Customer Reviews

Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's sad to see the ranks of our WWII veterans steadily dwindling away. With them die so many unique memories of now-faraway battles and ordinary men accomplishing extraordinary feats.

That's why it's heartening to come across books like Rob Morris' UNTOLD VALOR. Fascinated by WWII air battles, Morris did just what was needed to save memories of those times, tracking down and interviewing countless veterans who flew in 8th and 15th AF bombers over Europe.

Morris covers a wide variety of American experiences in the air war over Europe, relating stories of Jewish airmen at war, the 'Memphis Belle' vs. 'Hell's Angels' B-17 controversy, 8th AF internees in Switzerland, the story of Hermann Goering's nephew who flew B-17s in the 8th AF, and so on.

It's an interesting collection of stories and a nice tribute to those vets who flew with the 8th and 15th Air Forces.

Untold Valor is the very aptly-chosen title of the marvelous book by author Rob Morris. After years of research, Morris has told some of the most hidden stories of WWII. The stories, unfamiliar to many who seek WWII reading material, reflect the sacrifice, suffering, triumph and yes, valor of the subjects. Morris's painstaking and thorough research ensures that the stories are accurate as they reveal previously-unknown facets of the WWII experience.

Far beyond the traditional wartime stories, Morris focuses on the untold experience of the Jewish POW, for instance, carrying the added burden of fear of reprisals from an anti-Semitic dictator. He tells of brave crews who survived the chilling and notorious Schweinfurt raid losing so many of their Blood 100th comrades. And Morris sought out and discovered a most unlikely and unexpected B-17 pilot following his movements throughout the war.

The author has brought to light the issue of the Swiss internees who found that neutral Switzerland was not the safe haven and refugee they had expected it to be. The reader is taken into the heart of Switzerland with ex-internee, Dan Culler, as he endures one of the most harrowing confinements in a non-enemy country, only to lose the support of his own country at the war's end. In some instances, Morris ventures to take a hard look and give in-depth analysis of the strategic bombing policy during the war succinctly pointing out its flaws and the circumstances that caused the curtailment of bombing raids on oil refineries.

Few ever asked what happened to the displaced persons rescued from Hitler's death camps. Many, turning a blind eye to them, failed to recognize their pitiful plight. Morris hits hard on the subject and through the medium of story telling gives an informative account and narrative on this seldom-researched area.

Follow the story of the lesser-known "Hell's Angels, the B-17 that for so long was relegated to the shadows of the more famous Memphis Belle, and vicariously share the trek of an American POW on an Austrian road who by chance witnessed the horror that befell an Hungarian Jew forced laborer. Decades later that chance meeting would result in one of the most famous WWII images--a picture drawn by the American, which would grace Holocaust Museums and synagogues around the world.

Only through meticulous research and the strong desire to ferret out the lesser-known stories and heroes of WWII can one achieve what Morris has achieved with this book. One moment the reader is commiserating with the interned crews in Sweden and Switzerland, and the next moment that reader is flying through the flak-riddled skies on a bombing run aside a dedicated ball turret gunner.

Morris's book is a classic that will keep a reader spell bound as it pays tribute to the carefully-chosen heroes he introduces as he tells their unforgettable stories. In the re-telling, he salutes all our WWII heroes.

Marilyn Walton
Author of Rhapsody in Junk--A Daughter's Return to Germany to Finish Her Father's Story

Flying at 26,000', walking on flack, goggles fogging, the IP, the run, turn to rtb. The flack, the fighters, the hits, exploding planes. Bail out. Capture. Rob Morris tells it all from the interviews of survivors of the brutal days as POW's.
These stories are only a few that could be told but Rob to got to the heart of them. A Jewish crew member flying on a mission over Schweifurt, Gus Mencow was with the group that lost 228 B-17's. On and on as only Rob could pull it together.
A fantastic collection of stories of valor.
Thanks Rob for a memorable book.
Least we forget.

Reading this book has been a very special experience for me. My beloved grandfather, who was a ball-turret gunner on B-17s during WWII, passed away in 2007. Along with this loss, came the realization that I had not learned enough about his experience in the ball-turret, or enough about the history about the seemingly super-humanly brave men who manned the various aircraft of WWII. Their bravery and their losses in WWII were staggering, as was the often lifetime suffering for those wounded physically or psychologically. These are extraordinarily special men with special stories. They are a breed apart.

I found this book while searching for the phrase "ball-turret". In my search, I discovered this was the only book with a chapter dedicated to the subject. Like the ball-turret chapter, what you will find here are well-written, extremely important, soul-wrenching stories that might have been lost to history had the author not intervened to tell them.

After finishing the book, I decided to email the author to thank him for writing a chapter about the ball-turret and let him know how much I enjoyed and appreciated his book. Much to my pleasure and surprise, I received a warm response. We have been emailing back and forth ever since, along with a couple of the airmen written about and mentioned in the book that Rob to which Rob put me in contact with.

