- Vividly recounts the combat history of the legendary U.S. 56th
Fighter Group - Focuses on the pilots, their friendships and rivalries,
and their battles "Beware the Thunderbolt!" With that motto, the pilots
of the U.S. Eighth Air Force's 56th Fighter Group--also known as Zemke's
Wolfpack--took to the skies above Europe in their P-47 Thunderbolt
fighters, escorting bombers into Germany, dogfighting with the
Luftwaffe, and conducting ground-attack missions. The first group to
receive the P-47, the 56th pioneered aerial tactics and compiled a
staggering record: 665.5 aerial kills, 311 ground kills, thirty-nine
fighter aces with five or more kills, two Distinguished Unit Citations,
eighteen Distinguished Service Crosses, and twenty-eight Silver Stars.