For This Marvelous Country

The Book     Table of Contents     Inside the Book     Missions Flown     About the Author     Honoring Our Vets     Upcoming Events     Reviews     Contact Us     Links      

 

Excerpt - Chapter Three

  

 Bovingdon was a Combat Crew Replacement Training School. We were instructed for two weeks, by combat veterans, on what to expect and how to evade if we were fortunate enough to land on the continent. We learned how to ditch the B-17 and the action of the Air Sea Rescue.

Upon completion of our training, we were assigned to the 92nd Bomb Group at Podington.

Our group was assigned to the 326th Squadron. I remember the squadron commander telling me, that if I could get by the first seven missions, I would have a chance of completing my tour of twenty-five missions. I asked him how many missions he had been on.

“Five”, he replied.

He went down on his next mission.

 

 

Excerpt - Chapter Four

  

     World War II was a war that every American fought, whether far away in a strange land or here at home in the U.S.A.

     Marg, like Mrs. Smith from the newspaper, began to correspond with me after her brother, Frank, my radioman, sent a picture of our crew home in September 1943.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Marg’s mother examined the picture and remarked, "Marg, I wish you would write a letter to this pilot and tell him we are offering our prayers for the safety of the crew."

     “I was reluctant at first”, Marg recalled, “but my mother persisted, and I wrote a friendly note to Lt. William Rose telling him of our concerns and offering our prayers for the crew.”

 

 

 

 

Excerpt - Chapter Seven

  

"Three of “Black Magic’s” engines started acting up just before the Fort made its run on the target and the plane could not keep up with the formation. After Lieutenant Rose ordered the bombadier to drop his bombs and lighten the plane, “Black Magic” was still not able to catch up with the formation.

Lieutenant Rose was faced with the decision of crash landing and his crew becoming prisoners or trying to fly back to England alone with the possibility of being shot down. He headed for home, counting on the help of the Mustang and Lightning fighter pilots.

“Just as we turned around we flew through a formation of Lightnings headed for Berlin… Just as they passed us two Me109s, just out of range, began maneuvering to attack us. Our Fortress was just a gleam in the eyes of those two Jerry pilots.”"

                                    The Times Picayune

           

 

 

 

 
For This Marvelous Country
 
AVAILABLE AT:
 
 
*NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

For This Marvelous Country

National Museum of the United States Air Force

Accession number ER.2010.012.