For Us "Der Var Ist Over"

This book is based on my life during World War II as a private in the infantry, as a flying cadet, as a radio operator, as a glider pilot in the Army Air Corps, and as a prisoner of war in a German P.O.W. camp.... This book is dedicated to the young men of the Troop Carrier Command who willingly volunteered to fly the unproven, flimsy gliders in the invasions of enemy territory during the war.. The object was to land airborne infantrymen and their supplies behind enemy lines so they could mount an attack from the rear, thus exerting heavy pressures on the enemy and saving many American lives. The gliders were frequently overloaded with heavy equipment, high explosives and personnel. The pilots flew the gliders, often in treacherous weather conditions which at times made the towplanes go completely out of sight, in order to land men and supplies behind enemy lines....This book is also dedicated to another group of men whom I greatly admired and who helped me endure eight and a half months as a prisoner of war in a German prison camp... All of these men had a "horror story" to tell about being shot out of the skies while helping to win the war, -(excerpts from author's notes)