From a report of the mission to Ludwigshafen, September 8, 1944
91st Bomb Group, 324th Squadron
8 September 44 - Ludwigshafen. Led by Capt. Klette
Lt. Freeman Beasley, Pilot. Flak wound through the skull. Remained conscious and gave instructions over interphone. Dragged himself back into pilot's seat halfway across channel and flew ship with one arm paralyzed until he became sick to his stomach.
Lt. Howard C. Donahue, Co-Pilot, did an exceptionally fine job of flying the flak riddled a/c in which Lt. Beasley was wounded. At one point with the controls jammed by the wounded pilots body, he narrowly averted a collision through his flying skill.
Sgt. Evan I. Zilmer, Top Turret Gunnerrendered skillful first aid to wounded Lt. Beasley and assisted co-pilot in flying the damaged a/c.
Lt. Gordon H. Lowe, Mickey Navigator, painfully wounded by flak on the bomb run, stayed at his post until bombs away.
Lt. Arnold J. O'Toole, pilot, flak bursts smashed through the center of his foot breaking several bones, the same burst severed several a/c controls. Lt. O'Toole refused to leave his seat or relinquish control of the a/c until the ship was out of danger from flak. He dragged himself back to the seat as the ship neared Bassingbourn and assisted in landing.
Lt. Elbert W. Weeks,pilot, on bomb run his co-pilot was killed and he was painfully wounded, yet he flew the ship without mentioning his wounds (broken right hand with severed arteries and wound in left thigh) until his co-pilot had been taken care of. He then allowed a tourniquet to be placed on his right arm and he landed the ship on a U.S. airstrip in France avoiding bomb craters and a bulldozer on the runway. Too weak from loss of blood, he had to be lifted from the plane, The a/c was so damaged, it had to be salvaged.
Sgt, Henry G. Saunders, top turret gunner, with great skill and presence of mind, removed co-pilot's body from seat, gave pilot first aid and assisted in flying the badly damaged a/c.
Mission to Ludwigshafen 9/8/44 - a day in the life
of the 324th Squadron, 91st Bomb Group
Flak Fog Fighters Fire
Frost FockeWulfs Flame
Fatigue Fuckups
Five Fickle Fingers of Fate ---
In its 34 months of combat operations over Europe, the 8th Air Force alone suffered more casualties than all the combined forces of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force in ten years of Viet Nam. On some ruinous days the 8th lost 40, 50, 60 bombers and scores of fighters in one mission. And few of those that managed to return to base escaped heavy battle damage. This is not a report of one of those disasters. It is only an anecdotal report following an everyday mission of just one squadron of the 8th Air Force. A day in the life of the 12 ships of the 324th Squadron.
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Published by Anchor/Doubleday, New York
Cassell & Co., London Kojin-sha, Tokyo
San Antonio Express-News: Halpert's spell-binding novel of men in aerial combat will be compared to Twelve O'clock High, The War Lover, and Memphis Belle. It will not suffer from the comparison.
New York Times Book Review:
What makes this book engrossing is its evocation of the fine line between a close call and a tragedy, not to mention the way guilt is detonated by war's deadly absurdity.
Publishers Weekly: Echoes of Memphis Belle and Catch-22. Gripping fiction.
Kirkus Reviews: Flying high above Platoon-movie cliches. Compelling suspense.
Miami Herald: Harrowing portrait of the pitilessness of war.
For hard cover book with message signed by author, veteran of 35 missions in B-17 from 9/6/44 Ludwigshafen to 2/3/45 Berlin, send cash, check, money order for $19.95 to AUTHOR, 1010 SW 21st Ave. Gainesville, Florida 32601
Choose your own message.
No charge for shipping.
For hard cover book with message signed
by author, veteran of 35 missions in B-17
from 9/6/44 Ludwigshafen to 2/3/45 Berlin,
send cash, check, money order for $19.95
to Author, 1010 SW 21st Ave. Gainesville,
Florida 32601. Choose your own message.
No charge for shipping.
San Antonio Express-News:
Halpert's spell-binding novel of men in aerial combat will be compared to
Twelve O'clock High, The War Lover,
and Memphis Belle. It will not suffer
from the comparison.
You are a South African bush pilot. You fly in some critical medical supplies, enjoy a quick lunch at the hospital. It's a stifling 100 degrees in the shade and you're eager to get back up to the cool, high blue yonder.
On the way back to your plane, you discover that the only bit of shade, within 1 mile, has become very popular. . . .
You start calculating the distance to the plane door and wonder . . . "Do I feel lucky today?"
