Idaho Falls Author Details Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II

The majority of members of my family have served in the military. So when I see a book honoring our armed forces, it catches my eye.

For the men of the Army Air Corps in early World War II, the chance of surviving the obligatory twenty-five missions without death, injury, or imprisonment was one in three. In this groundbreaking book, Rob Morris has sought out remarkable but little-known stories of the air war from the men who lived and fought it.

Celebrities and Stars blog recommends Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II. 

Rob Morris is a high school teacher and military historian who lives in Ammon, Idaho. His first book, 'Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crewmen over Europe in World War II' (Potomac, 2006), is now in its fifth printing and remains a popular book in the genre. Morris next co-wrote 'Combat Bombardier' with 95th Bomb Group bombardier Leonard Herman in 2007. In 2012, his seminal history of the WWII 95th Bomb Group, 'Wild Blue Yonder and Beyond' (Potomac 2012), commissioned by the Group, was published.

Based on hundreds of interviews with American veterans and their families, Untold Valor illuminates the courage of airmen whose exploits have until now remained untold. Read about Jewish aviators’ experiences as POWs in German camps. Learn about American airmen who were imprisoned, even killed, by the neutral Swiss and about two Air Corps enlisted men who changed U.S. policy toward liberated concentration camp survivors. Also discover the unusual story of Luftwaffe commander Herman Goering’s nephew, who flew B-17 missions against Germany. While some of the stories cover major events, most are about incidents and individuals misrepresented or overlooked by history books. Yet their efforts were vital, their lives forever changed.

A reviewer wrote: "This strong collection of tales of heroism is long overdue, for it salutes airmen who conducted Medal of Honor-worthy acts of courage, but whose stories were never told. Rob Morris does a terrific job of bringing these stories to life, and the variety of his subject matter is both intriguing and entrancing."

In 2013 Morris added to his writing credits, including 'Untold Valor: World War Two in the Pacific' (Fonthill); 'The Battle of Gettysburg' (Instinctive); 'Presidents of the United States' (Instinctive); and 'The Civil War Chronicles (Instinctive).

In 2014, Morris elected to attempt to publish as an Independent (or Indie) author as an experiment. His first offering was 'Marinell: The Story of a P-51' and the People Who Knew Her, published in June. His second, due in July, is a revised and expanded edition of Dan Culler's classic POW memoir 'Black Hole of Wauwilermoos'. Other 2014 projects include helping AFL/NFL legend Ron McDole write his memoir about the Golden Age of Football, finishing his bomber novel, and researching a book about the AC-47 Spooky Gunship in Vietnam.

Morris has also written numerous magazine articles for World War Two History Magazine, Idaho Falls Magazine, and Dispatches: The Magazine of the Military Writers of America. He is the Grand Prize winner of the 2013 'A Novel Approach' Writing Contest sponsored by the Military Writers of America and writer Jack Woodville London. Morris contributed to the book '501 Jazz Greats'. He is a pilot, has been married for nearly 30 years to the same girl (Geri), and together they have three children and five grandsons.

Rob is a 1981 graduate of the University of Montana, Missoula. He has taught school for 28 years in Medicine Bow, Wyoming and Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Detailed and moving, Untold Valor is certain to interest the serious air historian and the casual reader alike. The book includes a foreword by the editor of B–17s Over Berlin.