The stories in this book reflect the dedication of the B-17 crews fighting a losing battle in 1943 and early 1944. The politicians and military leaders soon realized that to gain air superiority it would simply be a battle of attrition. The missions to bomb the German industrial targets were dreaded by the crews. After only a few missions there were more replacement crews than original flyers on base. It was obvious to all the flyers that they were not going to make their twenty-five missions and get a free ticket home.Unknown to the rookie crews were thousands of flak guns awaiting the B-17s march into German airspace. There they would also face the deadly German fighter Gruppes intent on destroying any enemy airplane flying over the Fatherland.