The B-17 All American began life like thousands ... stabilizer missing and the remainder of the tail section, with tail gunner Staff Sergeant Sam Sarpoulus still inside, was swaying in the slipstream.

Each B-17 initially carried around 5,000 rounds of ammunition—with the tail gunners and turret gunners having around 1,000 ...

David Kingsley’s B-17 was about to crash ... Without hesitation, Kingsley removed his chute, fit it to his wounded tail-gunner and helped the man out of the aircraft. As his crew descended ...