A riveting story of one person's passage from college kid to accomplished World War II pilot. Jack Stettner takes us along on his enthralling journey from enlistment in reaction to the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor through primary, basic, advanced and combat pilot training, to flying his first combat missions. Along the way we meet several interesting characters (people and aircraft), share his excitement upon earning his wings, and relive his harrowing experience of bailing out over China. His intimate description of the various stages of pilot training adeptly proves that learning to fly is only part of the requirement to survive 44 combat missions and 400 combat hours in the skies over Japanese-occupied China.