Tommy LaMore and Dan A. Baker

Interesting story of a young man growing up during the depression and then joining the military wanting to fly when WWII started. He was injured on his way to training and transferred to an airfield helping set things up for target training. Eventually he transferred into a gunner slot and was sent to England to fly as aircrew in the B-17. He does a good job describing the pressure one felt flying on the bombing missions being attacked by German fighters and flak and seeing people you know in planes around you go down.

His plane was shot down in France. He escaped, was hidden by the French underground, went on missions with them, captured by the Gestapo, went thru a mock trial, sentenced to death, then sent to a POW camp in Germany instead. He was then transferred to a much worse camp when he was identified as a malcontent based on his Gestapo background. He and another guy escape, run into the Russians who take them in. The Russians are leading some crazy Mongolian horse troops who charge headlong into any Germans they can find and kill them with machine pistols and sabers. They liberate a woman's work camp where a beautiful Polish girl attaches herself to Tommy. The head of the camp, a female lesbian who murdered many of the woman there in sadistic ways is given to the Mongolians who rape her to death while the female prisoners cheer. The girl ends up killing one of the Mongols who tries to rape her. Eventually the Russians let them go and Tommy, his friend he escaped prison camp with, and the girl make it to the British who send them to Paris. Tommy gets some leave and they spend a romantic time making love to each other in Paris, they buy each other rings, promise to love each other forever, but she decides she has to go back to Poland to find her family before she can try to join Tommy in America. Tommy goes home without her desolate. But before he gets put on the ship they send him back to Germany with the Red Cross to see if he can identify any of the dead bodies in the camp he escaped from. There are hundreds of bodies he has to look at and he can't identify anyone and has lots of nightmares the rest of his life about the experience. He writes and tries to keep in touch with the Polish girl but never hears from her again. Finally he hears that she was killed by the communists in 1947. He wears her ring around his neck the rest of his life.

An incredible story written many years after the war ended. So incredible I almost wonder if it's all true.
… (lisätietoja)