Some 300,000 Wisconsin men and women served this country in World War II. Here are 14 of those who played a small part in a massive war. They are among those who suffered the horror, hurt and homesickness of battle, returning humbly home to quietly serve their families, communities and country well. They are our "heroes next door".

The Hero Next Door: Stories from Wisconsin's World War 2 Veterans

Biographies & Memoirs

Gilpatrick, Kristin

Historical

Badger Books

Here are 14 more heroic stories from Wisconsin's World War II veterans in this sequel to "The Hero Next Door." Meet: • An Army signalman who scaled poles and dodged bullets to lay the thin line that held Allied communications together across Africa and Italy. • A woman pilot who tested bombers and military tradition. • An Army nurse who endured the sandy desert heat to mend wounded soldiers coming through the 81st Station Hospital in Africa. • A submariner who swam enemy-held waters with seven surviving crewmates before being rescued by Philippine guerilla fighters. • An Army artilleryman who “dodged” the draft by enlisting in the Army in 1939 and was taken prisoner by the Japanese in May of 1942—and survived 40 months as a prisoner of war.

The Hero Next Door Returns: More Stories from Wisconsin's World War II Veterans

History

Military

Badger Books Llc

By the time World War II airman William "Wild Bill" Scanlon was shot out of a B-17 and spirited to the safety of England by French Underground resistance fighters, the gutsy gunner had survived over 70 combat missions flown as a member of the air forces of three different countries. 
"Destined to Live" tells the true story of a Chicago man who: -- Joined the United States Cavalry at age 15; -- Learned to fly fighter planes in the Canadian Royal Air Force; -- Shot down seven confirmed Nazi fighters; -- Flew tailgunner for Britain's Royal Air Force in such famous missions as the Thousand Bomber Raid and the Battle of the Ruhr; -- Rode as a B-17 replacement funner in the U.S. Eighth Air Force; -- Survived bullet and shrapnel wounds to the jaw, leg, hand and head as he fell into enemy territory Feb. 8, 1944; -- Escaped through the French Underground network back to England; -- And repeatedly beat the odds of combat to return home safely.

Destined to Live: The Incredible Story of WWII Airman Wild Bill Scanlon

"Footprints in Courage: A Bataan Death March Surivor’s Story" tells the inspiring tale of Army Air Corpsman Alf Larson who endured the infamous Bataan Death March in World War II and then faced more than four years as a Japanese prisoner of war. "We were hot, thirsty, sick and exhausted to the point you couldn’t talk, couldn’t see, didn’t care. After a while everything just went blank in my mind; we were hardly conscious. "For six days I just put one foot in front of the other over and over and over again," Larson says of the agonizing trek that the world now calls the Bataan Death March and its 3,000 survivors (from an original 7,500 U.S. servicemen) simply call "the hike."

Footprints in Courage

Badger

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gilpatrick, Kristin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gilpatrick, Kristin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gilpatrick, Kristin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Hero Next Door: Stories from Wisconsin's World War 2 Veterans

The Hero Next Door Returns: More Stories from Wisconsin's World War II Veterans

Destined to Live: The Incredible Story of WWII Airman Wild Bill Scanlon

Footprints in Courage