In World War II, an American bomber pilot’s combat service was to last for 25 missions. However, most did not survive to see their 10th. In October 1943, John ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo began his 22nd mission. The assault on Bremen, Germany was to utilize dense cloud cover to shield the B-17 Flying Fortresses. However, when they arrived, the clouds had disappeared, and 50 American pilots and crew members would lose their lives. HBH is honored to be joined by Kevin Maurer, the author of ‘Damn Lucky: One Man's Courage During the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History’, and special guest - 100-year-old John ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo.

The Nazi submarine pens outside of Bremen  were extremely well-fortified by anti-aircraft munitions and German Luftwaffe fighter planes. Even with the expected cloud cover, the mission was to be harrowing. However, when the expected advantage was nowhere to be found, Second Lieutenant John ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo thought this mission may be his last.

Like 10 million other brave young Americans, ‘Lucky’ answered the call and joined the US military after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He trained as a pilot with the US Army Air Force and was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group stationed in Thorpe Abbotts, England, where he flew bombing runs over France and Germany to destroy the Nazi war machine. A true hero, his amazing career included being awarded a Purple Heart as well as a French Legion of Honor Award, France’s Highest Honor.

Kevin Maurer is an award-winning journalist and NYT bestselling author. Be sure to check out his outstanding new book, ‘Damn Lucky: One Man's Courage During the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History’, along with his other acclaimed work.

And don’t forget to Download, Subscribe, Rate and Review Heroes Behind Headlines.