Days Gone By

American ground crew doing maintenance work on a bomber during WWII. Photograph by J.R. Eyerman. Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, 1944.

Four F4U Corsair fighters returning from a combat mission as aircraft carrier USS Boxer sails on below during the Korean War. North Korea, September 1951.

The wreck of a World War I fighter plane tangled in the branches of a tree. United Kingdom, 1917.

Crew members aboard an American aircraft carrier watching the take-off of an F6F Hellcat, November 1943.

LIFE photographer Robert Capa wearing parachute and gear prior to jumping in with the troops during World War II, March 1945.

B-17 Flying Fortress crew of 8th Bomber Command donning their in flatable Mae West life preservers, parachute harnesses and flying clothes upon arrival by jeep at the plane they named “The Big Bitch” before bombing mission take-off at airdrome. Photograph by Margaret Bourke-White. United Kingdom, September 1942.

Marines of VMF-222 relaxing on wings of their aircraft between air strikes. Photograph by Charles Fenno Jacobs. Bougainville, Solomon Islands, April 1944.

Pilot in F102 fighter plane watching formation of F74F flying beside him. Photograph by Howard Sochurek. USA, 1956.