John Wayne as Captain Dooley

Lloyd Nolan as Captain Stutz

Walter Abel as Col. Fuller

James Arness as Mac McMullen

Andy Devine as Willie Moon

Allyn Joslyn as J.H. Handy

Jimmy Lydon as Murray, Dooley's navigator

Harry Carey, Jr. as Ralph Hunt, Moon's co-pilot

Hal Baylor as Stankowski, Dooley's engineer

Sean McClory as Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot

Wally Cassell as D'Annunzia, Dooley's radioman

Gordon Jones as Walrus

Frank Fenton as Captain Turner

Robert Keys as Major Ditson

Sumner Getchell as Lieutenant Cord

Regis Toomey as Sergeant Harper

Paul Fix as Wally Miller

Jim Dugan as Gidley

George Chandler as Rene

Louis Jean Heydt as Fitch

Bob Steele as Wilson

Darryl Hickman as Swanson

Mike Connors as Gainer

Cass Gidley as Stannish

Herbert Anderson as Breezy

Anthony De Mario as Ogden

Ann Doran as Moon's Wife (uncredited)

Fess Parker as Fitch's Co-Pilot (uncredited)

William A. Wellman as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Dawn Bender as Murray's Wife

Carl Switzer as Sonny Hopper

Billy Lee Aimone as Boy (uncredited)