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The Forgotten 500  By  cover art

The Forgotten 500

By: Gregory A. Freeman
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Publisher's summary

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.

During a bombing campaign, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian villagers risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers, and for months the airmen lived in hiding, waiting for rescue.

In 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip: without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the rescue 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. The Forgotten 500 is the breathtaking, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II.

©2007 Gregory A. Freeman (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Forgotten 500

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Great historical account

Amazing story and well written. For those who like stories concerning these topics, you will enjoy the personal and in depth detail of such a significant historical account.

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EYE OPENING READ FROM BEHIND THE SCENES IN WW2

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish... highly recommend it to anyone from World War 2 historical enthusiasts to government spy story fans...

Easy to listen to, hard to get out of your head through the day...

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Awesome read kept you on the edge of your seat a truly moving true story

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Buried History You Need To Hear

This is an amazing story of true courage and heroism that was long hidden from the public in a shameful cover-up by the American Government. Some things never change.

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Best of the best!

Absolutely the best book I've read regarding WW ll! Great job on the narration as well! I hate the political games that were played against a very brave man! It makes me so angry that his life ended without ever truly knowing how much he meant to America, Americans, and his service overall for his beloved country!

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Amazing story

What an amazing story! The book however lost much of my interest in the middle half with lots of historical details I struggled to connect. Once it returned to the plot my interest increased dramatically. Amazing men. Hero’s for sure!!

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The forgotten 500

Would you listen to The Forgotten 500 again? Why?
no, the narrator is terrible. first he reads as if he is talking to children. his accents for the main foreign characters like churchill and miahilovich are awful. He should stick to his normal voice. it really detracts especially for the yugoslavs starts with regular, then tries a yugoslav which ends up sounding like someone from brooklyn!

How did the narrator detract from the book?
see comments above

Any additional comments?
too much time in book on the politics of the time between tito, Miahilovich, US and Britain. Little time last tow hours on actual rescue. Yes I learned about the back and forth allies and britain but that should have been left to a history of yugolslavia.

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Gripping unknown story

Great tale of politics, espionage, strategy, history, and personal risk. Hidden by the government. Daring characters trying to do the right thing in the face of global geopolitics.

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Exciting, Daring, Moving

Loved this story. It starts slow but ramps up and by the end I found myself so engaged I laughed and cried with the men who lived this.

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movie needed

should be made into a movie!! right a past wrong people need to know !!

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8 people found this helpful