Veteran’s telling of World War II truly captivating

As the number of World War II veterans decreases, first-person narratives about the war become increasingly welcome and valuable.

Jack Myers was only 20 when he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces early in 1944.

As a bombardier second lieutenant, he served six months on active duty with the 15th Air Force in Italy, completing 50 bombing missions. Yet he waited more than 50 years to write “Shot at and Missed: Recollections of a World War II Bombardier,” a memoir of that brief but action-packed period.

In his introduction, Myers explains how this was possible: He did not rely on only his memory of events but on a very detailed diary, which he kept at his brother’s urging, and on letters sent home almost daily.

Being an officer, Myers was entitled to censor his own mail, which allowed him to write to his brother in much greater detail than would have been permitted if his letters had been read by a third party.

He also kept detailed records of all the missions he flew aboard Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, and saved a large volume of official papers, orders, photographs, letters, notes and newspaper and magazine clippings.

This material refreshed his memory when necessary and has contributed to a complete and colorful narrative.

The book’s title comes from a quote by Winston Churchill: “There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as being shot at and missed.”

Myers says: “This aptly describes why young boys go to war. As long as they are missed, it is an unbelievable experience.”

Myers repeatedly stresses, however, that being aboard a bomber while under attack from German fighter planes or at the receiving end of anti-aircraft gunnery (“flak”) is far from pleasant. Indeed, it is a terrifying experience.

Myers chronicles straightforwardly and simply his and his colleagues’ varied reactions to their exposures to death and destruction. Some were daredevils who believed they were invincible and would not die in combat. Others did not worry because they felt they could do nothing to change whatever fate had been assigned to them by God.

Others fretted about their decreasing possibilities of survival, and became despondent as they racked up missions: They feared the odds were stacked against them and that as they came closer to the end of their required 50 missions, their chances of being killed rose exponentially. (There were several cases of men shot down and sometimes killed on their last scheduled mission.)

In retrospect, the appetite of the meat-grinding machine of the war in Europe is still appalling: Of the 12,731 Flying Fortresses built during the war, 4,735 were lost in combat. More than 100,000 crew members of these planes were killed, wounded, captured or listed as missing in action.

Myers’ book is not all about gloom and doom, although it is packed with dramatic circumstances far stranger than anything dreamed up by a novelist. He is able to flesh out the personalities of many of the men who shared his experiences.

“Shot at and Missed” ($29.95) is a book that should not be missed.