01 Apr Masters of the Air
In the spring of 1944 ... we were masters of the air ... full tribute must be paid to the United States Eighth Air Force. (Winston Churchill)
Masters of the Air, WWII Book by Donald L. Miller
(2006) I have already mentioned the book Masters of the Air. However, I haven’t said enough.
Donald Miller explains that his book began the moment he discovered his father’s World War II flight jacket in his grandparent’s attic. He was a small boy at the time, but he remembers that his mother wore the jacket when she would hang up the family wash in the backyard.
It is a remarkable history of the Eighth Air Force. The bibliography is extremely impressive. And because the author interviewed so many veterans he was able to bring the history to life with their stories.
Last week I flew to Pennsylvania to spend a week with my mother-in-law, widow of John D. DiGeorge, another World War II veteran who at the end of the war liberated a Nazi concentration camp. During my plane ride, I was devouring Masters of the Air, highlighting anything I thought was pertinent to Herman’s story and feverishly taking notes in a little journal. The lady next to me finally asked, “Are you a teacher?”
On the plane ride home, I studied another hundred pages. I cried as I read first-hand stories about the brave men who flew these B-17’s and watched their friends die. I’m still only on page 266, half way through.
I understand so much more now than when I started to write these posts. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
How did anyone survive?
Herman said it best when he wrote to his brother Lou: We can only look to the next one, and each succeeding one in turn, with the sincere faith of God constantly at our wing tips, the crew continuing to function as in the past, and the knowledge that you all are in there pitching.
Luck, timing, crew, and, most important of all, God. THANKS to all.
Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany at amazon.com
No Comments