The Welcome back everyone to one thousand Heroes, Legends, Histories, and Mysteries podcast.

This is your host and storyteller, John Hagadorn.

I received a message at our new website the other day, and that's at www.

Best of 1001stories.com.

And it read this way.

From Terry Irwin, John, I've enjoyed your podcast for years.

Not long ago, you did a podcast about a World War II topic, and for some reason, it finally

hit me that you might be

interested in a book that I wrote about my father-in-law's experience in World War II.

He was a radio operator on a B-17 crew at age 19. He and his fellow crewman made a forced landing

in Belgium on January 29, 1944, and he spent months on the run from the Nazis before being

captured. Then he spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft IV. His story is both similar to other

crew's fates, but also very different. My book has been out for about three years, and I've averaged

a book talker signing about once a month since it hit.

I've been asked to speak at the Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force in Savannah, Georgia, last January, on the anniversary date of their force landing.

I appreciate you. We're honored to have you with us.

I'm happy to be here, John.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what your background is,

and then what inspired you to write this story?

Okay.

Actually, I grew up here in Southeast Missouri, born and raised here,

and I became very, very interested in airplanes and flying at an early age. In fact, the earliest

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