Twelve O'Clock High

In The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) was a former bombardier in the US Army Air Corps responsible for accurately dropping bombs on targets in Nazi Germany during World War II.

In Twelve O'Clock High (1949), the story of the 918th US Army Air Corps is told in a flashback to 1942 when it faced a crisis in its command.  

Twelve O'Clock High stars Gregory Peck, Dean Jagger, Millard Mitchell and Gary Merrill.  It was nominated for four Academy Awards:  Best Picture (won by All the King's Men), Best Actor (Peck, but won by Broderick Crawford for All the King's Men), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (won by Jagger) and Best Sound Recording.

Group Commander Colonel Davenport (Merrill) has become over-protective of his men and is unwilling to discipline them, even for costly mistakes. Davenport is relieved of command by his superior, Major General Pritchard (Mitchell).  

Brigadier General Savage (Peck) is asked to take over.  Major Stovall (Jagger) stays on as his administrative assistant.

Savage takes a harsh approach to restoring the group's discipline and morale.  Unlike Davenport, he puts the mission as of primary importance, the safety of his men secondary.

A very key scene takes place when Savage makes an introductory speech to his flight group members.  "Our obligation is to this group...loyalty to the group, not an individual...I have heard we have suffered from hard luck...Well, I don't believe in hard luck.  Some have asked what are we fighting for?  We are in a shooting war...we have got to fight and some of us are going to die...fear is normal...stop worrying about it...forget about going home...consider yourself already dead...once you accept that idea, it won't be so tough."

The air battle scenes (about 10 minutes) near the end of the film were photographed in actual combat during WWII by members of the United States Army Air Corp and the German Luftwaffe.  You can't get more realism than that.