Two Bomber Boys books on a gray surface, one with a brown leather jacket art cover and one with a bright yellow cover and white logo.
Hand holding open a Bomber Boys book spread with a purple satin jacket lining beside a colorful painted jacket reading Old Faithful.
Open Bomber Boys book showing a flight jacket American flag blood chit patch beside an illustration of a vintage biplane trainer.
Open Bomber Boys book spread featuring a leather flight jacket painted with the Shute Baby nose art, bomb tally marks and a gas mask.
Bomber Boys book spread with a detailed side profile illustration of a green WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bomber with tail letter J.
Bomber Boys book spread showing a worn leather flight jacket with patches next to a black and white portrait of a veteran in a cap.
Bomber Boys book spread with a black and white portrait of an elderly veteran in glasses beside a biography text page on a dark layout.
Bomber Boys book spread showing a leather flight jacket back painted with a pin-up girl, Fancy Nancy, and rows of bomb mission markings.
Yellow Bomber Boys hardcover book lying next to an open page showing a blue and silver vintage aircraft nose illustration.

In the fall of 2022, I completed an eight year photo project documenting WWII "bomber jackets."  Initially just interested in the jacket artwork, I began meeting the veterans, and quickly learned that they had stories to tell.  Boy, did they!  



Portraits then became part of the mix, and travel to 12 different museums across the USA (and private collections too) in the end yielded high resolution photographs of 162 jackets, and over 25 portraits.  Twice a winner in prestigious design competitions, it was named the "Fashion Book of the Year" in 2024.  


At 278 pages, the self-produced 12"x12" hard-cover book comes in at six pounds.  Organized by combat theater, it includes an essay on the fashion and cultural impact of this very American garment, and sections on the collecting and care of the jackets.  Professionally edited, it includes a full index.


We recently completed an effort to create free teaching materials based on stories in the book for high school and college teachers.  We'd ask that you spread the word about this to your favorite history or social studies teacher, and consider a book purchase for their classroom or library.  The School of Aviation at Auburn University was instrumental in helping to fund this effort, and we Thank! them for their generous support.