This book is the culmination of three years of research in four countries. By meticulously combing the archive records in England, Germany, Poland and the United States, Marilyn Jeffers Walton has reconstructed the final mission of her father and his crew and located the German cemetery where one crewmate, killed the day the plane was shot down, was buried. She searched for and found the remaining men of the crew of "Rhapsody in Junk" and reunited them after sixty years. Interviews with the crew and fellow prisoners of war contributed puzzle pieces, put together bit by bit, that enabled her to find where they were captured and interrogated. By searching old records, letters, diaries and mission records, she was finally able to return to Germany and find the crash site of her father's B-24 where pieces of the plane still remained. To her astonishment, she met the woman who watched her father bail out and saw the very field where he landed. During her return to Germany, she connected emotionally with the people of the peaceful farm community of Wagersrott where her father was taken prisoner over six decades before. In her quest to reconstruct the mission and her father's prisoner of war experiences, Walton presents not only his story but the stories of the British and German people who both suffered greatly, all caught up in the dictates of a mad man. Revealed within the pages is a first-hand account of the bombing of Dresden from a German couple who survived it. Walton's odyssey through Europe allowed her to discover the rich fabric of the people who endured and survived the war and to weave their stories into a multi-faceted mosaic that reflects the personal experiences of World War II.

When the nurturing nature of women meets the loyalty and unguarded affection of dogs, remarkable connections ensue. This book showcases stories about these connections that result in courageous and compassionate acts of love and healing — for the dogs, the women, and all the people whose lives they touch. Readers will laugh, smile, and be moved by shelter dogs, police canine handlers, dogs rescued from hurricanes and dog fighting, returning veterans in need of service dogs, prison inmates who train service dogs, and everyday mutts who transform lives just by providing an exuberant welcome at the end of the day. They'll even meet a dog that dazzled David Letterman on his Late Show. This heartwarming collection of stories is ideal for anyone who loves a dog, or simply loves to be inspired.

Odyssey of a Bombardier is the illustrated Prisoner of War “log” that depicts the experiences of bombardier Richard M. Mason in German prison camps after his B-17 “Flying Fortress” was shot down by the Germans in France in 1944, the final year of World War II. The log follows Mason from the day his plane crashed until his liberation in April, 1945, and his return home to the United States. Included are such topics as medical treatment and rehabilitation for wounded prisoners of the Germans, life in Stalag Luft III, a difficult long march in an arctic winter to another camp, the travails of prisoners in the overcrowded, filthy camp at Moosburg, critical food shortages, and the arrival of General George Patton with the liberating forces. Mason was an amateur artist and illustrated his journal with moving depictions of prison life and comradeship. This book shows U.S. airmen demonstrating grace and courage under pressure and meeting every challenge that their imprisonment presented.

At 6:30 a.m. on 27 January 1945, Col. Friedrich von Lindeiner, the court martialed and exiled "gentleman" ex-Commandant of Stalag Luft III, sat in the waiting room of the Gorlitz train station hoping to return to Sagan, Germany, to fight the approaching Russians. The distance from Gorlitz to Sagan was 28.5 miles. He arrived fifteen hours later as 10,000 Allied prisoners of war were evacuating his former camp. Like them, he would soon view the war from both inside and outside the barbed wire. Later, as a prisoner of war, he was held by the British for two years before returning to a devastated and divided Germany."

This landmark work of modernist literature explores the inner lives of a typical English family while vividly exploring the nature of loss and memory. Following her celebrated masterpiece Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf continues to develop her groundbreaking stream-of-consciousness technique in To the Lighthouse. Every summer, the Ramsey family returns to the Isle of Skye for a tranquil holiday, where the imposing lighthouse seems to promise everlasting constancy. But as their idyllic holiday confronts the realities of World War I, the Ramseys must also face the inescapable nature of change. A profound evocation of marriage, parenthood, aging, and grief, To the Lighthouse is regarded as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

"Lest They Forget Freedom's Price," is the fascinating story of B-17 bomber pilot Edward M. Bender (USAAFR retired Lt. Col.), who describes his flight training, bomber missions, capture, and time as a POW in Europe during World War II. When a fire forces the crew of his Flying Fortress down in enemy-occupied France, Lt. Bender is captured by a unit of teenage NAZI recruits from Adolph Hitler's youth corps. He describes his year as a prisoner of the Third Reich at camps in Sagan, Nurnberg, and Moosburg, and the bitterly cold forced march of Winter 1945, when the Germans and POWs evacuated the Stalag Luft III prison camp in anticipation of the advancing Russian army. Finally, Lt. Bender is liberated by Gen. George Patton's army and returns home to adapt to the challenges of life in post-war America. Filled with humor and pathos, this narrative provides a portrait of life in war-time Europe and America, and the challenges faced by an American airman and POW.