(Michael) wrote:

[snipped for brevity]

The whole reason I brought this up was while you hear of WWII heavy
bomber crews wearing thin toward the end of their tours, you don't
hear the same thing about their brothers escorting them in fighters.

Probably the best narrative about fighter pilots that I've ever seen
was "A Fighter Pilot's Story" which aired on PBS some time ago.

Quentin Aanenson, a P-47 pilot, talks about the trials and
tribulations of combat -- sans the usual bravado and chest thumping
(not entirely a bad thing, mind you) that goes on whenever a fighter
pilot has an audience.

One of the documentary's most poignant moments is when Aanenson,
an avid sportsman before the war, returns home and shoots a rabbit
while hunting in his native Loiusiana. Aanenson said killing the
animal made him feel sick afterwards, and he never fired a gun again.

Conversely, when I asked my Dad if he ever saw any NVA or Viet Cong
communists during his combat tour flying A-1's over SEA, he said
"Ya...a lot of DEAD ones!"

Then we went hunting.