Wings of Morning. Thomas Childers. Significant Sentences. 04.

Significant sentences from Wings of Morning by Thomas Childers, the story of the last American bomber shot down over Germany in WWII and a vivid re-creation of participation in the war.

"Somewhere in England"
"Daylight precision bombing is the name of the game...and that means high-altitude formation flying." p. 48.

"Rain became the dominant element in their lives." p. 59.

Impressions of the British: "Everything seemed grimy, encased in soot,and the people appeared as gray as their surroundings." p. 60.

"...he wondered, for perhaps the hundredth time that day, what he, Howard Goodner from Cleveland, Tennessee, was doing in a cold, dimly lit hut in the flatlands of East Anglia." p. 63. [RayS. Note: Howard Goodner was the uncle of the author, Thomas Childers.]

"The Wings of Morning"

"Takeoff and assembly were nerve-racking, dangerous phases of any mission, and the planning had to be meticulous." p. 67.

"...sending up approximately one hundred aircraft at almost the same time in an area the size of greater Philadelphia." p. 67.

"The men stumbled out of their bunks, frozen, scared, and, despite the hour, wide awake." p. 70.

"All along the road between the huts the silent shapes of men passed in the gloom...." p. 71.

"...in the truck, with its smell of metal, gasoline and wet canvas, there was little talk." p. 71.

"...they were all thinking the same thing: when the weary crews straggle back to this mess hall this afternoon, another mission behind them, will I be among them?" p. 72.