World War II Dispatches to Akron - An Airman's Letters Home

Christopher LaHurd

Summary

A bombardier’s story of serving in the skies over Europe—and surviving in a POW camp—as told through his correspondence with his Ohio family. 
 
On his twenty-sixth horrifying mission over the hostile skies of Nazi Europe, a charismatic bombardier, seated at the nose of a B-17, strapped on his parachute as his disintegrating bomber dropped uncontrollably to the ground. What got him to this point, the ensuing months behind barbed wire, and his daily letters written to his family in Akron, Ohio, makes for an emotionally intense memoir.  
 
This is the true account of a single individual who represents the countless unsung warriors of the greatest generation during World War II. 
 
Previously published as A Story of One

Available since: 01/30/2017.

Print length: 211 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Radio Head Gal - a memoir of...

Rebecca Knill

“I never wanted to be hearing. I said this out loud in my TED talk, and the audience went bug-eyed, struggling to process this heresy. How could anyone not want to be hearing? I wasn’t anti-hearing. I just felt my life would be simpler if everyone else were deaf.” So begins the compelling story of acclaimed TED speaker Rebecca Knill as she guides us through a life shaped by hearing loss. Throughout, Knill offers eye-opening insights into disability and celebrates the power of technology to level the playing field.A provocative memoir, Radio Head Gal challenges the notion that a deaf existence is inferior, advocating instead for hearing loss to be recognized as an aspect of physical diversity similar to race or gender identity. The memoir delves into themes of adaptation, discrimination, faith, mother/daughter dysfunction, and the quest for belonging in a world that remains largely inaccessible to the d/Deaf.Growing up before accommodation laws or smart technology, Knill reflects on her life pre- and post-cochlear implant ― a surgical procedure in which computer chips replaced her sense of hearing, cyborg-style ― and the birth of her alter ego, Radio Head Gal. The book's subject is timely: hearing loss now affects 1 in 5 young people, a 30% increase since the 1990s. By 2050, hearing loss is expected to swell to 1 in 4 across all age groups worldwide. As younger generations face this reality, technological innovation must follow.With humor and insight, Knill explores themes of self-worth, communication, and the pivotal role technology plays in promoting inclusion. Recognized as a Top 25 Talk of 2020 by the TED Editors, Radio Head Gal is a vital resource to support those with hearing loss, providing intimate revelations and enlightening perspectives that cut through emotional barriers. Dive into this empowering narrative that challenges perceptions and advocates for an inclusive, technology-driven future, regardless of ability differences.

Show book

The Underground Railroad Part 1

William Still

”It was my good fortune to lend a helping hand to the weary travelers flying from the land of bondage.” William Still."Dear Sir:—For most of the years I have lived, the escape of fugitives from slavery, and their efforts to baffle the human and other bloodhounds who tracked them, formed the romance of American History. That romance is now ended, and our grandchildren will hardly believe its leading incidents except on irresistible testimony. I rejoice that you are collecting and presenting that testimony, and heartily wish you a great success." Horace Greeley.William Still is often called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Over 14 years, he helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Still was committed to preserving the stories of the bondmen and he kept careful records of the many escaped slaves who passed through the Philadelphia “station”. The Underground Railroad was published in 1871 from Still’s records and diaries. In bringing you these stories, Librivox volunteers are reading from the 1878 edition. (Summary by MaryAnn)Complete list of recordings comprising this book:The Underground Railroad, Part 1, The Underground Railroad, Part 2, The Underground Railroad, Part 3, The Underground Railroad, Part 4, The Underground Railroad, Part 5.

