I Fell Four Miles and Lived

Be alert. Be prepared for anything. Be flexible to change. Be ready to move out. But how do you prepare for a mid-air disaster? With 150 rounds of live ammo around your neck? At 20,000 feet above the ground? James Raley was born in Kentucky in 1916, the eighth of nine children. He grew up a farm boy, rode horses as effortlessly as walking, wrestled with his brothers, shot rifles, and learned the three "R's" in a one room Catholic school. When he left the 1st Armored Division for the...
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Be alert. Be prepared for anything. Be flexible to change. Be ready to move out. But how do you prepare for a mid-air disaster? With 150 rounds of live ammo around your neck? At 20,000 feet above the ground? James Raley was born in Kentucky in 1916, the eighth of nine children. He grew up a farm boy, rode horses as effortlessly as walking, wrestled with his brothers, shot rifles, and learned the three "R's" in a one room Catholic school. When he left the 1st Armored Division for the Army Air Forces to become a B-17 tail gunner, he never imagined how profoundly his life -- and the lives of so many others -- would change, as he departed on the morning of his 13th mission. And surviving the mid-air explosion was just the beginning. . .