Burma Warrior

The China-Burma-India theater of war in World War II was a treacherous jungle, filled with venomous snakes, malaria-carrying mosquitoes, monsoons and the fierce Japanese soldier. Eighteen-year-old Pete Avrea joined the U.S. Army Air Force in hopes of helping the Allies defeat the enemy. His contribution took him to the brink of death, having survived being shot down three times including two crash landings.

Starting as a member of the 315th Troop Carrier Squadron, Pete participated in the very dangerous mission of gaining the first Allied toehold in northern Burma at the Battle of Myitkyina. As the ground forces fought all around, and under constant threat of enemy attack, Pete and his air transport crews towed gliders, landed hundreds of troops, and dropped thousands of tons of equipment, ammo, and supplies flying the C-47 Skytrain.

Pete volunteered as a dorsal turret gunner engineer for a second tour of duty with the 490th Bombardment Squadron, famously known as the Burma Bridge Busters. Climb into the B-25 Mitchell bomber with Pete, as the pilot pushes it into a level dive at 300 feet doing 275 mph and drop 4000 pounds of high explosives on a bridge. Feel the explosive concussion as you pull out and away.

In thirteen months at war in two tours of duty, Pete flew 117 combat missions totaling 452 hours of combat flying time. This is the story of Pete and the brave men he flew with.