
On the morning of June 16th, 1943, over the skies of occupied France, Hedman Claus Dupner was a German ace. 31 confirmed victories. He had…

July 1944, central Germany. Ha man Hans Vera Leche walked toward hangar 7 with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. In front of him under…

11,000 ft above Luzon, a single P-51D Mustang bore down on 13 Japanese aircraft. The Packard Merlin screamed at full military power. Air speed climbed…

Nine German fighters circle below him. His engine is already coughing. His wingmen are scattered or dead. Standard doctrine says, “Climb, regroup, retreat.” Instead, he…

Lieutenant Commander Saburro Sakai had 64 kills. He’d never missed this maneuver, not once in 2 years of war. The P-38 should have been dead.…

The bomber that tried to become a fighter and failed brilliantly. At a.m. on May 29th, 1943, Captain James Hartwell climbed into the cockpit of…

August 17th, 1943,0800 hours. Somewhere over the Reich, 27,000 ft above the patchwork farmlands of central Germany, the air temperature hovers at 40° below zero.…

October 15th, 1942. The humid Pacific air clung to the corrugated metal hanger like a second skin at Henderson Field Guadal Canal. Technical Sergeant Charles…

October 14th, 1943, 25,000 ft above the German industrial city of Schweinford, Lieutenant Colonel William Temple grips the controls of his B7 flying fortress as…

October 11th, 1943, 23,000 ft above Wiiwok, New Guinea. Colonel Neil Kirby levels his P47 Thunderbolt and scans the horizon through the armored glass of…





