Family stories have always intrigued me. Especially, my Father’s WWII stories which I’ve heard since I was a 10-year-old boy. Over the years, these tales came to life in my mind. Dad served as a tail gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress, flying bombing missions out of central Italy in the summer of 1944. On their 27th mission, while flying over German-held Northern Italy, their bomber experienced engine failure. With engines on fire and the plane losing altitude, Dad and his crewmates bailed out. Over the next 10 months as WWII ground to its end, life got very difficult these flyers. In 2002, my father gave me a cache of family letters from the war years. He had kept them never quite knowing what he would do with them. In I Wanted Wings, A Tail Gunner’s Story, these two related pieces of my family’s history come together. I hope that with the reading of this book, his experiences and the story of his family will come to life for you. I hope that upon reading this book, you will find you hold our American flag and our veterans in higher regard, and that you have gained a greater understanding of their gifts of service.