Like his buddies, 17 year old James Daniels is eager to join the U.S. Military after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He wants to do his part, save the world – and look sharp in that Army Air Corps uniform! When he turns 18, he joins up. Slight of build, he has to eat 10 pounds of bananas on weigh-in day just to make weight. James ends up in Lecce, Italy, with the 15th Air Force, and survives 45 harrowing missions as a nose gunner in the B-24 Liberator. Miraculously, he comes through physically unscathed, but he is rudely forced to come of age in a hurry. His war experiences, in particular one great tragedy, profoundly change him emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, leaving him with a crucial question that haunts him for decades. When he is once again engaged in a battle for his life, the answer is finally revealed.