Particles In A Stream D-Day And After [Images -- Missions flown (1944) -- Joining -- The first five -- Combat crew -- D-Day and after -- Lead crew -- Incidental things -- One day's work -- Between times]

237 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm ISBN 9781469137858, 9781469137841, 1469137852, 1469137844 OCLC 826333997 LCCN 2011962783 LC D790.263 614th R57 2012 Dewey 940.544973092 ; "The time span for most of the story is from April 1944 through August 1944, when the First Lieutenant James F. Risher combat crew flew its thirty-two bombing mission schedule as members of the 401st Bombardment Group based at Deenthope, England."--Foreword ; Contents: Images -- Missions flown (1944) -- Joining -- The first five -- Combat crew -- D-Day and after -- Lead crew -- Incidental things -- One day's work -- Between times-- Men and planes -- Ground support -- The last five -- Aftermath ; Within the colossal stage of the Second War, millions of human destinies were inexplicably intertwined and eventually led to the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Author James F. Risher, Jr. gives an inside glimpse of warfare through his book, Particles In A Stream D-Day And After, published posthumously by his sons, James F. Risher III and Joseph K. Risher. This significant and fast moving personal account reveals Risher's experiences in the United States Strategic bombing campaign as a member of the Eight U.S. Army Air Force in the European theatre of World War II. This book is more than a combat history--it is a story of impressions and feelings about the stresses upon human beings associated with this form of combat, as they become part of a cohesive aerial combat crew. It tells how men depended on each other to survive combat missions. It reveals the response of individuals to the growing, repeated stress of aerial warfare in a high altitude (4 to 6 miles), sub-zero frigid environment; perform precise technical tasks in confined, unheated spaces, with life maintained by an oxygen tube. Interwoven with feelings of creeping anticipation, dread, panic, and often boredom of high altitude warfare, Particles In A Stream D-Day And After also presents the humorous side of combat flying and everyday life on the bomber bases in England. The men often relied on humor as the tonic for stress and fatigue. The "particles in a stream" in the title refers to WWII as the war of "small teams"--men of other military branches who no doubt felt the same way the longer they fought together. ; SIGNED by James F. Richer III on half-title ; FINE. …