For This Marvelous Country is the true life story of a B-17 combat pilot in the Eighth Air Force, 92nd Bombardment Group in the European Operational Theater of WWII. Bill struggles through twenty-five combat missions, including the epic air battle, Schweinfurt. Then, after a stint in the States, he volunteers for a second tour, anxious for combat and eager for the responsibility of a crew. Bill and Marg's wartime correspondence began in 1943 at her mother's persistence. Their letters were "friendly, but not familiar"; a reflection of Bill's military training.