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Tailwinds: How Love, Faith and a Future Saint Lifted an Airman Through WWII
Arthur Haumesser was just 22 years old when he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a radio operator on a B-17 bomber during World War II. He and his future wife, Ruth, wrote more than 500 letters to one another over the course of the war detailing their experiences on the battle front and the home front. When his father was hit by a car and killed in Buffalo in 1944, Arthur could not come home for the funeral and those letters became a lifeline—a tailwind—to carry him through 30 missions over German targets. An equally important tailwind was the Catholic chaplain who looked out for the soldier after his father’s death and introduced him to Padre Pio, a future saint and guiding influence for the rest of Arthur’s life.
141 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 25, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 22, 2020
Tailwinds shows the faith and love of a soldier throughout the second world war. Equal parts love of his future wife, Ruth, and unwaivering faith, this story is personal while also being a reflection of many of the other soldiers in WWII. The story is engaging and has a lot to offer from history to romance.
To disclose my personal biases, this story was written by my uncle about my grandparents, but parts of this story were new to me and gave me a greater appreciation of the man my grandfather was.
To disclose my personal biases, this story was written by my uncle about my grandparents, but parts of this story were new to me and gave me a greater appreciation of the man my grandfather was.
September 26, 2020
Tailwinds
136 pages
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
**Thank you to my IRL best friend @sammi_013 for lending me her #gifted copy of this book**
SYNOPSIS: Arthur Haumesser was just 22 years old when he served in the US Army Air Corps as a radio operator on a B-17 bomber during WWII. He and his future wife, Ruth, wrote more than 500 letters to one another over the course of the war detailing their experiences on the battle front and the home front. When his father was hit by a car and killed in Buffalo in 1944, Arthur could not come home for the funeral and those letters became a lifeline - a tailwind - to carry him through 30 missions over German targets. An equally important tailwind was the Catholic Champlain who looked out for the soldier after his father’s death and introduced him to Padre Pio, a future saint and guiding influence for the rest of Arthur’s life.
REVIEW: Tailwinds is the beautiful story of Arthur’s life, told by his son, who has all of the letters him and Ruth passed back and forth. This was flawlessly pieced together with the letters, as well as bits of history, photos, and more. It was super interesting to read this being from Buffalo, because the family is in the area and I felt more of a connection to them and they story as Buffalo was talked about. I wish this was a little longer, and there were more photos of the letters, and a little more about Arthur and Ruth’s life together after the war, and even more memories of Arthur and his son, the author, toward the end. I really enjoyed how conversational this book was as well, and it was a beautiful snippet of history that I will definitely read again.
136 pages
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
**Thank you to my IRL best friend @sammi_013 for lending me her #gifted copy of this book**
SYNOPSIS: Arthur Haumesser was just 22 years old when he served in the US Army Air Corps as a radio operator on a B-17 bomber during WWII. He and his future wife, Ruth, wrote more than 500 letters to one another over the course of the war detailing their experiences on the battle front and the home front. When his father was hit by a car and killed in Buffalo in 1944, Arthur could not come home for the funeral and those letters became a lifeline - a tailwind - to carry him through 30 missions over German targets. An equally important tailwind was the Catholic Champlain who looked out for the soldier after his father’s death and introduced him to Padre Pio, a future saint and guiding influence for the rest of Arthur’s life.
REVIEW: Tailwinds is the beautiful story of Arthur’s life, told by his son, who has all of the letters him and Ruth passed back and forth. This was flawlessly pieced together with the letters, as well as bits of history, photos, and more. It was super interesting to read this being from Buffalo, because the family is in the area and I felt more of a connection to them and they story as Buffalo was talked about. I wish this was a little longer, and there were more photos of the letters, and a little more about Arthur and Ruth’s life together after the war, and even more memories of Arthur and his son, the author, toward the end. I really enjoyed how conversational this book was as well, and it was a beautiful snippet of history that I will definitely read again.
January 17, 2022
The Haumesser story is one that has its moments of heartache but does not lack in love and devotion to family. We’re a lucky bunch to carry this name.
My grandfather is Carl, the older brother mentioned in this beautiful story and having been born long after his passing and unfortunately never having known him, it was touching to pick up some pieces here and there of what kind of man he was and how influential he was in his younger brother’s life.
My grandfather is Carl, the older brother mentioned in this beautiful story and having been born long after his passing and unfortunately never having known him, it was touching to pick up some pieces here and there of what kind of man he was and how influential he was in his younger brother’s life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews