NCW Libraries

"Clarence Smoyer began the war as a gentle giant, a factory worker from Pennsylvania coal country reluctant to unleash the power of the Sherman tank he crewed. But as his tank platoon fought its way from Normandy to the Rhine and beyond, and he watched his friends cut down one by one, he learned to kill with deadly accuracy and efficiency. His fight would climax in Cologne, in the shadow of the great cathedral, where he took a shot immortalized by...

"Adapted for young adults from the New York Times bestseller, the true story of a young World War II American tank gunner who meets his destiny in an iconic duel and forges an enduring bond with his enemy." -- page 2 of cover.

This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies over wartime Germany on 21 December 1943 --the American--2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown, a former farm boy from West Virginia who came to captain a B-17--and the German--2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler, a former airline pilot from Bavaria who sought to avoid fighting in World War II.