The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II - Hardcover

by Gregory A. Freeman (Author), Alex Kershaw (Foreword by)

With a new foreword from bestselling author Alex Kershaw, the bestselling classic that tells the astonishing, definitive story of the greatest rescue mission, featuring the previously unknown role of the Tuskegee Airmen in this dangerous assignment.

"An amazing, riveting tale of unsung heroes who went above and beyond."--James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers

During a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied territory. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes--without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the cargo planes had to make it through enemy airspace and back--without getting shot down themselves.

Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of this unforgettable story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery was told for the first time ever in this book. The Forgotten 500 is the gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II.

Author Biography

Gregory A. Freeman is an award-winning writer and a leader in the field of narrative nonfiction. Known for books that make a true story read like a gripping, fast-paced novel, his works include The Forgotten 500, The Gathering Wind, Sailors to the End, Troubled Water, and The Last Mission of the Wham Bam Boys. He lives in the Atlanta area.