Project Blue Gale was de-classified in July of 1948, published in a carefully abridged version by the government. Chuck Yeager was immediately hailed as an American hero, 'the fastest man alive', and all who had worked on the project were awarded special citations by the United States government. Many of those who worked on it have since passed, though the legacy of their work lives on the supersonic jets and planes developed both for military and commercial purposes. Several still live in the Muroe area, and Yeager himself, 80 in February of 2003, lives in California still.
Due to the nature of the information, all files concerning the truth of Captain Scott Garnet's involvement were not de-classified until 1998 - the 50th anniversary of the X-1's successful mission. Likewise, all information concerning Garnet's cause of death -officially stated as a result of the hangar-related fire that had actually occurred September 15th - were classified until they were opened at the request of several inquiring parties. Nevertheless, Scott Garnet was posthumously awarded the Prisoner of War medal in 1967 for his services during the campaigns in Salerno and Termoli. He was awarded the Medal for Humane Action in 1999 for saving the life of Chuck Yeager, and a Bronze Star Medal for non-combat work.
John Redson was courtmartialed for treason, sabotage, conduct unbecoming of a soldier, involuntary manslaughter of a fellow officer and attempted murder of a fellow officer by the military, resulting in a request for his execution by electrocution. He was also blacklisted by the House UN-American Activities Committee, in a closed-door session, for his actions during Project Blue Gale. His sentence was deferred in 1952 during the Rosenburg scandal, to a sentence of 126 years. He died two years later of alcohol-related cirrosis.
Mary Garnet went on to publish seven children's books, titled 'SONIC the Hedgehog', under Putnam, from 1949 to 1957 (last published in 1974), as well as a lesser-known set of books called 'Mysteries with a Meow', about the neigborhood adventures of a squabbling cat and dog detective team (last published in 1967). Her most famous book, however, was a controversial biography of her husband, 'Behind the Wind'. It was censored and banned in the US for its reference to classified material on Termoli; New York Times Co. v. United States forced the US to re-allow publication. Garnet died on January 5, 1974 in a car accident in Buffalo.
Sherry Garnet went on to become a paralegal, then a romance writer, before becoming the president of a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of war memorabilia in upstate New York. She lives in Messina, New York, as Sherry Nocteau, and has two children and seven grandchildren.
Hiriam Garnet died of tuberculosis on December 2, 1947 in Yorba Linda, California. He willed all of his possessions to Mary Garnet and her daughter.
Margaret Rye and Joan O'Meara became the most vocal of advocates for the declassification of Scott Garnet's files. Rye still lives in New York City, though she resigned from the Journal and is now a financial analyst for several stock corporations; O'Meara moved to Dallas and teaches history at Texas A & M. The two still communicate regularly.
Naoto Ohshima acquired most of the copyrights to the SONIC name in 1987-1988, and went on to create the SEGA version of Sonic the Hedgehog as we know him today. Sonic is now one of the most recognizable names and faces in gaming and commercial retail. He has appeared in approximately 100 games, starring in at least 30 of his own games. It has also spun off books, four different TV shows, an OAV, a possible movie, several comics and countless amounts of related merchandise. Currently, Ohshima is also lobbying the acquisition of the remaining rights to Sonic the Hedgehog from Putnam in order to re-release the SONIC books.
The true Sonic, and Scott Garnet still live today, as do all of his friends and loved ones who are not with us. The only way to find them is to break the sound barrier...and look to the Sonic Wind.
THE END