James H. Keeffe Jr., a World War II and Korean War veteran, went on his first airplane ride at the age of 10 and thus was born his life-long love for flying. This book tells the riveting story of a young airman’s journey from enlistment, through training, into battle, and beyond.

His story is told with fascinating detail that allows the reader to experience all that he encounters as he bails out of his stricken bomber, is hidden in plain sight of the enemy, eventually betrayed, taken prisoner, and sent into the German POW system.

In August, 1942, in the midst of World War II, Jim Keeffe joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and arrived at Aviation Cadet Training. On Thanksgiving Day, 1943, after months of rigorous training, he arrived in England with his crew to begin flying B-24 bombing missions.

Then, on the 8th of March 1944, Keeffe’s airplane is shot down over Holland, catapulting him into a world squeezed colorless by the ever-tightening Nazi fist of occupation. Moving from safe house to safe house in the Dutch Underground, Lt. Keeffe is able to evade the enemy for five months.

Then one day, he is betrayed and sent to Stalag Luft III, a German POW camp near Sagan, Germany. There he spends months in captivity and endures the rigors of a forced march to another prison camp.

Keeffe takes us into the difficult life in the POW camps which we see in unfaltering detail. When he and his fellow POWs are finally liberated in late April of 1945, we experience their joy firsthand!

Winner - Best Memoir
    --Indie Next Generation Book Award 2011

Nominee - MWSA 2011 Awards
    --Military Writers Society of America

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

James H. Keeffe III, eldest son of James H. Keeffe Jr., spent his early years traveling the world with his military family. He has been working in IT data networking for the past eighteen years for Group Health Cooperative. He resides in Fall City, Washington with his wife Paula and daughter Reilly.

James H. Keeffe Jr., a WWII and Korean War veteran, received his degree in meteorology at UCLA. During his 22 years in the Air Force, he was a pilot, weatherman, and instructor. He lives in Bellevue, Washington with his wife Sandy. They have six children and many grandchildren.