Historians and the Nation owe Travis Ayres a debt of gratitude for his last minute salvation of these great stories of history. With Our WWII Generation aging and succumbing to the end of life they escaped over the skies of Germany, he knew time was running out to hear the story first hand from the men that played a dangerous and pivotal role in saving the world from Fascism.
As an accomplished author of Military History and a Viet Nam Veteran himself, he was in a unique position to earn the trust of those that had gone before him, but even he had to earn their trust. He did and brings to their families the stories they had never heard, to our Nation the stories they had not sought, but should hear.
Each story begins with what motivated the future airman, continues with the stories of their crewmates as they train for and deploy to Europe, presents the story there as well as the versions they told loved ones to keep their worries down, and then follows up with what happened after they left the Military for Civilian life.
While the B-17's were only one part of World War II and there were thousands of them, history of WWII and those that study it would be incomplete with these personal accounts by those that flew the missions. Current Veterans will find that some things never change while being thankful that other things do.
As demonstrated by our recommended reading list, history is not complete without accounts of Generals, Air, Ground, and the Men & Women on the tip of the spear, plus the political aspirations of those that start them.
Stumble It!
