Another Trip To Flak Alley

Jack Hope was an extraordinary man - a pioneer in his day. This personal account follows the journey of his life, inviting the reader to walk beside him every step of the way, experiencing the pleasure and the pain from the moment of his birth to present day. Born in Kelly Army Airfield amidst the constant sound of aircraft, he wondered in later years if that might account for his lifetime affinity with flying. However, he first had to pass a tortuous initiation period for survival as, even in childhood, he worked alongside his family, in a time dominated by The Depression in America, leading a nomadic existence. They worked on farms and ranches during which times were so hard their family became fragmented, scattered throughout the State, in various degrees of despair. Hard to imagine then that, with the onset of war, Jack and his two brothers initially joined the Army, serving in the Cavalry Division, before finding his true Calling as a Tail Gunner in Lt Brookshire's crew, serving under the U.S 8th Air Force's 36th Bomb Squadron Radar Counter Measures. The experiences which shaped his life are shared in his own hand, through writings and photographs of the day, in the hope that people will remember and honour those who did not return. In so doing, Jack leaves a legacy which will live on for the future, long after he is gone.