WOODSTOCK, Md., July 28, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- World War II left behind millions of war veterans -- some as heroes, others simply lucky to be survivors -- all have their own war stories to tell. Here is an interesting story that gives voices to quite a large group of World War II veterans that not many had heard from: the teenagers whose young ages barely allowed them to get drafted into service. Author Rudy DePaola tells their story through his highly detailed and captivating novel, Wings of a Bullet.
The story follows Ralph, the typical example of American teenaged boys that were raised in the Great Depression. The tragic early Thirties taught Ralph how to survive when even living a simple life required hard work and sacrifice. However, the simple life would not matter anymore: America was attacked and as soon as Ralph and his friends reached the age of seventeen, they signed up for military service.
Leaving family was hard enough, but Ralph, and the thousand of other teenage boys, soon learned that life in the military would be very tough, sometimes merciless. Being a soldier only led to the ultimate crossroad of to kill or be killed, and the journey to that crossroad, Ralph's training, was full of humiliation and pain. However Ralph's war story was not without adventure. After being washed out of all training programs, Ralph and several other cadets were admitted to aerial gunnery school where Ralph was trained to be a gunner for the B-24 "Liberator." His crewmates became his new family.
Rich in detail of the Southwest Pacific Theater and capturing the raw emotions felt in military training, Wings of a Bullet is a brilliant novel about a teenager's experience of combat in World War II. Author Rudy DePaola has achieved his goal in expressing an understanding of what it is like to be a teen in war. Filled with pictures, maps, and real letters from a teen soldier to home, this novel is a highly recommended read for both war veterans and teenage readers alike.
About the Author
Rudolph "Rudy" Depaola was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 26, 1925. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps straight from high school on 19 July, 1943. He entered basic training at Kessler Field, Biloxi, Mississippi, then Gunnery School in Harlingen, Texas; and later crew training at March Field, Riverside, California. He was assigned as a tail gunner to the Robert E. Grey crew. They picked up a new B-24 bomber at Fairfield Souson, California and prepared to fly it to the Southwest Pacific. Here he became gravely ill and was left behind. He finally caught up with his crew several weeks later in Nabzab, New Guinea. After completing combat training missions, he was assigned to a Bomb Group in the 13th Air Force in November 1944 and flew twenty-five missions from Moratai (in Halmaharas) against the Philippines, Borneo, and other islands. After the war, he went to college on the G.I. Bill and became a teacher and later a principal.
Wings of a Bullet by Rudy DePaola
A Story of Young Americans at War
Trade Paperback; $21.99; 231 pages; 1-4134-9816-7
Cloth Hardback; $31.99; 231 pages; 1-4134-9817-5
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