They arrived at Amendola, Italy, on the day their entire squadron, the Twentieth, and others of the Second Bomb Group, had been wiped out by the Luftwaffe. That legacy was their introduction to war. 

Through McGuuire and Hadley the reader will watch these enthusiastic, bright-eyed, cocky boys lose that brightness and confidence. when fatigue and weariness became so overpowering and seem to go deep into the bones, it is only their pride in themselves, their crew, and their country that keeps them returning to the skies to face another day of that dreaded flak and German fighters. There appeared to be no way to survive. 

In the midst of the horrors of aerial combat, they can still find humor living in the 'Amendola Ritz,' compassion for those innocent victims of every war--the children, marvel in the early morning song of a bird, and enjoy the historical sights of Rome. 

These ten men, from the economic, cultural, and geographic spectrum of 1940s America, were representative of the best their country had to offer. "