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News about World War II, including links to articles and web sites, brief articles on different aspects of World War II history, plus notices of new releases of books and other publications on World War II from the Merriam Press. The World War II News Blog is managed by Ray Merriam, the owner of Merriam Press.

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We Came To Fight A War

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Price: From $4.99 to $34.95

Paperback $15.95 — Hardcover $34.95 — PDF on DVD disk by mail $4.99

We Came to Fight a War

The Story of a B-17 Radio Gunner and His Pilot

as remembered by Alvin E. Kotler and told to Jack Flynn

Merriam Press Military Monograph 19
Second Edition (January 2012)
138 – 6 x 9 inch pages
Paperback (ISBN 978-1468163629) — #MM19-P — $15.95
Hardcover (ISBN 978-0-557-04925-7) — #MM19-H — $34.95
PDF file on a DVD disk by mail — #MM19-PDF — $4.99
PDF file available for immediate download after purchase from here.
33 photos, illustrations, documents
Booksellers: Paperback edition available direct from Merriam Press as well as distributors.

On 15 April 1945, 1st Lt Bill Flynn completed his 25th bombing mission flying a B-17 with the 346th Bomb Sqdn, 99th Bomb Group. On 25 May 1945, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “extraordinary achievement" in combat. In July of that same year, at a General Court Martial, he was accused of “buzzing,” convicted of manslaughter and the destruction of government property. People were intimidated and encouraged to lie and 20-year-old Lt Flynn was stripped of his rank and benefits, dishonorably discharged, and sentenced to hard labor at a Federal Prison in New York. This book was written by Lt Flynn's radio gunner, Al Kotler, and Bill's brother, Jack Flynn. You will meet Bill, Al, and the rest of their crew, and fly with them on missions out of Foggia, Italy. Bill is no longer here to defend himself, so Al and Jack combined forces to present the full story of what really happened and to right a terrible wrong.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
AL’S STORY
- The Italian Alps
- The Early Years
- Pre-Flight
- Radio and Gunnery
- OTU (Operational Training Unit) Al Meets Bill and the Crew
- Off To Italy
THE WAR
- Back to the Alps
- Were We on Schindler’s List?
- The Importance of Ice Cream
- Reflections
- A Day at the Beach or What?
- The Tuskegee Guys
- The Missions that Weren’t
WALTER … OR WHO PEED ON MY TURRET?
- O’Neil’s .50 Caliber Oops
- Heads Up … or Out
- Moe
- The Milk Run
- Anoxia, or the Little Red Bead
- R & R: The Isle of Capri
- The Blue Grotto
- “Old Folks”
THE TRANSITION
- Just a Dog?
POST WAR
- Not Here. Not Now
- The Pursuit of Happiness
- Discharged
- Getting My Life Together Again
- Surprised, Shocked and Outraged
- Changes
- Thoughts About Bill
THE SMOKING GUN
EPILOGUE
AFTERWORD

Review by Rita Sullivan, Canton, Massachusetts: Recently I read We Came To Fight A War. It was so descriptive you could almost see it happening and it was so well written that I could not put the book down because I wanted to see what would happen next to those brave men that were putting their lives on the line for us. I love war stories especially if they are fact. This story I am sure is true because I personally know Al Kotler. He is a neighbor and good friend of mine. It is hard to even try to imagine what our men are going through in these terrible wars when you try to picture what HELL this small group of men went through. You have a BEST SELLER in this book and I think it would also make a truly wonderful movie for TV.