Tom's War

Simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying, " Tom's War: Flying with the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force in Europe, 1944" portrays the training and combat experiences of Thomas D. Hammond. Hammond, a child of the Great Depression, braved the flak-filled skies of Europe in 1944 as copilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress for the U.S. Army.

Hammond represents tens of thousands of young Americans who were proud to risk their lives in the skies over Germany. Although Hammond came home, many did not, including two of his close friends. Hammond's son, author James T. Hammond, brilliantly immortalizes his father's wartime memories in "Tom's War."

""Tom's War" . is an excellent read. It is a] comprehensive, well researched, and insightful documentation of the lives of several 8th Air Force flight crews, bringing home the hopes and despair of the airmen as they strive to destroy enemy targets and survive to finish a tour of combat and be the lucky ones to return safely to family and friends."-Eugene Fletcher, a former 95th Bomb Group combat pilot and author of "The Lucky Bastard Club"