This is the story of the crew of one B-24 bomber, the Woods Chopper, from their first training to their final mission and their long voyage home. Going to war alone, taking their airplane across three continents and 7,000 miles of ocean, jungle, desert, and mountains, these men joined the 449th Bombardment Group. From flying alone, Donald Currier and his crew mates now joined some of the most famous air battles of World War II. Their targets, Ploesti, Regensburg, Steyr, Vienna, Bucharest, among others, were once household words. But their story includes times of boredom and life on and off base, that show the human side of the technological war those men fought and died in to win.

Visit these links: http://www.bixandbones.com/ and http://www.lookpokergame.com/ BIX & BONES - WWII novel of one-of-a-kind bomb group. History of this story, which has now become a newly-completed novel, byMark Druck, retired Major, USAFR, entitled: "BIX & BONES " Original version of this material, written in 1946, by a young officer just returned from WWII, writing of experiences he had just been through, focusing on the B-25 "wild ride," the sort of missions he flew in the 38th Bomb Group, 5th U.S. Army Air Force, against the Japanese. The missions were truly unique, flown in Billy Mitchell bombers, coming in over a target at altitudes UNDER 20 FEET, at 300 to 350 MPH, with parachutes on the bombs to slow their approximately 15-foot drop, thus enabling the bomber to escape the bomb blast. Knowing nothing of structure for a novel, he wrote a sort of my life in combat' story. Having completed this work, he came to New York, met a literary agent, Maurice Crane, with MacIntosh & Otis agency, who had been a gunner on a B-17 over Germany. His plane was shot down, he became a prisoner of war. When men in the camp learned he was an agent, they promised' Crane to send their novels to him. As a result, he collected dozens of mss. When the early version of this mss came in, over the transom,' Crane decided it would be one of the six' war stories he would represent. He praised the characterizations and dialogue as most valid.' Then came June, 1950. The Korean War. Crane phoned to say "War is no longer in fashion." He returned all six of the mss he had collected on WWII. Slow fade to 1978. Having met the Weisers, Olga was told about the war novel. "Let George read it," she said. It was submitted on Thursday. Two business days later Monday Olga called to say "We sold it." It was published under the title, "The Final Mission," as a paperback. Zebra Books was thought to have printed 65,000 copies of the novel. Meanwhile, drastic changes had been made in the basic story and characters. In 1948, he studied playwrighting at the Dramatic Workshop, then a famous theatre school, he was directed to go there by the theatre world's most famous playwright agent, Harold Freedman (he represented nearly all the then successful playwrights in USA and England of any 10 plays and musicals produced on Broadway and the West End, London during period from late 1920s-1960s, Harold Freedman represented probably six or seven). History of the material in BIX &BONES' page 2 During his studies under Irwin Piscator, the famous German director, who ran the theatre school, which became part of the NEW SCHOOL, he dramatized the material in the mss. It became a drama, titled, "All-American," and won an award as one of the best Off-Broadway plays of l949. In dramatizing the material and background and characters and dialogue, he created a plot, reorganized the characters to make them three-dimensional, and invented a basic conflict. The basic plot, the new characters, the one-on-one situations that were in that play are now the basis of the current version of the novel, called BIX & BONES: Harold Freedman, who had become his agent by this time (representing Druck on four plays at the time of his sudden death), felt the play could be sold to movies, because of the strong head-to-head conflict between the lead characters, the action scenes, and the dialogue. He had sold many plays to movies, including My Fair Lady, for the biggest price paid for a property up to that time, and including leasing for ten years the film rights of Harvey. He described "Bix & Bones" as the "Journey's End" of WWII : *********************************

Computer role-playing games (CRPGs) are a special genre of computer games that bring the tabletop role-playing experience of games such as Dungeons & Dragons to the computer screen. Thisnew edition inlcudes two new chapters: The Modern Age, and a chapter on Indies and Mobile CRPGs. The new modern age chapter will cover, among other topics, Kickstarter/FIG crowdfunded projects such as Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pillars of Eternity. It'll also bring the book up to date with major games such as Dragon Age, Witcher, Skyrim. Expanded info in first chapter about educational potential of CRPGs. Color figures will be introduced for the first time. Key Features gives reviews of hundreds of games across many platforms. comprehensive book covering the history of computer RPGs. comprehensive index at the back, letting you quickly look up your favourite titles

Author Harry Marlin met everything in life head on. This collection of his writing explores a lifetimes experiencesgrowing up in tiny Blanket, Texas, during the Great Depression; flying combat missions over Germany during World War II; and managing lifes perplexities. Called the Will Rogers of Central Texas, Marlin wrote a weekly column for the Brownwood Bulletin for eleven years. Ill Get By presents the first volume of compilations of his best stories taking a humorous look at a plethora of topics. The Barbecue Smokes, but the Customers Cant explores the ins and outs of the Texas tradition of barbecuing. In Where Summers Lovely Roses Still Bloom, Marlin reminisces about the dreadful summers spent picking cotton. The Place They Didnt Catch Clyde Barrow describes how the news of Bonnie and Clyde running rampant in 1934 took the edge off of an otherwise depressing existence. Colorful and witty, Ill Get By provides insights into life in rural Texas during the Great Depression and shows that humor can provide relief in many challenging situations.

While the most conspicuous components of the US Army Air Forces in World War II were the air units, there were also hundreds of ground units and organisations. Besides assigned military personnel the AAF also employed thousands of civilians. Many unique outfits were designed to meet the AAF's special needs. Uniformed civilians also possessed a variety of unique uniforms and insignia. These general issue and specific uniforms are the subject of this volume by one of Osprey's most experienced authors, Gordon L. Rottman, whose detailed text is backed by plenty of contemporary photographs and 12 full page colour plates by Francis Chin.