As we started up our engines and prepared for takeoff. We heard our flight leader explain the mission to us. Our mission was to defend our bombers from the German jet fighters. My name was Johnathan Smith and I was flying the P51 mustang to support our B17s. Once everything was explained to us we started to move towards the main airstrip. I was 3rd in the line of 15 of us. As we all took off to form our formation I started to wonder how many of us would see our families again.  I couldn’t let that bother me as I had to stay focused. A few minutes later we were climbing in formation to cover our bombers at 10,000 feet. We started to talk about who would cover who and just everyday topics to pass the time. Soon we met up with our B17 formation and formed up in groups of 5 above them keeping an eye out for German jets. About 2 hours later we saw the first signs of German resistance with a patrolling squad of four German Me 262 fighter jets. My four wingmen and I broke off to go deal with then knowing that we can out maneuver them if we stay smart. As the fight stared we started well when one jet pulled up allowing us to shoot it down quickly. However the other pilots were not so giving into defeat. During the fight we heard the sounds of returning gun fire from above us as two more jets appeared to support the patrol. The man on my right got struck in the right wing causing it to break off and caught on fire as he started to fall from the sky. I quickly pulled the plane up to shoot down the fighter that shot down my wingman. Luckily we were within range to get supporting fire from our bomber formation. Soon we were able to fight off all the Germans only losing one aircraft so we could continue on our mission. After the attack from the Germans we all took a long sigh of relief thankful we were still alive. We all got back into our covering position for the remainder of the mission. About thirty minutes later we reached our target and we started to get fire from anti-aircraft batteries and Me 163 fighters launching from the ground. Quickly we started to take heavy tolls as our bombers were getting hit. We were managing to hold back the fighters for a while but we were slowly losing. We lost 5 more of our mustangs as they lost 15 fighters. The remaining 4 of us tried to protect the bombers as we had lost about 5 so far. We reached the bombing target as the B17s bombed enemy airfields and tank columns to support our ground forces. As our main fighter pilot Lindsay took the lead in place of our flight commander we looped around above them to make sure the skies were clear. Suddenly we heard the sound of a jet engine as my left wing ripped from my aircraft and my fuel tank caught on fire As my plane started to lose control I opened up the cockpit and jumped out abandoning my aircraft and deployed my parachute. As I watched my aircraft fall and rip apart due to speed and fire damage before exploding I suddenly looked up just in time to see Lindsay finish off the 262s and fly back home with the bombers. I could only hope the mission was worth it and the ground forces could continue to fight.

My name is Eric Sultan and I was the gunner of a M4A3E8 Sherman medium tank. As I looked up to see the bombers and fighters burning above me I got angrier and fought my hardest to kill the Germans. I told my loader to load the main gun as fast as he could as I opened fire on a German Tiger 2. I managed to get a shot at its side armor where I penetrated causing the turret to blow off from an ammo explosion. Soon after celebrating I saw something fall from the sky and land on the tank column that were coming towards us blowing them up. I looked up into the sky to see our bombers fly away as they completed their bombing mission. I was happy to see the support to stop the German offensive as we held the line. My commander Ben had us drive the tank to the top of a hill to set up a good position to fire upon the enemy. When we got to the top of the hill we saw the decimation that the bombers had caused with burned out tanks throughout the field filled with craters. We saw a few enemies that had survived the bombing start to regroup to hold their line. We began to open fire into them destroying Pak 43 Anti-Tank guns and the squads of infantry. As the last few started to retreat we stopped our fire and celebrated out victory in stopping the Germans. After seeing no enemy tanks or infantry left in the field, we turned around and headed back to base to celebrate with the remainder of our regiment on our decisive victory.