I have read a number of pilot memoirs from WWI, WWII and Vietnam (well, I guess Chuck Yeager's covers Korea as well) and the amount of drinking, screwing around (in both senses) and general mayhem that pilots were allowed to get away with while in combat is stunning. Pilots were recognized as being under heavy stress and many figured that the rules didn't apply to them because hey, might die tomorrow, let's live it up while we can. The reason "The Memphis Belle: The Story of A Flying Fortress" was such a big deal is that it documented the final mission of the first crew from the 8th Air Force to survive 25 missions over Germany and be sent home. (Well... the second such crew, but the first such crew were in a plane called Hell's Angels and as there was already a movie by that name about WWI flyers, they got the short end. Some of the footage in William Wyler's movie was shot aboard Hell's Angels, with the crew of the Memphis Belle, as the Memphis Belle was under repair from battle damage and the crew of Hell's Angels had already been sent home.)