Fightin' Air Force #10

A veteran Japanese pilot, Yatsuka Togoru, rises from rigorous training and aerial combat to face Japan's final desperate strategy as the war turns against them. When he's selected as a kamikaze pilot, Togoru accepts the honor that awaits him as American forces prepare their defense. This unflinching 1958 account traces his journey from a young recruit's test of will through years of air combat, witnessing how the tide of war reshapes his destiny.

When the B-17s of the 8th Air Force first crossed into occupied Europe in 1942, their early luck seemed almost unbelievable—ten successful missions without a loss. But as a bomber pilot discovers during what feels like the turning point, the Luftwaffe has finally figured out how to fight back, and the red-nosed fighters attack with new, devastating tactics. With engines failing, control systems damaged, and a wounded crew member unable to bail out, the pilot faces an impossible choice between abandoning his crippled fortress or risking everything to bring his men home.

Lt. Billy Green, a bomber pilot with a chip on his shoulder about the infantry's role in war, bails out over enemy territory after his plane takes a direct hit—only to find himself stranded behind German lines alongside the very soldiers he'd been dismissing. As Green and the infantrymen scramble to survive and escape, their initial friction gives way to a hard-won respect for what each branch of the military actually brings to the fight.

Captain Dink Benton, a cocky P-51 fighter pilot with twelve Nazi kills to his name, ribbs his old friend Captain Jim Lowery about the "soft" work of flying bombers—until Jim calls his bluff and invites him along on a bombing run to the San Luisa Dam. What starts as a joyride quickly turns into a harrowing combat mission as Dink discovers firsthand just how dangerous a bomber pilot's job really is, with enemy fighters, anti-aircraft fire, and the pressure of delivering the payload.