The Forgotten 500

By: Gregory A. Freeman

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

The astonishing, never-before-told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II: when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines.

During a bombing campaign, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian villagers risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers, and for months the airmen lived in hiding, waiting for rescue.

In 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip: without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the rescue planes had to make it through enemy airspace and back: without getting shot down themselves.

Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of this unforgettable story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery is now being told for the first time. The Forgotten 500 is the breathtaking, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II.

©2007 Gregory A. Freeman (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

A lot of military background -

I liked the portion of the book really focused on the rescue itself and then the prologue on the aftermath. But it took a long time to get that section. The majority of the book spends a lot of time on the background and information of the "politics" at the time. When I read the overview of the book, I assumed it would primarily be on the rescue itself - but there are a lot of chapters that are interesting if your heavily into WWII - but didn't see totally relavant to the heart of the story.

What a history story!

Even if you are not into WWII, you will love this. It has action, history, joy, sorrow, ups and downs. What a tale! The best thing about it is that it is true. I'm so glad to have listened to this and learned more about the Greatest Generation from the US and now from Yugoslavia!

they need to make this a movie. really amazing

Amazing book they need to make this a movie , Truly amazing story and very well-done audio book

Very Interesting

Very good story of something many people may not know about. Also some information about Tito and how he usurpped control of Yugoslavia and some of things about the problems the US faced during the cold war. However most is about great civilians and the soldiers they helped to rescue. Touching story of those special moments that soldiers retain forever and how governments get in the way and create future problems.

Get it..

I didn't want this book to end. Incredible story with acts of valor throughout. It made me want to travel to Yugoslavia, find the families of those who helped the airmen and bless them with whatever they need.

Lest we forget

This is a great book about a little known piece of WWII. It's important we not forget what happened in Operation Halyard or the Serbian people who supported our Airmen during that time. Their heroism is to be applauded!

Hope and Tragedy in War

I have been wanting to read this book for some time now and am happy to have been able to listen to it on Audible.
This book is well written and covers much detail about the last years of World War II.
Im a first generation American my parents being from the former Yugoslavia. My dad was born in 1932 but he did not talk much about that time of his life. Communism was hard on his family and he was forever grateful for coming to America.
I wish my dad were still alive so that I could talk to home about this book and its content.

Good Book About a Part of History That Was Ignored

This was a really interesting book that covered events, during WWII, that I had never heard about. It also explains how messed up our government was, and why.
Thanks to people who care more about our soldiers, than politics, a lot of good men were able to live, while some paid the price for doing the right thing.

Great historical account

Amazing story and well written. For those who like stories concerning these topics, you will enjoy the personal and in depth detail of such a significant historical account.

EYE OPENING READ FROM BEHIND THE SCENES IN WW2

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish... highly recommend it to anyone from World War 2 historical enthusiasts to government spy story fans...

Easy to listen to, hard to get out of your head through the day...