Life of the 381st Bomb Group depicts the daily life of the men of the 381st Bombardment Group (H) of the Mighty Eighth Air Force during World War II as revealed by its chaplain, James Good Brown, who kept a diary during his time with the bomb group from 1943 until 1945. In his entries, Brown describes with extraordinary candor his observations of the inner workings of the unit during wartime, delighting in the aircrewmen's successes and grieving their many losses. Serving overseas with the 381st Bomb Group while in his early forties, Brown greatly revered the young men, some of them twenty years his junior, who flew the combat missions. More than an unvarnished depiction of the daily activities of a bomb group that participated in 297 bombing raids over Europe fighting against the Luftwaffe, Brown’s diary provides in-depth character assessments of the many men with whom he served. In addition to judiciously transcribing and paring down Brown’s original document for readability, Korkuc conducted original research to prepare a highly unique appendix to the document, what he calls an Index of Names, in which he tracks down the fate of every member of the many aircrews with whom Brown served. With his Index of Names, Korkuc finishes what Brown started but could not finish by listing the fate of each airman, including those killed in combat, those downed but not accounted for during the war, and those who survived the war. Life of the 381st in World War II provides a rare, firsthand perspective on the early history of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and on one man’s dedication to his brave team of young airmen. The immediacy of Brown’s narration, combined with Korkuc’s meticulous editing and original contributions, make this a promising new resource to scholars in the field.
