My War in Italy: On the Ground and in Flight With the 15th Air Force

Six weeks before Pearl Harbor, Keith Mason received a ＄150 uniform allowance, a pair of silver wings, and his first assignment as a flight instructor: Randolph Field, Texas. Two years later, he was Squadron Officer in the 460th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force in Spinazzola, Italy - flying the harrowing combat missions he dreamed of as a boy in rural Iowa.

As a memoir of one man's war years, Mason provides insight on the inner workings of serving as an airman during World War II: facing stultifying boredom, stupefying incompetence, paralyzing fear, and stunning success. Details of how crews were selected for combat missions, of the necessity to occasionally break up crews, and of select missions in which Mason was a participant are important additions to the history and literature of this often neglected theater.

Keith Mason was born in Waukon, Iowa in 1920, where he now lives with his family. Together with wife Jean Anne Mason, for whom he named his two B-24 airplanes, he has five children and six grandchildren. During World War II, Keith Mason completed 48 missions before returning to the United States. He is a retired vocational auto mechanics instructor who organized his courses utilizing principles and techniques he learned as a flight instructor.