The Things Our Fathers Saw - Vol. 3, The War in the Air Book Two: The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation from Hometown, USA

By: Matthew A. Rozell

Narrated by: Jon Eric Preston

Dying for freedom isn't the worst that could happen. Being forgotten is.

(The War in the Air Book Two) "After the first mission Colonel Davis told us, 'From now on you are going to go with the bombers all the way through the mission to the target.' It didn't always work, but that was our mission - we kept the Germans off the bombers. At first they didn't want us, but toward the end, they started asking for us as an escort, because we protected them to and from the missions." (Tuskegee Airman, WWII)

How soon we forget. Or perhaps, we were never told. That is understandable, given what they saw.

[Someone in the PoW camp] said, "Look down there at the main gate!" and the American flag was flying! We went berserk, we just went berserk! We were looking at the goon tower and there's no goons there, there are Americans up there! And we saw the American flag, I mean - to this day I start to well up when I see the flag." (Former prisoner of war, WWII)

By the end of 2018, fewer than 400,000 WW II veterans will still be with us, out of the over 16 million who put on a uniform. But why is it that today, nobody seems to know these stories?

When [the French farmer] figured the Germans weren't looking for me, he took me in the house and put me in the bed... The next day they moved me to another place, because the people got nervous. They thought that the Germans knew I was there, so they hustled me out after dark to another place. I heard later that they executed that family because the Germans were pretty sure I had been there.

This book brings you the previously untold firsthand accounts of combat and brotherhood, of captivity and redemption, and the aftermath of a war that left no American community unscathed.

What you get out of the prisoner of war experience, it's amazing - I haven't seen this guy for 50 years [points to fellow former PoW] and politically, economically and everything else, we're like twins. They have tours - "do you want to go to the old prison camps", you know, that's hot stuff. [Sarcastically] I get out of Sing-Sing - after 15 years, do you think I'm going to go back and take a tour of the place? [Laughter] (B-17 PoW REUNION- PoW Friends and Crewmen)

As we forge ahead as a nation, we owe it to ourselves to become reacquainted with a generation that is fast leaving us, who asked for nothing but gave everything, to attune ourselves as Americans to a broader appreciation of what we stand for.

This book picks up where the previous War in the Air volume left off, in the air war over Europe. This collection includes portions previously published as A Tuskegee Airman Over Europe and B-17 Crew Prisoner of War Reunion.

©2017 Matthew Rozell (P)2019 Matthew Rozell

Excellent Book

The interviews were moving. This book was a great way to help understand the lives of these POW’s.

The broad scope of history recalled collected edited and produced for history ever wavering in quality organization!

Liked the ability to to relate this to other accounts and publications movies and videos by USA Military coverage published in the past 50 years.

Things our fathers saw. Volume3

So interesting. hearing the humanity in the midst of war. It fed my couriousity in World War II

excellent telling of these important recollections

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the other books in the series. Should be required reading for today's generation of students.

Stories from Hometown, USA

The author follows the stories of several men from, or connected to, the Hometown, USA region. Wonderful stories with great background from the author. The narrator made it easy to differentiate between the author and subjects' voice.