Finding Bomb Boogie: A Daughter's Search to Rediscover Her Father - the World War II Bomber Boy, Prisoner of War, and American Veteran
Submitted by: Maureen Buick
Category: Books
How often has it been said - my father was in World War II but didn’t want to talk about it? The sounds of silence related to personal war stories reverberated in so many veterans’ households. Families were left knowing only bits and pieces of their loved one’s war narrative. Some were left with nothing at all.
Finding Bomb Boogie is the story of a daughter discovering her father’s war history long after he is gone - the quiet World War II veteran and tail gunner on a B-17 named “Bomb Boogie” flying bombing missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, the bomber boy of 21 years, scared of heights, parachuting twice out of a plane to his eventual capture by the Germans, the resilient airman held in a prisoner of war camp for 22 months who spent his 24th birthday on a forced march in one of the coldest winters in over 50 years, the daredevil who rolled down a hill during the march to escape detention in another prison camp, and the tired, emaciated young man who finally made it home only to fight more battles. Finding Bomb Boogie will inspire anyone interested in breaking through their own sounds of silence to find their veteran’s stories before they quietly slip away. Lest we forget.
About the author:
Maureen is a retired registered nurse specializing in adult critical care, neonatal critical care and administrative nursing. She became a World War II history buff after she retired and had the opportunity to research her father’s war story. Tracing her father’s footsteps during World War II and the years leading up to the war, Maureen’s research took her to Germany, Poland, Great Britain, Panama and Austria. The highlight of her travels was when she visited Bassingbourn, the Air Force Base in East Anglia, England, where her father flew bombing missions to Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. Maureen is a member of the 91st Bomb Group Memorial Association and serves on their board as editor of their quarterly newsletter, "The Ragged Irregular." She is also a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society and the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society. Maureen lives with her husband in San Francisco and spends most of her time traveling between Lake Tahoe and Sonoma County. She is an avid skier and enjoys hiking and gardening when she is not busy writing. She and her husband have two grown children and two grandsons, whom Maureen buys model airplanes for - mostly B-17s - every chance she gets. This is her first book. She is working on a second book about World War II prisoners of war. maureenbuick.com