What is special about Untold Valor is the painstaking research Rob went through to make sure the stories were accurate as possible. In many cases, Rob developed close personal friendships with the airmen he writes about and was often a guest at their house for days at a time during his research. Also in many cases, sadly, such as with Leonard Herman and Gus Mencow, Rob has had to endure the loss of the friends he has come to know so well - those who he loves and admires infinitely. In the case of Leonard Herman, Rob was even recently asked to Eulogize Leonard at his funeral service. Each of these men gave their stamp of approval to Rob, which he went above and beyond to earn. In that regard, this book is the last living link to some of the most brave and heroic men in American History.

So, I recommend Rob's book "Untold Valor", the extended book about Leonard Herman, written by Leonard & Rob: "Combat Bombardier" and his blog untoldvalor.blogspot.com for learning about one of the most important, but infrequently discussed subjects of American History - the brave Airmen of WWII. After you do, I recommend sending Rob an email and let him know what you think! Rob is, himself, an example of Untold Valor in a literary, historical, educational and friendship sense.

History can be found both in volumes upon shelves and in the hearts of those who witnessed it. Rob Morris has managed to organize a meeting between the two through his tremendous book, "Untold Valor".

With a style underpinned by sincerity, Rob has managed to grasp and share some amazing tales from those who dared take to the hostile skies over Europe. Yet their tales and survival are not confined to the stratosphere. A fact that Morris effectively relates through the accounts of those confined and no longer able to take to the skies.

I highly recommend this book for not only those who study history, but for those who seek further insight into the human spirit. Thanks to Rob Morris, these stories of valor are no longer untold.

Owen Zupp- Author "Down to Earth"

[...]

Rob Morris has brought together accounts of service men during World War II which would probably never be known had he not talked to the very ones who went through this costly war. With these vets dying at a rate of 1000 to 2000 per day, the title to this review will not be able to be asked in the near future. This book tells about the everyday living and dying these heroes did to give us the freedom we too often take for granted. I have been a WWII history buff for as long as I can remember, but this book brings out accounts of World War II I have never heard of.
Thanks Ron for bringing these truths out.
A fantastic read, which I will be glad to add to my library.
Garry Grier

In Untold Valor, Rob Morris tells the story of American Bomber crews over Europe in intricate, well researched detail. From the tale of the Memphis Belle to Hermann Goerings nephew, the stories are poignant and told with the kind of vivid detail that keeps the memory alive. This fine book is indeed a tribute to the bravery and courage of the thousands of young men who put their lives on the line for freedom at twenty thousand feet over foreign soil. There is one aspect of the tale that could be expanded on to round out the true history of the war experience. As Mr. Morris tells us, one out of every three of these brave young aviators were shot down over enemy territory. On the ground below were not only enemy soldiers, but also hundreds of equally brave Belgian, French and Dutch civilians who risked their lives to locate and shelter many of the American airmen who parachuted behind enemy lines. Over the course of the war hundreds were escorted back to Britain to continue the fight. For an equally compelling look at the war from this perspective, check out the excellent new book by Douglas W. Jacobson Night of Flames: A Novel of World War II. Congratulations to Mr. Morris for bringing us Untold Valor and keeping the memory alive.

There are so many stories of World War II that we need to know to remember the sacrifices our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers made to keep us free that I want to thank Rob for bringing some of them to light.

If you have ever wanted to know what U.S. Aircrews endured during the war, both in the air over Germany and in the POW camps when they were shot down, this is the book! The author has spent countless hours on the road and telephone interviewing the actual men, or their friends and families to bring their stories to light before these brave, unassuming men are gone! The style of writing, in my opinion, is quite refreshing! not a movie script, perfectly flowing narrative, but in the words of those brave men, most barely old enough to be considered men's own words. Straight from their own accounts, it paint's a picture of how things really were, you felt their emotion, their fear, their courage and determination. One cannot help but think how very difficult it had to be for some of these men to recount the horrors that they endured, and in fact, some still couldn't to this day recount their experiences as the pain is as fresh today as it was then.
As someone who has a very close tie to those men and even the plane they flew, I reccomend this book with no hesitation at all! While some may disagree with the style in which it was written or edited, I would challenge everyone with even a passing interest in this subject to give it an honest chance and read it. You will not be sorry. When you read these brave men's accounts, you will feel like you are there, and a few, like myself, will be moved to tears by some of the accounts.

Then why not 5 stars? I was reading a book called "...American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II" but I got just a bit too much about things that happened on the ground. I think it's only fair to tell people that this book is not only about what went on in the air. Morris could do one book alone on chronicling the experiences of air crews trapped and at risk in "neutral" countries and another about air crews over Europe.I wish he had done that since it leaves you wanting more reading the internment stories here, I should add the author also states this book is not all about dogfights with fighters. Otherwise I cannot praise enough the authors attempts to find WWII air crews and get out their stories before they are gone. We need an army of people like him out there NOW getting down on paper the stories of combatants on all sides of the war. Some stirring tales here, and some that you may never have heard of as well. A worthy addition to any air buffs library.