About the book

During the early years of World War II, against overwhelming odds, young American airmen flew the longest and most perilous bombing missions of the war. They faced determined enemy fighters with no fighter escort of their own, relentless anti-aircraft fire with no deviations from target, and thousands of miles of over-water flying with no alternative landing sites.

Finish Forty and Home, by Phil Scearce, is the true story of men and missions of the 11th Bombardment Group as it fought alone and unheralded in the South Central Pacific while America had its eyes on the war in Europe. The book opens with Sgt. Herman Scearce, the author's father, lying about his age to join the Army Air Corps at 16. The narrative follows Scearce through training and into combat with his new crew mates, including pilot Lt. Joe Deasy, whose last-minute transfer from training duty thrusts the new crew into the squadron commander's role. Inexperienced crews are pressed into combat with navigational training inadequate for the great distances flown over Pacific routes, and losses mount.

Finish Forty and Home takes the reader into combat with B-24 Liberator bomber crews facing the perils of long missions against tiny Japanese-held island targets. These missions bring American forces closer and closer to the Japanese home islands and precede the critical American invasions of Tarawa and Iwo Jima. The book explores the context of the war and sets the stage for these daring missions, revealing the motivations of the men who flew them: to finish forty combat missions and make it home again.

Finish Forty and Home is based upon substantial research at the Air Force Historical Research Agency and the National Archives, interviews with surviving airmen, and interviews and correspondence with the survivors of the men who were lost. It is the first book to document America's bomber offensive in the early days of the Pacific War.