May 1, 1943: A B-17 bomber from the 306th Bomb Group is hit, engulfed in flames, and seconds away from breaking apart. But one gunner refuses to go down without a fight.

James Raley was stuck. It was January 1944, and the tail section of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber nicknamed “Skippy” where Raley was positioned as a tail gunner had been severed from the ...