ike an elongated shoe box。〃 The leader of his squadron wasflying through it。 Those behind were about to enter the German box。 It wastime to pull the flak jackets on。 These were for the crew； whose membersdid not have the cast iron protection the pilot and co…pilot did。 The jacketsconsisted of irregularly shaped metal plates stitched between two sheetsof canvas to form a vest。 To TenHaken； 〃their purpose seemed primitive；identical to that of suits of armor。〃 They weighed about twenty pounds each。Most veterans decided early on not to wear them； but to put them betweentheir seats and their butts； thus protecting the most important part。
Over the target； with flak bursting from the shells all around his plane；TenHaken started dropping the chaff packets through one of the waist windows。After dropping one； he tried to count to ten as he had been told beforeletting the next one go； but in the midst of the flak he seldom got pasttwo or three。 Then the plane to his right got hit。 〃A flak explosion atits number three engine had blown the right wing from the body。 The scenewas inprehensible — the wing tumbled over and down； and the fuselagewas nosing into a dive。〃 There were no parachutes。 〃The bam…bam…bams andpoof…poof…poofs were exploding everywhere； it was inconceivable to fly throughthis unscathed。〃
The bomber lurched。 Have we been hit？ TenHaken wondered。 Through theinter； he heard the bombardier say； 〃Bombs away。〃 （〃The most beautifulwords in the English language；〃 according to one pilot）。 Then the bombardiercontinued； 〃Now let ’s get the hell out of here。〃 After a pause； he cameon the inter again to say； 〃I wasn ’t supposed to add that last part。〃
Lieutenant Cord banked the plane into a steep dive to the right。 TenHakenthought； thank you； God。 Cord came on the inter to ask each crew memberto report any damage。 None。 When they were out of the flak； TenHaken liftedhis oxygen mask and shouted above the engine noise to the photographer；〃You’ve been through seventeen of these now。 Was this flak typical； lighter；worse； or what？〃 The photographer grinned and shouted back； 〃It wasn’tlight。 Each mission seems to get worse； but I can ’t believe they couldget more up here than they did。〃
Over the inter； Cord asked； 〃Flight engineer back there？〃 He wantedto know what the trouble was with the gas gauges。 Number three engine sputteredand quit。 〃Get something to three；〃 Cord ordered。
〃I’m trying；〃 the engineer answered。 〃I’m trying。〃
Cord realized what had happened。 On the inter he said； 〃The bastardshit our gas lines over the target。 They ’ve just vibrated loose。〃
The number two engine quit。 The engineer repeated that he was tryingto transfer the gasoline flow。 He could not。
〃We ’re losing altitude and control；〃 Cord yelled。 〃We ’re at sixteenthousand； a couple seconds back； we were at eighteen。〃 He added； 〃Standby to bail if necessary。〃
Then number four engine quit。 Then number one。 There was a long momentof quiet； only the sound of the wind that buffeted the plane about in theglide。 Then 〃the terrible clanging of the bail…out bell crashed the quiet。〃
Everyone got out okay； landed safely； and became POWs。 For TenHaken；the co…pilot； and the rest of the crew； it was their first mission。 It wasnumber thirty…two for Lieutenant Cord。 For the photographer； number seventeen。For all of them； it was the last。
〃Anon〃 made up words to sing to the tune of 〃As Time Goes By〃：
You must remember this
The flak can’t always miss
Somebody’s gotta die。
The odds are always too damned high
As flak goes by。 。 。
It’s still the same old story
The Eighth gets all the glory
While we’re the ones who die。
The odds are always too damned high
As flak goes by。
Learning to Fly in bat（3）
Once in the fall of 1944 McGovern went up in a practice run； with onlyhis co…pilot； Bill Rounds and his navigator； Sam Adams； along。 McGovernwas upset with Rounds because while McGovern was flying co…pilot with Surbeck；Rounds used his free time to go into Cerignola to find a girl。 He contractedVD and had to be treated with sulfa powder。 McGovern was about ready tokick him off the plane。 But on this practice mission； which was done primarilyto give the co…pilots who had not yet been flying some experience； Roundsdid most of the flying。 〃He took that plane as if he’d been doing thisall his life；〃 McGovern said。 〃I think I could’ve done as well； but I couldn’t have done any better and I had a lot of practice。〃 Rounds just tuckedinto position and held it there。 That night； the pilot of the lead plane；a captain； came to McGovern in the officer’s club to say； 〃You know； George；you ’ve got one hell of a valuable co…pilot。 He flies the best formationof any co…pilot I ’ve seen。 That guy is tremendous — you better hold ontohim with both hands。〃 Right then； McGovern decided to forget about Rounds’s VD。 He figured he had better let the man do what he wanted on his offhours。
___________________________
Lt。 Donald Currier was a part of one of the first B…24 squadrons ofthe Fifteenth Air Force to arrive in Italy and thus flew his first missionin January； 1944； one of the first of his group。 It was two days after hissquadron had arrived in Italy。 The target was the railroad yards in Perugia；just off the Tiber River； in support of the ground troops。 But when thebombers arrived； it was snowing。 Landmarks were obscured。 The lead navigator；having no radar （which only came nine months later）； was unable to see anythingbut clouds。 Currier was the navigator flying in the B…24 on the wing ofthe lead plane。 〃I looked desperately for something I could see and recognize；〃he recalled； but he saw nothing。
The lead plan opened his bomb bays。 The bombardier in Currier ’s planefollowed the leader。 He put his finger on the toggle switch。 When the leaderdropped his bombs； he and the other bombardiers did the same。 Currier sawthe bombs fall in open countryside。 He saw some bursts of flak on one sideand far away and thought； I don ’t know why the Germans bothered。 We certainlydidn’t do them any harm。 He and the pilot and crew resolved 〃we would goagain and again until we got it right。〃
Currier would go on to make a career in the Air Force。 Looking backfour decades； he said that in his experience 〃it seems incredible that wewould be flying a bat mission with so little training or experience。〃But that was how badly the Fifteenth needed pilots and crews in January1944。 It was because of that need that the AAF instituted the policy ofrequiring just…arrived pilots to fly as co…pilots for five missions beforetaking up their own plane and crew； since the men had gone through the speeded…uptraining program in 1944。 In 1945 the manders changed policy again； puttingnew pilots and their crews into action as soon as they arrived in Italy。And it was the casualty list that forced the manders of the bomb groupsto keep demanding more replacements。
Bombardier Lt Donald Kay arrived in Italy in May 1944 and was assignedto the 783rd Squadron； 465th Bomb Group。 Of the three classmates in bombardierschool who came over with Kay and were close friends； two were killed inthe air and the other became a POW。 Overall； Kay recalled that of the seventeenoriginal crews that started the war with him； only si