David Wilhelm

Dog Fights and Downtime David Wilhelm

#WWII #Italy #P-51 #Ace

I had made no analysis of the wisdom of the war or what was in store for me. But after President Roosevelt declared war in his "Day of Infamy" speech (December 8, 1941), I wanted to join the fighting forces.

In particular, I wanted to join the Army Air Corps to be a fighter pilot.

Using my personal journal, my scrapbook of orders, log books and letters home to my family as source materials, here's a little of what it was like to be a 23-year-old lad expressing his excitement, fear, fatigue, boredom, worries, and dreams during training to be a fighter pilot and then in combat overseas during World War II...

Relive these battles in North Africa, Italy, over Germany and many other fascinating WWII moments through the eyes of a combat ace pilot who recently was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.