Written in pencil on thin wartime stationery, this 1944 letter home from Italy offers a personal glimpse into the life of a B-24 Liberator belly gunner between combat missions. The writer describes his crew's rotation to the Isle of Capri, a celebrated rest camp for American Fifteenth Air Force airmen, and the camaraderie of men awaiting their turn for a respite from the strain of bombing missions over occupied Europe. Letters such as this preserve the human voice behind the statistics of aerial warfare, reminding visitors that behind every mission was a young man writing home to reassure his family that he was 'still kicking.' Project: 218352