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 in Yugoslavia... During a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes—without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the cargo 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 ever. The Forgotten 500 is the gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II. “Amazing [and] riveting.”—James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Clare Musgrove, an American airman, was taken to many villages in northern Yugoslavia by local Serbian people who were essentially escorting him. They would give him food and protection from German patrols, but he was apprehensive about where he was being taken. #2 One of the men in Musgrove’s crew broke his leg badly on landing in his parachute, and every time he grimaced in pain during the all-day hikes, Musgrove was grateful that all he could complain about was hunger, the occasional thirst, and being tired. #3 The villagers helping the downed American airmen were risking their lives. If caught helping the Americans, they would be executed just as the Germans had already done to thousands of Yugoslavians for resisting the Nazi invasion. #4 When the Americans arrived, they were greeted by a man on horseback who spoke perfect English. You made it. You’re here, he said. There’s going to be a rescue. There are already about two hundred Americans here. They’ve been assembling since January.

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 in Yugoslavia... During a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes—without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the cargo 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 ever. The Forgotten 500 is the gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II. “Amazing [and] riveting.”—James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers

The Forgotten 500 by Gregory A. Freeman Book Summary Abbey Beathan (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book.) The untold story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II is finally out in the open. The amazing story of American airmen trapped in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. There is much to talk about this tale: the kindness of local Serbian farmers and peasants who put everything on the line in order to give a helping hand to the American soldiers, how they all thought their lives were over but the most amazing part of this tale, is how they were rescued. In this book, you'll read all about Operation Halyard; the legendary rescue mission. (Note: This summary is wholly written and published by Abbey Beathan. It is not affiliated with the original author in any way) "A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is omnipresent, like the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, duty performed or duty violated is still with us, for our happiness or our misery." - Gregory A. Freeman Operation Halyard had to be executed perfectly. The starving Americans needed to construct a large strip large enough for the rescue plane without tools and without alerting the Germans or endangering the villagers. On top of that, the cargo plane had to make it through highly guarded airspace without being shot down. Due to political reasons, the story was buried but now we can read for the first time ever how these American airmen survived with all odds stacked against them. A story of loyalty, self-sacrifice and human kindness. A thrilling and touching tale that will keep you hooked until the end. P.S. The Forgotten 500 is an extremely interesting book about the most amazing rescue that happened in WWII. P.P.S. It was Albert Einstein who famously said that once you stop learning, you start dying. It was Bill Gates who said that he would want the ability to read faster if he could only have one superpower in this world. Abbey Beathan's mission is to bring across amazing golden nuggets in amazing books through our summaries. Our vision is to make reading non-fiction fun, dynamic and captivating. Ready To Be A Part Of Our Vision & Mission? Scroll Up Now and Click on the "Buy now with 1-Click" Button to Get Your Copy. Why Abbey Beathan's Summaries? How Can Abbey Beathan Serve You? Amazing Refresher if you've read the original book before Priceless Checklist in case you missed out any crucial lessons/details Perfect Choice if you're interested in the original book but never read it before Disclaimer Once Again: This book is meant for a great companionship of the original book or to simply get the gist of the original book. "One of the greatest and most powerful gift in life is the gift of knowledge. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge" - Abbey Beathan

October 2012. A replica of the famous HMS Bounty, an eighteenth-century tall sailing ship, set a collision course with a storm that became the largest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic—a clash that proved to be one of the most unforgettable stories of Superstorm Sandy. The Bounty, crewed by an eclectic team of seafarers and led by highly respected captain Robin Walbridge, departed from Connecticut as Sandy raced north. Walbridge, whose decisions decided the fate of his ship and crew, attempted to outmaneuver the storm by heading southeast. As violent gusts tossed the wooden vessel, the crew fought to save their ship—and themselves. When the storm finally overtook the ship, the crew was tossed into the churning sea. The men and women of a Coast Guard station in North Carolina courageously flew into hundred-mile-per-hour winds to rescue the survivors of the Bounty. After hours of white-knuckle flying, they accomplished one of their most memorable rescues ever. Based on interviews with Bounty survivors and unfettered access to Coast Guard rescue team members, The Gathering Wind is the most complete account of this heartbreaking, thrilling, and inspirational story. INCLUDES PHOTOS

The gripping account of the riot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk—and the first mutiny in U.S. Naval history In 1972, the United States was embroiled in an unpopular war in Vietnam, and the USS Kitty Hawk was headed to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Its five thousand men, cooped up for the longest at-sea tour of the war, rioted--or, as Troubled Water suggests, mutinied. Disturbingly, the lines were drawn racially, black against white. By the time order was restored, careers were in tatters. Although the incident became a turning point for race relations in the Navy, this story remained buried within U.S. Navy archives for decades. With action pulled straight from a high-seas thriller, Gregory A. Freeman uses eyewitness accounts and a careful and unprecedented examination of the navy's records to refute the official story of the incident, make a convincing case for the U.S. navy's first mutiny, and shed new light on this seminal event in American history.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “The greatest World War II story never told” (Esquire)—an enthralling account of the heroic mission to rescue the last survivors of the Bataan Death March—from the author of Blood and Thunder. On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation. In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.