About this Event
Meet author Jan Cress Dondi at your Flagship HPB on Tuesday, February 17 at 6:30p.m. Jan will join us to discuss and sign her latest book, The Navigator's Letter, brings to light one of the best untold and dangerous stories of World War II, chronicling a moving and heroic story of patriotic duty, familial bonds, brotherhood, and love. Tickets include a copy of the book.
About The Navigator's Letter
One of the riskiest air raids of World War II occurred on August 1, 1943, over the oil fields at Ploesti, Romania—Nazi Germany’s primary fuel source. The Allies believed that the destruction of Hitler’s oil refineries would shorten the war. Using an untested strategy, it was worth the gamble, but the mission did not go according to plan—with 53 aircraft and 532 crewmen lost, it was the costliest US air raid of the war.
A true story, The Navigator’s Letter is a tale of uncanny coincidences: two friends from the same small Illinois town; both joined the Air Corps; both became navigators; both were assigned to B-24 Liberators; both flew missions over Europe; both of their planes were forced down over Ploesti; and both went missing-in-action.
Intertwined with events of WWII, the story follows the two B-24 navigators coursing through wartime, both with ties to the same woman. Their lives unfurl with the Air Force’s darkest day, Operation Tidal Wave. It was the first-ever zero-altitude air raid, which lead to Operation Reunion, the largest evacuation by air in history repatriating 1,162 POWs from Romania back to American air bases in Italy.
About Jan Cress Dondi
Jan earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Alaska, and built a career as a litigation paralegal, where she spent over three decades engaged in in-depth research, writing, and interviews. She has spoken about her father's POW experience at the US Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, recounted her uncle's mission experience in Washington, DC, and flown in one of the only B-24 Liberators still operating. The mother of two daughters and grandmother of four, Jan has been married nearly forty years to the man who she reconnected with right here in Texas. He's an aviation enthusiast and private pilot whose projects include building a Scale Wings-51 — an 72% all-carbon replica of the P-51 Mustang, the World War II fighter that significantly impacted the air war. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Half Price Books, 475 Sherry Lane, Fort Worth, United States
USD 32.48
