Countdown!: 36 Daylight Missions Against Nazi Germany

Bought this for my father who lived in the barracks with the author during the war. Brought back lots of memories for him. I read it and enjoyed it as well. Very well written and tells it like it really was according to my father.

Out of the dozen or so WWII ETO US bomber force narratives I've read, Koger provides the best balance between detail and the big picture. Arriving halfway through 1944, he missed most of the devastation wrought by Luftwaffe fighters, finding the flak to be the primary enemy. With the decline of the fighter threat, however, came the increase to 35 missions per tour.Indeed, Koger does a good job of articulating his evolving emotions, starting with uncertainty and confusion on the first few missions, gaining confidence through the next few, achieving a near cockiness on the middle missions, and the gradual grind of rising anxiety eventually nearing "flak happy" status. Kroger's social outings with British girls are good reading, as well. The ultimate irony is his relationship with a British WAAF stationed at a flak battery!One significant differentiation from other narratives: as a bombardier, Koger spent a lot of time actually looking out and down through the plexiglass, watching and observing the missions with somewhat greater detail than usual. His love of the very nose of the B-17 almost got him killed on one landing...All-in-all, a very worthwhile read for WWII history enthusiasts.