Preserving the Message of World War II Veterans: New Book Takes You Inside The Cockpit of a Heroic B-17 Crew

As the nation focuses on our ongoing war in Iraq, thousands of World War II veterans are dying every week that goes by. In fact, the Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that 1,056 veterans of war pass away every single day. These American heroes, often referred to as the “Greatest Generation,” often pass on without ever telling their tales. As they disappear at such a quick rate, we lose our opportunities to learn from them and their experiences. Most of their stories are lost and will never be told, depriving us of a very important part of our national history and identity.

(PRWEB) March 12, 2006 -- As the nation focuses on our ongoing war in Iraq, thousands of World War II veterans are dying every week that goes by. In fact, the Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that 1,056 veterans of war pass away every single day. These American heroes, often referred to as the “Greatest Generation,” often pass on without ever telling their tales. As they disappear at such a quick rate, we lose our opportunities to learn from them and their experiences. Most of their stories are lost and will never be told, depriving us of a very important part of our national history and identity.

As our veterans get older, many of their children and grandchildren take it upon themselves to make sure that these important voices and stories are heard. After many years of thinking about it, Dr. Brooks Mitchell, a professor at the University of Wyoming, decided to publish his father’s wartime experience after receiving his diaries from World War II. The book, Kipling’s Error III: They Were Good Americans (21st Century Publishers), highlights the bravery of his father’s B-17 Crew during the early days of WWII as told through the crew’s diaries.

Mitchell’s father, Capt. Lloyd Mitchell, served as the navigator for 25 missions over enemy-occupied Europe in the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress. The title of the book comes from a single haunting entry in Capt. Mitchell’s diary: “They were good Americans.” This was recorded after he helped clean up the remains of several friends of his who were killed on a raid into the Third Reich. “Those words have never left my mind and will be with me forever,” says Dr. Mitchell. “We need to preserve the message and heroism of these veterans as an example for future generations and to remember what we owe to their sacrifices.”

The book takes you inside the cockpit and through the dangers encountered by this heroic bombing squadron. The touching and riveting story includes vintage photographs and chronicles the crew’s twenty-five successful raids from their base in Snetterton-Heath, England. This grand tale, based on the oral history and diary of Capt. Mitchell and the four known diaries of his crewmates, reveals every possible human emotion, from bravery to terror, from duty to patriotism, and from love to hate. Fate has preserved and revealed the intimate and diverse diaries of one crew who survived when so many did not.

The commanding officer of Kipling’s Error III assigned unit continues to remember them with pride. “I am grateful to have been associated with this outstanding group of Americans,” says Stanley I. Hand, Col. USAF (ret.). “The crew of the Kipling’s Error was tops. Nobody backed down, nobody turned around, nobody quit. When our country was in one of its darkest hours, they answered the call to come to its defense, and more than made it possible for the sun to break through the clouds.” The crew of the Kipling’s Error has been lauded by the military for decades. It’s time for the rest of the world to hear their story.

For a review copy of the book or to set up an interview with Dr. Brooks Mitchell or Lloyd Mitchell, please contact Jay Wilke at 727-443-7115, ext. 223

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