a world war II bailout plan

When every parachute was golden

    With hundreds of billions of dollars going hither and yon, we thought some perspective was in order. There was little debating among these World War II veterans when the bailout bell rang -- if it rang at all.

    These are the stories you'll hear in this unique double audio CD:

■ Gerry Rutigliano was a rough and tumble kid from New York City when he joined the 8th Air Force as a waist gunner on a B-17. On his 20th birthday he wrote his parents that he would soon have a surprise -- the surprise being that he would soon complete his 30 missions and would be on his way home. The surprise was on Gerry, though, as his plane was shot down over Berlin on his 27th mission.

■ Ed Hays was a tail gunner on a B-17 that was shot down over Denmark in February of 1944. During his time as a prisoner of war, he spent 27 days in boxcars and two in the hold of a ship, and took part in the infamous "Heydekrug Run" on which prisoners being transferred to a different camp were forced to run a gauntlet of two miles and if they fell or slowed down they were bayoneted or bitten by dogs. More of Hays' story is included in the audiobook "For You the War Is Over."

■ Hal Mapes' B-17 collided with another B-17 during a "milk run" over Chartres, and he was only able to fasten one strap of his parachute harness before he exited the plane. The day before, during a class on parachuting, he learned that if you fastened one harness it would support a man who weighed 175 pounds. Mapes weighed 198. More of Mapes' story is included in the audiobook "For You the War Is Over."

■ Ed Boccafogli of the 82nd Airborne Division was about to parachute into Normandy in the darkness before dawn of D-Day when he slipped, and other paratroopers' feet kept hitting him in the head. More of Boccafogli's story is included in the audiobook "The D-Day Tapes."

■ Vern Schmidt of the 90th Infantry Division was part of a group that rescued two fliers who bailed out of a B-17 in Chechoslovakia near the end of the war in Europe. Decades later, he was able to locate one of the crew members he saved. More of Vern Schmidt's story is included in the audiobook "A Spindle of History."

 ■ George Collar, Ira Weinstein and Malcolm McGregor were members of the 445th Bomb Group whose B-24s were shot down during the Kassel Mission of Sept. 27, 1944. More of their stories are included in the audiobook "The Kassel Cassettes" which is currently being revised but will be available soon.

■ Karnig Thomasian was a gunner on a B-29 who became a prisoner of the Japanese after bailing out over Burma. More of Thomasian's story is included in "For You the War Is Over."

Listen to excerpts from this double-CD:

 real audio  mp3  Hal Mapes.

 real audio  mp3  Gerry Rutigliano.

 real audio  mp3 Ed Hays.

    Order "A World War II Bailout Package" from our eBay store