Damn Lucky Spiral-Bound | 2022-04-19
Kevin Maurer
★★★★☆+ from 501 to 1,000 ratings
Damn Lucky
When Second Lieutenant John "Lucky" Luckadoo--a wide-eyed 21-year-old assigned to the Eighth Air Force's 100th Bomb Group--arrived in England, "Axis Sally," an American broadcaster employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate propaganda during World War II, welcomed his squadron by name.
"This isn't your war," she told them. "You don't have any business being here, but as long as you're here we're going to teach you a lesson." And they did.
Kevin Maurer's Damn Lucky tells the true story of "Lucky" Luckadoo who flew the deadliest missions of World War II during the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history. Lucky served with the 100th Bomber Group during the early days of the bombing of France and Germany from England. His story starts with his quest to join the Royal Air Force with his best friend before the war, through 25 missions in combat over Germany to the one mission--a raid over Bremen--where Luckadoo felt like his luck had run out.
The statistical chances for a heavy Bomber crew in Europe to be lost on a mission were 1-in-10. At a 25-mission tour of duty, statistically, once a flyer made it to 10 missions they were literally on borrowed time. Anyone who served a full tour and survived was remarkably lucky.
Drawn from Lucky's firsthand accounts, acclaimed war correspondent and bestselling author Kevin Maurer delves into this extraordinary tale, uncovering astonishing accounts of bravery during an epic clash in the skies over Nazi Germany.
"An epic, thrillingly written, utterly immersive account of a very lucky, incredible survivor of the war in the skies to defeat Hitler. A wonderfully entertaining, fast read. Don't miss this one." --Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Longest Winter and The Liberator
"Kevin Maurer has crafted a heart-pounding narrative of the air war in Europe, framed around the incredible true story of pilot John "Lucky" Luckadoo who survived twenty five missions against the Third Reich. In Maurer's talented hands, readers will hear the thunder of flak, wince under the rattle of machinegun fire, and feel the fear that haunted the dreams of America's brave airmen. Damn Lucky is a damn fine book!" --James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo and Rampage
"In this action-packed flyboy saga, the reader is in the co-pilot's seat next to Lt. John "Lucky" Luckadoo as his B-17 Flying Fortress rains destruction on the Nazi Fatherland. The scenes of the deadly duels between bold American bombers and desperate German fighters are riveting and remind us of the terrible toll it took to earn victory in World War II." --Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, New York Times bestselling authors of Blood and Treasure and Lucky 666
"Damn Lucky brings to life World War II's deadliest campaign in a riveting account of aerial combat over the skies of Nazi Germany. From the freezing cockpit of a Flying Fortress to surviving flak so thick pilots joked they could land on it, Lucky Luckadoo's story of service and survival is timeless. He personifies America's greatest generation." --Mitch Weiss, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and New York Times bestselling coauthor of Countdown 1945
"Maurer, as always, makes the details of war compelling." --Kelly Kennedy, author of They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq
"Few writers working today are able to marry historical fact with propulsive narrative like Kevin Maurer can." --Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Ballad