Flack & Flame - Through the Eyes of a B-24 Bomber Pilot In WWII

From entering the service after Pearl Harbor to missions over Germany this is a bio I found that my Dad wrote in the 1980s. It is an amazing story and deserves to be told. For my Dad and other members of the "greatest generation" Pearl Harbor put them on a path few could have forseen. Barely out of boyhood these young men in their teens and early 20s faced unimaginable challenges and terrors.

This is the story of Fred Williams who having never even been in a plane signs up for flight training and becomes a B-24 bomber pilot. You will experience the journey through his eyes making you feel like you are alongside him every step of the way. His narrative takes remarkable twists and turns both in training and combat. It was remarkable he never lost a crewman.Training flight through a storm with a tornadoGuiding lost Navy pilots fleeing a hurricaneLoading bombays with fuel and supplies for General Patton's push in ItalyEmergency landings and taking off on fields too small for a bomberTaking cannon fire from a new Nazi weapon, the jet fighter planeBailing out of a doomed aircraftGetting hit in the shoulder by flack and returning to base without a windshield at 60 below zeroHe was awarded 2 Air Medals and 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses but this narrative is not just about combat. He takes side trips to explain how the plane works and the day to day operations both in training and a theater of war.