An American fighter pilot doomed to die in Buchenwald but determined to survive. On August 13, 1944, Joe Moser set off on his forty-fourth combat mission over occupied France. Soon, he would join almost 170 other Allied airmen as prisoners in Buchenwald, one of the most notorious and deadly of Nazi concentration camps. Tom Clavin's Lightning Down tells this largely untold and riveting true story. Moser was just twenty-two years old, a farm boy from Washington State who fell in love with flying. During the War he realized his dream of piloting a P-38 Lightning, one of the most effective weapons the Army Air Corps had against the powerful German Luftwaffe. But on that hot August morning he had to bail out of his damaged, burning plane. Captured immediately, Moser’s journey into hell began. Moser and his courageous comrades from England, Canada, New Zealand, and elsewhere endured the most horrific conditions during their imprisonment... until the day the orders were issued by Hitler himself to execute them. Only a most desperate plan would save them. The page-turning momentum of Lightning Down is like that of a thriller, but the stories of imprisoned and brutalized airmen are true and told in unforgettable detail, led by the distinctly American voice of Joe Moser, who prays every day to be reunited with his family. Lightning Down is a can’t-put-it-down inspiring saga of brave men confronting great evil and great odds against survival.

This is an American story as told to me during many conversations that I had over a four-year period with Robert Carl Milliken (Bob). The book is important because it tells of men and women who stood up to be counted when their country called people whose deeds are fading into history and soon may be forgotten. The book incorporates the early history of Wyoming by starting with the first arrival of Bobs family in the Wyoming Territory before Statehood was conferred and follows the events which led Bob to his actions as a World War II Fighter Ace (he flew 68 combat missions). For the reader, I have also placed Bobs life in the perspective of the parallel actions that occurred in the Western United States and then during World War II in the European and Pacific Theaters. The book will serve as a reminder for those readers who are not familiar with the events of World War II but who will appreciate and understand events outside of their own experience. In addition, it will help the families of World War II veterans to remember with pride the men and women who answered the call of their country. And last but definitely not least, there is also Zellas story the young woman who Bob married on August 25 1946 and who bore four children, three daughters and one son. Zellas family history is also interesting the family can be traced back to 1617 in England and she is a descendent of one of the two regicide judges who authorized the execution of King Charles I of England after he was deposed by the forces of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War (1642-1649). Furthermore, this book is not only a tribute to Bob and Zella but also to Zellas brother Bobby (Master Sergeant Robert Lewis Bell) who saw action on many missions as the belly gunner in a B-24 bomber and who researched the history of the Bell family in considerable detail.

Includes entries for maps and atlases.

Discover more than 825 scrapbook pages and a full year of month-by-month scrapbooking ideas to chronicle the lives of family and friends. In this value-priced, 288-page book in the Treasury of Favorites series from Creating Keepsakes scrapbook magazine, special sections are presented for babies, children, teens, and adults. There are fun ideas for every month, plus for every stage of life from birth to retirement. Included are extensive galleries of reader scrapbook pages, photo tips, and more. This colorful volume is packed with great ideas for faster family history pages and poignant suggestions for journaling family stories and traditions. Articles include Recording the Stories That Make Your Family Unique, Honor a War Hero, A Family Reunion With Flair, The Simple Charms of Childhood, and others.

Over one hundred fighter pilots give personal glimpses of their military careers.