I just finished reading a remarkable book by Charles D. Hamlin, published in 2011 and entitled, “Fear No Evil, True Stories of the Mighty Eight.” Hamlin flew 35 bombing missions in World War II, as a member of the U.S. Army 8^th Air Corp, serving as a B-17 ball turret gunner. The average age of a crewmember was 21.

I came upon this paperback book at the Book Barn in Denville, New Jersey. Once a cow barn, it’s now a reader’s paradise, stocked to the brim with used books. What a unique place it is!  I’d just finished reading Twelve O’clock High by Beirne Lay and wanted to hear more from those brave pilots from WW II.

Containing more than 30 first accounts from crew members and others involved in the war, these stories are breathtaking, a testament to the brave men who flew these incredible bombers.

Each B-17 carried a crew of 10. In the late 40s, America lost 28,000 aircrew members in action, and 26,000 of these were in the 8th Army Air Corp.  The survival rate for the crew members on the B-17 was lower than 50%. 

Besides reading all the first-person accounts, I learned that an English fellow named Waddington came up with a creative idea. His manufacturing company, Waddington Ltd. perfected the technology of printing maps on silk; his map resembled a scarf, was durable and could be easily hidden by flight crew members if they were shot down.

My cousin Palmer Jeffries was a crew member on a B-17 during the war. Years later, he gave his scarf to his nephew, Mike, who was a high school history teacher.  It provided an accurate map, showing not only where things were, like train stations, but also the locations of “Safe Houses” where an escaped POW or downed airman could go for food and shelter.

Mike eventually gave his uncle’s scarf to me, and I recently presented it to my grandson, Matthew Bernard Giere, a fan of military history. 

By coincidence, Waddington Ltd. also held the U.K. license for the popular American board game, Monopoly. Since the International Red Cross packed this game into Care Packages for the men at P.O.W. camps, Waddington established a secret workshop on his company’s grounds, to have these maps and other creative escape items inserted into Monopoly playing pieces. 

Before taking off on their first mission, air crews were advised how to identify a “rigged” Monopoly set by means of a tiny red dot, cleverly disguised to look like an ordinary printing glitch and located in the corner of Free Parking.

I recently saw one of these Monopoly games at an airshow held at the Essex County Airport in NJ and was allowed to examine it to see how the ploy worked. Absolutely amazing!

When I think of the airmen who lives were sacrificed during our country’s wars, it humbles me. Bernie and I had friends who were killed during the Vietnam War. Two pilots were captured.

Veterans Day is a day of remembrance and gratitude not only for all veterans past and present who lived to tell their stories, but for all those airmen whose lives were sacrificed before they could tell us their stories. They certainly deserve our appreciation, too. Not just on Veterans Day but every day of the year.

 When you hear a plane soaring overhead, why not think of the men who flew those dangerous missions years ago? Reading their gripping stories will give you a heartfelt sense of gratitude, and a renewed realization of how their heroics helped to preserve our freedom.