Into the Cold Blue

My World War II Journeys with the Mighty Eighth Air Force

By: John Homan, Jared Frederick - contributor

Narrated by: Eric Torres

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the last great memoirs of World War II, Into the Cold Blue is a riveting account of the air war over Europe, when hell was four miles above the earth.

A born daredevil, John Homan joined the Army Air Forces after the Pearl Harbor attack. By 1944, he was co-piloting a B-24 Liberator over Nazi Germany, raining death and destruction on the enemy. This first-person account of his harrowing missions—chronicling deadly flights through skies of red-hot flak bursts and airmen bailing out with parachutes aflame—will leave listeners staggered by the determination and grit of World War II aviators.

Fighting a fierce enemy in the air seemed the perfect way for Homan to channel his restless, energetic spirit in wartime, but he could never have imagined the horrors that awaited him. During a vast operation over Nazi-occupied Holland in September 1944, his plane was punched full of holes, its left tail shot away, and a tire blown to bits. Homan wondered how he could possibly survive. The young lieutenant and his exhausted crewmates braced for a nearly hopeless emergency landing. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, waited the sweetheart he thought he’d never see again.

With wit, warmth, and astonishing clarity, John Homan conveys the skill and heroism of the “Mighty Eighth” Air Force in the most perilous theater of history’s greatest air war.

©2024 John Homan and Jared Frederick (P)2024 Skyhorse Audio

Critic reviews

“John Homan has gifted us with what will surely stand as one of the definitive eyewitness accounts of the Second World War: a tale filled with nostalgia, romance, and unflinching examples of terror in aerial combat. A book that encompasses the whole of an exceedingly eventful life, Into the Cold Blue is an invaluable addition to the canon of World War II literature.”—Matthew Algeo, author of Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles—“The Steagles”—Saved Pro Football During World War II

“Into the Cold Blue achieves that perfect balance of inti- macy and breadth of vision, the personal and the global, as it guides readers on a tour of the air war. John Homan’s truth-telling is delivered with candor on every page. Tales of missed targets, bad planning, failed equipment, sense- less waste, and varying acts of cowardice complement stories of sacrifice, heroic leadership, and grim determi- nation. Anyone curious about life in a B-24 as it roared over occupied Europe must read this book.”—Todd DePastino, author of Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front

Deeply Human

A deeply personal look into one man's story. This story contains wonderful anecdotes of the personal cost of war in a way that is humble, funny, and always with a strong focus on the individual service members experience. I'm a better person for reading it.

My Father Journey

I am so glad I found this book. My father was John K. “Pup” Dalgleish. He rarely ever talk about his experiences during World War II until i was commissioned in the Army and went on active duty. Then he told me stories of his training and his experiences when he came back from England. But he rarely said anything about the combat action over German. The book author describes the airmen’s experience during combat missions over Europe flying B24. I know this because the few stories my dad did share are all in the book. The story is well written and once you start it it’s hard to put it down. I thank John Holman For writing his story. As I was able fill in my father story. It Must’ve been a thing with the World War II fly boys because my dad regularly told me” straighten up and fly right”