Combat gliders were called by some, "Death Crates," "Purple Heart Boxes," "Flying Coffins," and "Tow Targets." They weren't pretty, they had no graceful lines. Viewed from the front, they had a pug nose and a sloping Neanderthal forehead. Their wings looked like the heavily starched ears of a jackrabbit placed at right angles on a canvas-covered frame. Twice the length of the body, these self-same wings were eighty-four feet in length, 70% as long...