After two
stressful missions, the crew had been granted a free day. We could
now concentrate on making our tent more comfortable. Since moving
into our tent, I had slept inside a sleeping bag on an empty mattress cover
placed on an uncomfortable folding cot. The damp ground served as
our floor. We had no heat and were informed by those who had experienced
a winter season in Italy that winters can be
very cold. My tent mates and I agreed that we should first install
a floor and that we should begin by inspecting tents of our neighbors in
order to learn how to make one. We found that they had built their
floors with what they called "tufee brick", a concrete brick that was plentiful
on the air base and best of all, free. I never discovered the significance
of the word tufee but I was grateful to the Air Force for making them available
for any who might want them. An armload at a time, we carried and
stacked the bricks outside our tent where they would be available to lay
side by side and end to end on the dirt floor of our tent.
I really enjoyed reading about this young boy's life in east
Texas during the Depression. Gives one a good idea of what life was really like
back then. The small town boy then grows up to go fight in a world war as a
bomber pilot. Interesting accounts of each mission he flew over Europe. A
well-written book.
By
Hughes J Glantzberg
With a special interest in World War II and the 461st
Bombardment Group in particular, I found this book excellent. Most of the men
who fought during WWII were in their late teens and early 20s. It's amazing to
be able to read about their activities.
By
Joseph Donnelly
I highly recommend this book for readers of any age. However
it was particularly interesting to me as a fellow member of the same squadron
and group. We were both on many of the same missions and his recollections
matched my own. An excellent contrast of what bomb raids were like in those days
with 700-800 bombers compared to more precision bombing done today with far, far
fewer planes. The first half of the book describes life in the 20's, 30's and
40's in Texas. Although my experiences were in NJ many were similar and for
those not living in those times a glimpse of what it was like.
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