On Christmas Eve in 1944, a 20-year-old, freshly trained P47 fighter pilot departed the U.S. to join Allied combat forces in Europe. 2nd Lt. Linwood Inscoe would fly fourteen and a half missions. He would be shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans, and reported Missing in Action. He would be strafed by fellow U.S. pilots and fed by German citizens. Finally he would be returned to American soil and receive a Purple Heart. All this would happen in less than five months! A very personal tale, written by Inscoe when he was 70 years old, this is a compelling narrative, based on 150 letters he wrote to family during the period, an in-depth official report of his POW experienceÑwhich he had written immediately upon release, and remarkably detailed memories.
From his learning of Pearl Harbor to his discharge and return to college, Inscoe, a fine story teller of the Tarheel tradition, enhances his words with 31 photographs and 16 illustrations, vividly bringing a personal experience of war to life.