Dan Steele

My full name is Thomas Dan Steele, writing as Dan Steele. This book is a "bucket list" project I had been wanting to finish for years, but waited until I retired after 41

years in broadcasting. I started in 1960 in Murray, Kentucky as a deejay, then from 1961-65 at WTPR radio in my home town of Paris, TN.

In 1965, I moved into television as a reporter/anchor at NBC affiliate WPSD-TV in Paducah, KY. I was promoted to Administrative Manager in 1980, then to Program Director/Operations Manager. From the time I was 18, I was a part-time professional musician and singer until shortly before retiring in December, 2001.

My R.N. wife of 52 years, Ann, died in 2011 and I moved with my daughter and 3 of my 7 grandchildren to Maryland, near Washington , D.C. My eldest son, Danny died of a heart attack in 2010. Two other sons live in Kentucky and Texas.

The story in this book is mostly fiction, but the actual missions, including the last one are factual as far as dates, targets, crew, numbers of planes on each side and losses. Also, the details of the bailout, what happened to each crew member and details of the first three days of the evade/escape journey through the enemy with the French escape line were obtained from the National Archives. Those facts are based on the actual experiences of a cousin, whose name and exact home location near my hometown were changed in the book.

Because I was a teenager when I knew him best, he didn't talk about it to me and told only some things to family. He never fully recovered from the PTSD and nightmares. The French underground evade and escape was top secret with fake names and no written records. As a result, most of the book was fictionalized, including an affair and his life after the war.

It is not your typical boy goes to war. becomes a hero, marries the girl next door and lives happily ever after. It is a little more complicated, as life usually is, but not one of those "bad endings" that make you wonder why you bothered to read it in the first place. I think you'll like it.

As an afficianado of the "Greatest Generation" and WWII, I hope the book reminds readers of what sacrifices those brave men made to save the free world.