Fate, unexpected allies, betrayal, two gold coins, and a prayer changes the life of a young airman.

World War II was raging when 19-year old James Keeffe joins the U.S. Army Air Forces. After months of rigorous training as a B-24 heavy bomber pilot, he and his crew arrive in England and begin flying combat missions over Europe. On the 8th of March 1944, during a bombing mission to Berlin, Keeffe's airplane is shot down over Holland, catapulting him into a world squeezed colorless by the ever-tightening fist of Nazi occupation.

Moving from safe house to safe house with the help of the Dutch Underground, Lt. Keeffe, in plain view of the enemy, evades for five harrowing months. During an escape attempt through Belgium he is betrayed, captured and transferred under armed guard to the infamous German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft III.

Ben Franklin Book Award 2011, best autobiography/memoir

Indie Next Generation Book Award 2011, best memoir

Gold Medal Winner, 2011 MWSA Awards (Military Writers Society of America)- category Military/Air Force

"Impeccably researched and skillfully written, this superb account of Mr. Keeffe’s experience will leave the reader not only amazed, but emotionally moved. This is far away one of the best 8th Air Force evasion and POW accounts that has ever been written. It was a joy and a pleasure to read…" 8th Air Force News