Fortress

With America thrust into war after Pearl Harbor, Steve E. Larson leaves behind a life of luxury in being the head CEO of the LHM Oil Company and joins the United States Army Air Force for the adventure. He quickly learns the harsh realities of war in flying combat missions from England in the summer of 1943.

As the heated battle over the skies of Germany's Fortress Europe start taking their toll on Steve, he finds comfort in the arms of Englishwomen. Yet with each mission, life becomes more meaningful, as he meets two women that change his life.

Captain Ann Toille of the British Woman's Auxiliary Air Force, hardened by the war and as cold as ice, defends herself from Steve's advances by using the Bible and God, which he just shuns, though he feels their sting.

Carolyn Vaurnet, French resistance, befriends Steve as he tries to make his way to Spain after he gets shot down on a mission over Germany. He learns that there is more to life than just a night on the town, especially when he leaves her with a bullet in her back.

He returns to England with no sight of the war ending and is told that he is going home instead of staying. With the uncertainty of Carolyn being alive or dead, he reverts to his old ways, only to regret it. Then fate stepped in, Captain Ann Toille, and June 6, 1944.

I was born in Pasadena, California. My dad was an Irish Catholic from Philadelphia; my mom went to whatever church was near, from Temple City, California. They meet in the Air Force during the Koran War, at Shaw Air Force base in South Carolina. Growing up in the sixties, I like the Twelve O'clock High TV series and as I got older I started reading books on that period of time. The 8th Air Force had a mystic about in being stationed in England in earning the tag, Overpaid, Oversexed, and over Here. To me as a kid it felt like it was (Camelot), London, with the (knights) bombers going out and fighting the dragon (Germany) and returning to Piccadilly Circus.