Return to Base: Memoirs of A B-17 Copilot, Kimbolton, England, 1943-1944
Son of an American father and a French mother, Pitts was raised France, later returning to the States to attend Harvard University. In 1941, Pitts graduated from Harvard, where he later returned to earn his Ph.D. in sociology, and enlisted in the American Air Corps. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as the French Croix de Guerre. After he returned from duty, Pitts married Monique Bonnier, the daughter of French Resistance hero Claude Bonnier. He pursued a varied academic career, teaching at Wayne State University, Oakland University, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia, also lecturing in Paris. In addition, he co-authored In Search of France (1964) and Theories of Society (1966). He created the Franco-American periodical The Tocqueville Review, serving as editor from 1978 to 1991. Pitts spent his last years devoted to Return to Base, which he dedicated to the crew of Penny Ante.