Show book

Joe & Marilyn - A Memory of Love

Roger Kahn

He was the most famous and best ballplayer of his generation. She was America’s blonde. They were intense, impassioned lovers, and, long after that, gentle and loving friends. The only thing that didn’t work between Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe was their marriage. Joe & Marilyn is a portrait of DiMaggio, as godlike as his legend on the field, but vulnerable and intensely human off and of a stormy Marilyn of whom it was said, “She doesn’t need a husband. She needs salvation.” 
After DiMaggio retired from baseball, he saw a publicity photo of Marilyn and his courtship began. She was reluctant to meet him fearing an old, vulgar ballplayer and instead finding a poised and graying man—"a little shy, like me"—impeccably tailored and financially secure. When they married in 1954, reporters called them “Mr. and Mrs. America.” But their married life was strained from the start. She was messy. He was compulsively neat. He wanted a certain primness and she liked to show her storied body. The marriage lasted nine months. 
In later years as Marilyn drifted through mental illness, DiMaggio reappeared as a stalwart friend. But even he could not rescue her. In the end all that was left for him was to plan her funeral. He barred some of Hollywood’s most famous names. Why? "Because they killed her," he told a friend.

Show book

Enigma A New Life of Charles...

Paul Bew

Charles Stewart Parnell is the most enigmatic figure in Irish history. An Anglo-Irish landlord from a distinguished Wicklow family, he became the most unlikely leader of Irish nationalism imaginable.
He hated the colour green. He was not a dynamic speaker. He was cold and aloof and lacked the popular touch. None the less, from the late 1870s until his fall and death in 1891, he held the whole of Ireland spellbound.
He established Home Rule for Ireland – previously a taboo subject in British politics – at the centre of Westminster affairs and effectively created the modern Irish state in embryo.
His fall was as dramatic as his rise. The affair with Mrs Katharine O'Shea, the mother of his three children, destroyed him. Ever since his fall and his premature death in 1891, Parnell has remained a remarkably potent symbol, particularly in times of crisis and conflict in Ireland. The myth has obscured the man and makes it difficult for us to see Parnell as he really was. Paul Bew presents a completely original interpretation of this fascinating and enigmatic man.

Show book

Artists Siblings Visionaries -...

Judith Mackrell

'Outstanding' - The Guardian 'Judith Mackrell has done an incredible job in bringing to life the stories of these two great artists' - Anthony D’Offay'This is a must read . . . a deeply moving account of a family bursting with talent' - Anne SebbaIn Artists, Siblings, Visionaries, acclaimed biographer Judith Mackrell turns her attention to British brother and sister artists Gwen and Augustus John.In many ways they were polar opposites. Augustus was the larger of the two; vivid, volatile and promiscuous, he was a hero among romantics and bohemians, celebrated as one of the great British talents of his generation.As a woman, Gwen's place in the art world was much smaller, and her private way of working and reserved nature meant it was only long after her death that her tremendous gifts were fully acknowledged. But her temperament was as turbulent as her brother's. She formed passionate attachments to men and woman, including a long affair with the sculptor Rodin.And there were other ways in which the two Johns were remarkably alike, as Mackrell vividly reveals. The result is a powerful portrait of two prodigiously talented artists and visionaries, whose experiments with form and colour created some of the most memorable work of the early twentieth century.

Show book

I Don't Have a Happy Place -...

Kim Korson

Aside from her father wearing makeup and her mother not feeling well (a lot), Kim Korson's 1970s suburban upbringing was typical. Sometimes she wished that her brother were an arsonist just so that she'd have a valid excuse to be unhappy. And when life moves along pretty decently—she breaks into show business, gets engaged in the secluded jungles of Mexico, and moves her family from Brooklyn to dreamy rural Vermont—the real despondency sets in. It's a skill to find something wrong in just about every situation, but Kim has an exquisite talent for negativity. It is only after half a lifetime of finding kernels of unhappiness where others find joy that she begins to wonder if she is even capable of experiencing happiness. 
 
In I Don't Have a Happy Place, Kim Korson untangles what it means to be a true malcontent. Rife with evocative and nostalgic observations, unapologetic realism, and razor-sharp wit, I Don't Have a Happy Place is told in humorous, autobiographical stories. This fresh yet dark voice is sure to make you laugh, nod your head in recognition, and ultimately understand what it truly means to be unhappy. Always.

Show book