It's You ... and the Rest of the Team

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

[painting signature, lower right: Clymer, as read]

It's You ... and the Rest of the Team

Your big Liberator is coming in fast now ... boring head-on through black bursts of flak that rock her like a canoe. From your grandstand seat in the greenhouse, you can see fires down below. That's where the first wave laid its eggs. You're next!

Sometimes, back at "pre-flight", it didn't quite add up. Logarithms ... formulas ... classes all day. You couldn't see how you'd ever use the stuff they crammed into your head. But you stuck it out. You wanted Bombardier's wings.

The top-turret guns begin to spit, as you hunch down over your bombsight. Check for altitude! Check for air-speed! The guns are going faster now, but you won't let yourself look up. Check for wind-drift! Suddenly you realize you're doing things automatically ... all the things thatcame so hard in training. And you're doing them right!

In advanced school you got pretty cocky. Pilots? Navigators? O. K. for some guys maybe. But you're the man they build bombers around! You pack the knock-out punch!

The Lib heels, and straightens out on her target, and Pete comes in over the interphone: "O. K. Slugger. She's yours. Make it good!" You're the boss now. This is what you've been waiting for. You glue your eye to the sight, and talk into your throat microphone: "Level, Pete ... hold that level. Bomb-bay doors open. Left a little ... level now ... level ... perfect!" And there's your target-caught in the cross-hairs like a fly in a spider web.

You jab the release. "Bombs Away!"

Now you've done it! The seconds drag out ... and then Beezy, back at the tail-gun, yells: "HIT-HIT-HIT-HIT! On target!! Hey, Lieutenant. Come and get your cigar!"

Well ... ! Your chest starts to swell ... and then all at once you see that it wasn't just you who smeared that Nazi base. It was Pete, up in the pilot's seat ... Cliff, with his navigation charts ... the gunners, Jim, Tony, Beezy, Lou. It was you ... and the rest of the crew ... flying as a team ...

The same kind of team that paved the way for the landings in the Gilberts ... that cleaned up the Japs on Kiska ... that flattened Bremen and Wilhelmshaven...that is carrying the war to Japan...

The A.A.F. ... the greatest team in the world!

U. S. ARMY RECRUITING SERVICE

MEN OF 17...
You can get ready now for your place-as Bombardier, Navigator or Pilot-on this great A.A.F. team. Go to the nearest Aviation Cadet Examining Board ... see if you can qualify for the Air Corps Enlisted Reserve. If you qualify, you will receive Enlisted Reserve insignia ... but will not be called for training until you are 18 or over.
When called, you'll be given 5 months' training (after a brief conditioning period) in one of America's finest colleges ... you'll get dual-control flying instruction ... then go on to eight months of full flight training ... the kind of training that makes America's fliers the world's best! When you graduate as a Bombardier, Navigator or Pilot-you will receive a $250 uniform allowance and your pay will be $246 to $327 per month.
Meanwhile, see your local Civil Air Patrol Officers about C.A.P. Cadet training ... also your High School principal or adviser about recommended courses in the Air Service Division of the H. S. Victory Corps. Both afford valuable pre-aviation training.
(Essential workers in War Industry or Agriculture-do not apply.)

[AAF Army Air Forces emblem]
"KEEP'EM FLYING!" For information regarding Naval Aviation Cadet Training, apply at any Naval Aviation Cadet Selection Board or any Naval Recruiting Station; or, if you are in the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, apply through your commanding officer ...This advertisement has the approval of the Joint Army Navy Personnel Board.

[cut at the 4000-character cap; omitted: the closing tagline "FLY AND FIGHT WITH THE AAF ARMY AIR FORCES GREATEST TEAM IN THE WORLD", job/ad numbers, magazine schedule and agency line]