Fickle Finger Of Fate

As a farm boy in central Pennsylvania, Ives never imagined the course his life would take as Europe fermented and eventually exploded into WWII. In this crisp telling of how he came to his fate in a German POW camp next to the North Sea, Ives, a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, relives "Black Thursday", the 14 October 1943 mission over Schweinfurt, Germany, through the eyes of a bombardier in a B-17. From wake up call to the order to bail out of his flak- and bullet-shattered plane at 25,000 feet, to his subsequent evasion, eventual capture and experiences in Stalag Luft I, Ray revisits the emotions and strange coincidences of the time. 9 photos, 1 map, 6 ill, 3 documents.