The Distinguished Service Cross awarded to Capt. Wheless is second only to the Medal of Honor. The mission he was awarded the medal for occurred on December 14, 1941, just one week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Capt. Wheless survived the war and remained in the Air Force, retiring at a Lt. General in 1968.
This short is included as a bonus on the 2003 Warner 2 disc DVD set of Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).
In the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's (AMPAS) on-line database, as well as its set of looseleaf pages listing all nominees and winners, this wartime dramatic short is incorrectly identified as an entry in Warner Bros.' "Broadway Brevities" series, which comprises musical two-reelers.
It was while doing historical research for the Warner Bros. feature "Captain Blood" in 1935 that producer Gordon Hollingshead got the idea to produce a series of historical and patriotic shorts for Warner Bros. He produced many, including "Beyond the Line of Duty" over the next several years, many in Technicolor.
Vitaphone production reels #A1064-A1065