Following this thread of the best WWII war movies, I recently watched many over again and some I probably never saw before. 12 O'Clock High,The Memphis Belle, The War Lover, among others, were about the B17 Flying Fortresses and the staggering losses of planes and crews. Apparently we lost 8,000 heavy bombers, B-17's & B-24's, during the war. This means that we probably lost most of the 80,000 crew members as well. This was deemed acceptable in order to destroy the industrial complexes of the Axis Powers but many were rebuilt back in a short time period. The USAAF brass probably knew they were using personnel as cannon fodder but such losses were tolerated in order to obtain the final victory. I once met a distant family member who had completed eleven missions as a Navigator. In Harms Way was a great naval epic as well.