narrative history of a combat unit attached to the U.S. 8th Air Force in the European Theater of Operations from December 1943 through the end of the war in Europe. Colonel Thomas J. J. Christian. Yellowjackets is a history of people and airplanes; the pilots and ground crews of the 374th, 375th, and 376th Fighter Squadrons that made up the 361st Fighter Group, which became known as the "Yellowjackets" because of the bright yellow paint on the noses of their aircraft, and the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang, which they flew into combat daily, sometimes against great odds.