Colonel Ray Ward's magnificent Those Brave crews: The Epic Raid to Destroy Hiltler's Oil Fields, follows the fortunes of American aircraft on their suicidal mission against the vital Ploesti (Roumania) oil fields. With him you will follow each different crew, sit in the pilot's seat, and share the unique experience of the gunners dueling eye-to-eye with the enemy flack crews. The sacrifice and dedication of these men rivals other famous events in history, such as the calvary charges of the Crimea, Pickett's assault at Gettysburg, or Xenephon's March.
Ward is a WW II veteran who flew in B-24s and R-4s, and briefly served as a gunnery instructor at Buckley Field, Colorado, an aerial gunnery training center. He is a founding member of Twirly Birds, International Organization of Pioneer Helicopter Pilots, charter member of the Air Force Association, and holds membership in Silver Wings Fraternity and in the Second Air Division Association, as well as life membership in the 8th Air Force Historical Society and the Association of Graduates USAF Academy.
Ray Ward wrote for newspapers, was a bureau chief and while at Cornell (member of War Class of '43) wrote radio dramas performed coast-to-coast on CBS and NBC. He is also a member of The Authors Guild.
Ward managed two major programs of the Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission, receiving national citations for his Civil War Centennial activity.
