A Gathering of Men

Candor, North Carolina. The town barber brandishes a copy of the May 1927 Charlotte Observer-on the front page, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on its cross-country flight. At the outskirts of town, best friends Lake, Roger, and Jim take turns hurling their wingless crate down a hill. Eyes closed, they imagine their future alongside Lindy.

Pearl Harbor changes everything. The boys will have their chance to fly-not over North Carolina farm fields, but across Germany on bombing runs, facing a determined Luftwaffe. The odds of completing their tours of duty are slim.

A Gathering of Men is the account of the boys who board their aircraft for the first time and the men they become in the blink of an eye. The terrors they witness and the pressure to go up again and again and again brings them to the breaking point. It is a moving tale, based on a true story, about shattered dreams and enduring friendship, duty, and honor.

Rona Simmons has authored historical fiction and nonfiction. Both A Gathering of Men and The Other Veterans of World War II: Stories from Behind the Front Lines shed light on little-known aspects of the Second World War. She is the daughter of a WWII fighter pilot and wife of a US Navy pilot and is proud to honor veterans and their stories through her work. Her articles and interviews have appeared in regional and national literary journals and in online and print magazines and newspapers.