Go to the Stores Front Door to See a Lot MORE.

Despite the bright wing lights, we could see no more than thirty feet ahead of us, but with the confidence of youth and faith that our instruments would guide us, we pushed the throttles forward and began rolling down the runway gathering momentum.  I could barely see the runway beneath us as we lifted up into a world of pitch-black darkness with only our instruments eerily glowing the cockpit to guide us.  We headed northeast and proceeded to climb for the next hour and a half.  Suddenly we broke through the overcast into a world of cold blue light and gray clouds.  The contrast was startling.  There is nothing more breathtaking than flying near huge billowing clouds.  We were surrounded by pearly white mountains of clouds, interspersed with shadows.  A morning sky illuminated by a bright blue moon gave ample light to read a newspaper in the cockpit, but we had more important things to do.  We must now open and read the package of instructions that would reveal our destiny and soothe our speculative fever.  I could hardly contain myself as I waited for Dave to open the package.  After attaining our assigned altitude, carefully checking all instruments, turning on the automatic pilot and cockpit lights, Dave pushed his seat back and reached for the package.

As our B-24 flew toward an unknown destiny and Dave opened the orders, an event was taking place in Germany that almost made our orders invalid and our participation in the war unnecessary.  A group of high-ranking German officers had determined that getting rid of Hitler offered the last remaining chance to end the war before Germany would be forced into a disgraceful surrender.

From Tonopah, the author wrote, he and his crew were ordered to fly a new B-24 that would later be christened THE SHADY LADY, from San Francisco, by way of New Foundland, the Azores, Marrakech, Morocco and Tunis to the 461st Bombardment Group located at Torretta Field near Cerignola, Italy.  From his memory and notes, he describes in detail his 35 bombing missions over Northern Italy, Austria, Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Greece, and France.  During these missions, he survived severe damage to his aircraft from anti-aircraft shells and German fighter airplanes for which he was awarded a DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS and four AIR MEDALS.