Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious, burning blue I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untresspassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. - John Gillespie Magee, Jr. In December 1941, Pilot Officer John G. Magee, a 19-year-old American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England, was killed when his Spitfire collided with another aircraft inside a cloud. Several months before his death, he composed his immortal sonnet "High Flight," a copy of which he fortunately mailed to his parents in the U.S.A.

In combat, the Thunderbolt was an effective air-to-air fighter, but an even more effective ground support aircraft. Its great diving speed and ability to carry tremendous payloads made it ideal for air-to-ground work. Some 5,222 Thunderbolts were lost during the war, but only 3,499 of these were directly attributable to enemy action. Some 1,350.000 combat hours were flown with a combat loss rate per sortie of 7%

One European theater pilot commented that “I have never seen a plane that could get rid of such appalling hunks of altitude in such a short time.” Another European veteran commented that “our evasive action in combat was to dive until you saw 500 mph and you could be sure there was no one behind you any longer.” As the war progressed in both theaters ground support became an ever greater responsibility of heavily armed fighter-bombers.

If you would like to learn more of the time.
That Wilco had serve in W.W.II.
Times were changing all around America...
This is how I feel.