Bomber Boys: Award Winning Book to be the Basis of Military Aviation Museum Exhibition

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Oct 06, 2023, 08:11 ET

ATLANTA, Oct. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Winner of several prestigious design awards including the Indigo and the Graphis Design Competition, Bomber Boys – WWII Flight Jacket Art will be the basis for an exhibition at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach opening this fall. Over one hundred WWII painted bomber jackets, beautifully photographed, and each documented with the story of the airman that wore it, are masterfully brought together in the new coffee-table book. Author John Slemp, an award-winning photographer, has created the most comprehensive visual record of A-2 flight jacket art ever produced.

Lewis Herron of the Mighty 8th U.S. Army Air Corp talks about his A-2 Heavy Scent Jacket as featured in the book Bomber Boys - WWII Flight Jacket Art.

Lewis Herron Heaven Scent Jacket from the 100th Bomb Group of the Mighty 8th U.S. Army Air Corp.

Among the archival quality images is the gorgeous Heaven Scent jacket owned by airman Lewis Herron. A member of the 100^th Bomb Group in the Mighty 8^th, Herron survived 33 missions despite often returning with a lot of holes in the plane. Herron stated, "The first thing we did when we landed the airplane was get out and count how many holes we had in it, either from fighters or flak. One day we counted 103 holes in our airplane!"

Slemp commented, "Initially I was drawn to the artwork and symbology. As the number of jackets photographed grew, the stories of the owners began to weigh more heavily. The emotion these jackets engender has been nothing short of astounding. To illustrate that point the daughter of a WWII flyer who, during an early exhibition of the work, stood in front of a print of her Dad's jacket for almost two hours. Upon departure and in a quivering voice, she told me that I had no idea what it meant to her."

Bomber Boys – WWII Flight Jacket Art includes:

Jackets representing all theaters of the war.
Jackets from the Smithsonian Air and Space, National Museum of the United States Air Force, and the 390^thMemorial Museum among others.
27 Jackets from private collections including rare artifacts.
The book is 12x12 in size and at 398-pages is suitable for middle-schoolers and up.

Over 40+ Five Star Reviews:

"This book is magnificent. The photography is stunning and the research into both the history of WWII aviation and the backgrounds of the brave crew members make the book a treasure that should receive national attention."

"What a great book. John Slemp captured every aspect of the men who wore these jackets turned works of art. His photographs are stunning and the story with each jacket proves these heroes are the greatest generation. If you're into aviation history, WWII history, or US history this is a must have book."

SOURCE John Slemp Photography