"Because of You, We Live!": The Untold Story of George & Simone Stalnaker

As Nazi Swastikas blight the landscape of most of Europe during World War II, Simone de Cruzel, a defiant 19-year-old socialite living on the French Riviera and daughter of a Provincial Court Judge, is a spy for the British with the code name of "SISTER." At the same time, she takes to the streets with a rifle in hand as a member the French Resistance, fighting against her country's occupiers. After many successful missions, her identity is compromised. Captured and imprisoned in a cell so small she cannot fully stand up, Simone is forced to subsist on bugs and worms from the floor along with an occasional cup of broth, often filled with lice. She awakens every morning for months waiting for her name to be announced at each “5 a.m. Death Call.” Meanwhile, a brash American from Iowa and son of a preacher, George Stalnaker graduates from West Point and earns his wings. After quickly rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel and completing 35 combat missions, he is given the critical assignment of destroying the last remaining bridge the Germans could use to reinforce their troops at Normandy. His B-26 bomber is hit by enemy fire and loses its right engine. With the left engine damaged and the plane rapidly losing altitude, the mission is successfully completed before the crew is forced to bail out. There are no indicators on the map that they have accidentally chosen the worst possible parachute target - Gestapo HQ. The aircraft banks sharply, stalls, spins out of control, and explodes upon impact with the ground. A brave French boy races his bicycle to the site where he sees George’s parachute come down, hoping to reach him before the Germans. George and Simone may be people born worlds apart but they are alike in one important way – heroism is in their DNA. This is the epic true story of how this remarkable couple manages to survive, meet, and fall in love.

Over the past 28 years, Len Sandler has successfully developed and delivered close to 3,000 leadership seminars for such organizations as IBM, NASA, GEICO, General Motors, EMC, Siemens, AT&T, Disney, Lockheed-Martin, McKesson, Citigroup, Liberty Mutual, General Electric, Lucent Technologies, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, the U. S. Navy, Hertz, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Honeywell, Abbott Labs, Motorola, Staples, Verizon, Merck, and Oracle. Formerly an adjunct professor at Boston University's School of Management, he holds a B.S. in Psychology, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior. Len lives in Westford, MA, with his wife Marilyn. He has four children - Lori, Melinda, Scott, and Craig - along with three grandchildren - Elizabeth, Louisa, and Oscar. Sandler is also the author of Becoming an Extraordinary Manager: The Five Essentials for Success and See You on the High Ground: The Jared Monti Story.