John Bommarito

We Kept 'em Flying: True Story of the 57th Service Squadron in World War II Action John Bommarito

WE KEPT 'EM FLYING takes you on a 5-year "tour-of-duty" with a U. S. Army Air Corps service squadron during World War II. Its 267 pages tell how the 212 men of the 57thhelped win the air war over N. Africa, Sicily, Italy, Franceand Germanyusing mechanical skills and hand tools as their weapons. Working just behind front lines in sevendifferent theatres of war, they were constant targets of an enemy bent ondestroying Allied air power. Writing inan informal "you were there" style, the author recounts the entire existence ofthe 57th, from its formation in 1941 to its disbanding in 1945. You will be with the men of the 57thevery step of the way, from basic training in Portland, Oregon, through their many battlefieldexploits across Africa and Europe,to their celebrations of triumph in Germany. You'll learn what it was to be a member ofthe ground crew attached to a fighter-bomber attack group always moving itsbase forward, right on the heels of the advancing infantry. The author shows you the integral part playedby the 57th throughout the progression of the Europeanconflict. He has gathered historicalfacts from U. S. Air Force archives and drawn on the memories of the fewremaining members of the 57th to present to the public a littleknown aspect of WWII.