack began. She came nose-to-nose with a Japanese Zero. In January 2022, I decided to produce a documentary about her remarkable life of courage.
D-Day Weather Forecast
In 2018, I wrote an article about the D-Day weather forecasts. James Stagg, a British meteorologist, was Eisenhower’s chief meteorologist. He led a team of both British and American meteorologists. In 1971, he published his memoir about developing those forecasts for Eisenhower – Forecast for Overlord. I purchased a copy of his book as background for the article. It soon became clear I needed a meteorologist to explain the weather forecasts so I interviewed a meteorology professor at the University of Michigan for the article. I’ve updated that article a few times since 2018 and in 2020, published my most recent story – D-Day Meteorologist Had Pressure Everywhere. I just edited that story for my new Stories 250 website, a repository for my work of the past 20 years.
Just a few weeks ago, I was stunned to learn that on May 29, the new movie, Pressure, will open in theaters nationwide. The movie is about James Stagg and his forecasts! I cannot wait to see it. A word of caution though. Stagg never advised Eisenhower to delay the invasion one day. Stagg’s job was to deliver weather forecasts to Gen. Eisenhower, that’s all. Even if the movie has that wrong, it’s still great the story is being told!
I wish all a wonderful Memorial Day weekend as we honor the fallen. Let’s remain committed to keeping their stories alive.
All the best,
Judy Miller
editor@stories250.com