September 1

Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany (2001)

By Stephen Ambrose

My father served in the US Navy and flew an Avenger, but that was close enough to kindle my interest in the men of the US Army Air Corps who flew the much larger B-24s.

The pilots and crews of the WW2 B-24s were truly courageous.  These planes were difficult to fly; they were unheated (skin would stick to the frozen aluminum skin of the plane's interior, so gloves were imperative), they had no bathroom facilities, cabin pressure was not regulated, space was often so tight that crewmen had to remove parachutes just to fit in their designated spaces.  The worst positions were probably the ball gunner who sat curled up in a cramped position underneath the plane and the nose gunner in the plane's front.  The pilot may have had a more comfortable seat, but he was the one tasked with the safety of the crew and accomplishment of the mission.  Ambrose cites as an example former presidential candidate George McGovern, who was a member of this ambitious contingent of men who offered their skills (and in many cases, their lives) to serve their country.  Ambrose follows McGovern as he goes through his training (a lengthy and thorough process) and deployment to Italy.  The magic number of missions is 35, at which point the captain has fulfilled his service.  Sadly, many pilots never make it to that number; their planes are hit, they crash into mountains, etc.  For McGovern, he completes his mission and the war finally ends - but it is almost impossible to imagine the hardship of flying these planes.  Hero is a frequent word these days, but these pilots (along with their gunner and navigational crews) were truly heroic.

Shortly after reading this book, an antique B-24 flew into the airfield at Quonset, RI, and of course I had to go have a look.  I was even more impressed - especially at walking the narrow catwalk from the cabin to the tail gunner, with the bomb bay on both sides and only the sky (in my case, the ground) below. One hopes the airman doesn't make a misstep!