Early in 1944, with North Africa secure, Sicily taken, and the struggle for Southern Europe underway, bombardment and fighter groups of the Twelfth Air Force moved from Algeria and Tunisia into Italy. Accompanying them were the Air Service Technicians who made the major repairs and stocked the supplies that kept the bombers and fighters flying. In this book, Edgar L. McCormick of the 318th Air Service Squadron (Sp) reveals the human side of the behind-the-scenes effort that kept American combat aircraft in the air.Staff Sergeant McCormick's subject is the life of non-professional soldiers in the Air Force training and service commands, the army experiences of men who left their careers and their families to serve their country. Their self-sufficiency, their frustrations and successes, and the system they had to accept are re-created here from letters, diaries, and memory. Combining accounts of friendships made while in the service with knowledge of change and problems at home, McCormick depicts the good and the bad of life in the rear echelons of the Air Force in World War II. Read Less