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Wings Forever
Wings Forever is a WWII fighter pilot's true story. It is a very visual story - told mainly through pictures, diaries, newspaper clippings, telegrams and letters discovered many years after his death and painstakingly pieced together by his daughter over a period of more than 15 years.
Donn's story begins with him joining the Army Air Corps at age 18 and focuses on his experiences as a P-38 Lightning fighter pilot flying over Italy out of Africa - and what a dangerous job it was. Readers will see the war through new eyes by reading Donn's diary entries and letters he wrote home. They will follow him on his flight missions, hear his own words about how scared he was when he was fighting German and Italian planes over Italy.
He flew 40 successful missions before he was shot down and taken captive by the Italians - just 10 missions before he was going to be able to go home to be with his wife when she had their first baby. Learn how he escaped and hid in the hills of Italy for nearly three months before being recaptured by German soldiers when he was half frozen, in a blizzard with only one shoe, just 20 kilometers from the Allied lines.
Through his letters and those of his family, experience the worry of him being Missing In Action for 8 months and how he didn't even know if he was a father or not until over a year after he was shot down. He spent 19 months in a German prison camp where he was so hungry he ate bugs. Learn how he tried to tunnel out of the prison camp with his roommates, before the war ended and he finally came home to his wife and met his beautiful little one-and-a-half year old daughter for the first time.
Wings Forever is a poignant, riveting, dramatic story. One that will capture your heart and that you will remember long after it has ended.
Donn's story begins with him joining the Army Air Corps at age 18 and focuses on his experiences as a P-38 Lightning fighter pilot flying over Italy out of Africa - and what a dangerous job it was. Readers will see the war through new eyes by reading Donn's diary entries and letters he wrote home. They will follow him on his flight missions, hear his own words about how scared he was when he was fighting German and Italian planes over Italy.
He flew 40 successful missions before he was shot down and taken captive by the Italians - just 10 missions before he was going to be able to go home to be with his wife when she had their first baby. Learn how he escaped and hid in the hills of Italy for nearly three months before being recaptured by German soldiers when he was half frozen, in a blizzard with only one shoe, just 20 kilometers from the Allied lines.
Through his letters and those of his family, experience the worry of him being Missing In Action for 8 months and how he didn't even know if he was a father or not until over a year after he was shot down. He spent 19 months in a German prison camp where he was so hungry he ate bugs. Learn how he tried to tunnel out of the prison camp with his roommates, before the war ended and he finally came home to his wife and met his beautiful little one-and-a-half year old daughter for the first time.
Wings Forever is a poignant, riveting, dramatic story. One that will capture your heart and that you will remember long after it has ended.
146 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2021
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About the author
Verla Kay
12 books10 followersVerla Kay is passionate about her writing and she loves cooking, playing computer games that have lots of puzzles in them to be solved and she also plays a lot of board, dice and card games with her family and friends (especially pinochle). She lives in a tiny town in eastern Washington, close to Spokane and the Idaho border with her husband of over 55 years and two long-haired Himalayan cats. Family is very important to her and she has four grown children (one married), four grown grandchildren (two married) and five great grandchildren that range in age from six to thirteen, most of whom live within visiting distance from her. She has previously had eleven historical picture books published, ten of them by Putnam. Wings Forever is her first self-published book and she is VERY proud of it! Visit Verla at: https://verlakay.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 6, 2021
I was especially interested in this book since one of my uncles (Dan Wilson) was KIA in a P-38 over Austria in February 1945. The author's father, Donn Deisenroth, also a P-38 pilot, helped to secure the Foggia air complex in Italy, which is where Dan Wilson's P-38 Fighter Group was stationed in late 1944.
Deisenroth was shot down in August of 1943, and spent the next 1 1/2 years as a POW, mostly in Stalag Luft I in Germany. Using letters, clippings, and the memories of other men, the author shows her father's training, service, and experiences as a POW. He was married before combat and waited for over a year to learn whether their baby was a boy or a girl.
After the war, he flew the F-80 Shooting Star, but always preferred flying propeller planes. He became a crop duster and was killed on take-off. He said he never wanted to get old, that he wanted to die in a plane. He got his wish, but he was only 38 years old.
The book contains lots of footnotes and photos.
Deisenroth was shot down in August of 1943, and spent the next 1 1/2 years as a POW, mostly in Stalag Luft I in Germany. Using letters, clippings, and the memories of other men, the author shows her father's training, service, and experiences as a POW. He was married before combat and waited for over a year to learn whether their baby was a boy or a girl.
After the war, he flew the F-80 Shooting Star, but always preferred flying propeller planes. He became a crop duster and was killed on take-off. He said he never wanted to get old, that he wanted to die in a plane. He got his wish, but he was only 38 years old.
The book contains lots of footnotes and photos.
December 14, 2021
I actually was not expecting to enjoy this book because I'm not a fan of war/military books, but I was pleasantly surprised. I found it very interesting and it did a good job of helping me feel connected to the main character Donn. I learned many things I hadn't known about that period of our history. For example, I had never heard of V-Mail. I also was surprised that prisoners of war could send mail and could get both letters and packages from home when they were in the German camps. The author does an excellent job of explaining in footnotes anything that might be confusing. I highly recommend this book. My husband also liked it and found it both interesting and informative.
December 3, 2021
Verla Kay shares her father’s first-hand account of his experiences as a WWII fighter pilot and prisoner of war. Fascinating details include photos and descriptions of the planes he flew, the battles he fought, and his struggle to survive as a POW—twice! Horrors and heroism are recorded in his war log, letters, photos, and documents that include an autograph from a famous heavy-weight boxing champion who visited the prison. A fast-paced story with the drama and plot twists of a movie—and it’s all true! This AMAZING book deserves to be a movie someday.
January 14, 2022
Wings Forever: the true story of Donn Deisenroth, American WWII fighter pilot by his daughter, Verla Kay is another treasure not just for her family but for the rest of us who value freedom. A labor of love, it is an account of his time during the war. And this is why we must fight any and all tyranny, including all the unconstitutional mandates around covid. These brave young men and women didn't fight so that we could be cowed by a corrupt govt. We owe it to them to fight for our freedom now, for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews