Acts of compassion and humanity under the bombs
One of the things that sets Bombing Hitler's Hometown apart from most other books about the air war is that I weave in the stories of...
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Mike Croissant
May 263 min read
The 28th Man
Twenty-eight American airmen lost their lives on the 25 April 1945 bombing raid on Linz, Austria. Due to tough editorial choices that had...
54 views
Mike Croissant
May 121 min read
A grieving mother's prayer
In Bombing Hitler's Hometown (page 229), we read a poem from Mrs. M. Gajnak included in a letter to my grandmother, Harriet Croissant....
50 views
Mike Croissant
May 69 min read
Tom Bullock earns the Distinguished Flying Cross
“We were on the bomb run, and we noticed that the anti-aircraft fire from the ground was very accurate,” First Lieutenant Tom Bullock,...
73 views
Mike Croissant
May 54 min read
Linz falls to Patton’s Third Army
Days after the 25 April 1945 bombing raid on Linz, Combat Command A (CCA) of the US Army’s 11th Armored Division was advancing on the...
43 views
Mike Croissant
Mar 231 min read
Coming full circle on my first radio interview for Bombing Hitler's Hometown
I had the pleasure of talking to Paul Loeffler, the man behind Hometown Heroes Radio, on March 20, and the interview, my first for...
34 views
Mike Croissant
Feb 192 min read
Remembering the valor of James E. Miller
The harrowing tale of the 25 April 1945 mission to Linz, Austria, as experienced by 483rd Bomb Group pilot James E. Miller.
256 views
Mike Croissant
Feb 143 min read
The aunt I could have had
When my uncle Ellsworth was killed in a plane crash in September 1945, my grandmother began writing letters to the families of the other...
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Mike Croissant
Feb 73 min read
Ken Becker's morning thoughts - and an incredible memory I verified
Ken Becker, a navigator in the 99th Bomb Group, was my friend, and spending hours with him on the deck of his lakeside home in Wisconsin...
92 views
Mike Croissant
Jan 265 min read
Bob Soutar and his “Little Black Book”
I interviewed more than fifty survivors of the Linz mission of 25 April 1945, but I had to make some tough choices when it came to...
64 views
Mike Croissant
Jan 42 min read
An Unexpected Visitor
On the flight back to Italy after the harrowing mission to Linz on 25 April 1945, Staff Sergeant Bill Gorrall had watched a defeated...
216 views
Mike Croissant
Dec 18, 20234 min read
Remembering Norman Lear’s Service in World War II
Famed TV writer and producer Norman Lear passed away on December 5, 2023, at age 101. While most celebrations of his life have focused on...
139 views
Mike Croissant
Aug 5, 20233 min read
Doc Demmond’s crash landing
I had to make tough editorial choices for Bombing Hitler's Hometown, given how much research material I collected. Here's a story I found...
111 views
Mike Croissant
Mar 7, 202214 min read
“The Country Where Human Sufferings and Human Life Count for So Little”
Under the Yalta Agreement, signed by the Allied powers in February 1945, Allied prisoners of war (POWs) freed from German captivity by...
1,222 views
Mike Croissant
Feb 17, 20225 min read
The Race to War’s End: A Tale of Three War-Weary B-24 Liberators
When the 485th Bomb Group arrived at Venosa airfield, Italy, in February 1944 to begin combat operations, it had 72 B-24 Liberator...
1,191 views
Mike Croissant
Nov 6, 20219 min read
“I Wasn’t Just Scared, I Was Petrified”
One of the most difficult editorial decisions I had to make for Bombing Hitler's Hometown was to cut the passage about my buddy, Ray...
385 views
Mike Croissant
Apr 25, 20215 min read
“It Felt as Though We Were Actually Hanging in the Sky"
After conducting so many interviews and so much primary-source research for Bombing Hitler's Hometown, it was inevitable that I would...
865 views
Mike Croissant
Jan 30, 20214 min read
A B-17 Navigator on the Fifteenth Air Force's One and Only Raid on Berlin
Although I interviewed more than fifty veterans for Bombing Hitler's Hometown, I couldn't use every story and anecdote in the book. I...
428 views
Mike Croissant
Jan 16, 20217 min read
“We Were Almost Like Brothers”
I interviewed more than fifty veterans for Bombing Hitler's Hometown, but I inevitably had to leave some material on the cutting room...
312 views
Mike Croissant
Jan 1, 20215 min read
Unbowed: The Story of Art Jurado
I conducted extensive interviews and research for Bombing Hitler's Hometown, but there was no way to include every story and anecdote in...
525 views
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