B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th Redux

The missions undertaken by the crews of B-17 bombers during World War II are the stuff of legend. What was it like to fly through relentless anti-aircraft fire over Nazi-occupied Europe? What was it like to have a thin layer of steel between life and death at 15,000 feet? How did it feel to furiously fend off enemy fighters zipping around your plane and then to precisely deliver your payload over enemy targets?