Pilots and Painted Ladies: 493rd Bomb Squadron and the Air War in the CBI [Hardcover]

A great read... The author clearly spent many hours talking with his father as the re-created dialogue expertly tells the story of one mans experiences serving his country during the war.  Gene Pfeffer, Curator, National Museum of WWII AviationRaised on a farm in Montana, Vernon Drake enlisted in the Army Air Corp in the spring of 1942. Assigned to the 493rd Bomb Squadron, 7th Bomb Group of the 10th Air Force stationed in India, he piloted B-24 bombers into Burma in a fight to prevent the Japanese from advancing north to China, then flew C-108 gas-hauling tankers across the formidable Himalayas to support the U.S. and Allied armies. This dangerous airlift saw tons of fuel and supplies flown daily over the tallest mountain range in the world, regardless of the weather.He and the other airmenaged only eighteen to twenty-fiveflew dangerous missions over unforgiving territory against a brutal enemy. To provide some personal identity in an impersonal war, aircrews often painted artwork and identifying names onto the nose of their aircraft. As a talented artist, Lt Drake would spend many off-duty hours painting aircraft at the request of their crews, becoming a significant contributor to the nose art of the 10th Air Force.Drakes story, pieced together from his meticulous records, contrasts the hours spent creating works of art with the moments of sheer terror in combat over enemy targets and navigating through towering mountains engulfed in murderous storms while carrying thousands of gallons of highly explosive fuel.A Montana farm boy with artistic talent flies B-24 bombers over Burma and C-108 gas-hauling tankers across the dangerous Himalayas into China.American airmen flew dangerous missions over the Himalayas and into the jungles of Burma during WWII, threatened not just by the enemy but by the unforgiving terrain.A new perspective on their experience, through the first-hand account of a young artist, Vernon Drake, who piloted bombers over Burma and tankers to l³m