23 Lessons: How the U.S. Army Air Force "Taught me the Ropes"

I celebrated my 20th birthday when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Growing up in rural Iowa, fighting in a war was a remote thought. But we all knew it was real. Just how real wasn't clear until I flew my first mission as the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress, only two years after enlisting. I completed 22 missions before being shot down over Nazi occupied Yugoslavia. Each mission was a lesson on life and quickly transformed me from a 20 year-old boy to a 22 year-old man. The story of my 23rd mission and 45 day struggle hiding from the Germans is documented in my book Bail Out over the Balkans. As a cadet, I was told we would "learn the ropes." I didn't realize those ropes would be attached to a parachute.