Why am I passionate about this?
My Grandpa is the reason I’m interested in WWII history. He was my best friend until I was 26, when I lost him forever. We spent all our time together watching old movies, playing video games, and going through old photo albums. I found out about his war service when I was 18 while writing a school paper. Once he showed me his photos from when he was 18, I just fell in love with these pictures and the stories that accompanied them. And ever since, I’ve spent the last 20+ years learning more and more about WWII history. I just really love reading about it, talking to veterans, and re-telling their stories to whoever will listen.
Kara's book list on fascinating stories on people and events from WWII
Why did Kara love this book?
I love this book. One of my favorite movies is The Great Escape (yes, I know it was also a book) and reading this book feels like watching this movie. The story is a simliar one that is an OSS rescue mission to save 500 downed airmen stuck in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, while they secretly build an entire airstrip large enough for C-47s (if you’re not familiar, they are very large airplanes). Avoiding the Germans in the cover of darkness, the airmen and villagers risked their lives to build this strip in attempt of rescue. Oh, and there’s also a revolution happening at the same time in Yugoslavia. This horribly dangerous mission makes for an incredible reading experience.
2 authors picked The Forgotten 500 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
The astonishing, never before told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II—when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia...
During a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes—without tools, without alerting…