When the crew flies out for the first time, they name their plane Godfathers, Inc. A crewmember named Pratt has just had a baby daughter, and he appoints all the crew honorary godfathers. When their training is over, Jack’s crew is sent to England. While the other men go home on furlough, Jack visits Dotty, a girl he met during basic training in Miami Beach. There are also some telltale signs he is worried the other airmen might pick up on: Jack is a runaway, so he never gets mail from his family. He is big for his age (over six feet), but he is very aware of the gap in experience and attitudes between him and the older men of his crew. Desperate to take on Hitler, Jack used his older brother’s birth certificate to join the Air Force. He is a little surprised that he is still here because Jack is fifteen. It is 1944 and Jack Raab, a Jewish boy from the Bronx, is in Louisiana training to fly a B-17. Jack shares a number of biographical details with his author, who was also born in the Bronx, flew bombing missions during the War (earning a Purple Heart and an Air Medal), and was shot down over Czechoslovakia. Set during World War II, the novel follows fifteen-year-old Jack Raab as he lies about his age to enlist in the Air Force and fly bombing missions over Germany. The Last Mission is a 1979 young adult novel by American author Harry Mazer.
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