Lt. Col. James Harvey III — one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen — grew up in the Northeast’s industrial heartland in the 1920s and 30s, living the "good life"
This week’s America250 salute is Army Veteran Leslie MacDill, the namesake of MacDill Air Force Base who is considered one of aviation’s early pioneers.
On July 15, 1942, a formation of six Lockheed P-38s and two B-17s from the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) were making their way across the northern Atlantic Ocean heading for Great Britain.[1] Using the call sign Tomcat Flight, the small P-38 fighters were escorted by the larger B-17 bombers that had a dedicated navigator and a radio operator on board shepherding their “little friends” on the long journey. While this area of the globe is known for its fickle weather, the summer months were generally considered the best time of year to transverse the expanse. However, on the third leg of the journey, running from Greenland to Iceland, the North Atlantic weather lived up to its unpredictable reputation. The formation ran into bad weather, experienced icing, and was unable to continue its eastward journey. Hoping to return to their point of departure at airfield “BLUIE WEST 8” in western Greenland, the P-38’s fuel status showed otherwise.[2] Because ditching in the frigid waters of
True Warriors: The U.S. Eighth Air Force Was Really Number One
The Eighth Air Force served in combat longer than any other U.S. Army unit in the European Theater.
Key Point: After more than two years of aerial bombardment of targets throughout Germany and Occupied Europe, the Eighth Air Force had come to symbolize heavy bombing.
When World War II in Europe came to an end, the Eighth Air Force was the most famous unit in the U.S. Army Air Forces and, until the massive Boeing B-29 Superfortress raids against Japan in the spring of 1945, it was the most powerful.