Tailspin

By: John Armbruster

Narrated by: Brandon Pollock

Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

World War II tail gunner Gene Moran fell four miles through the sky without a parachute and lived. Captured by the Germans, he survived a harrowing eighteen months as a prisoner of war, including a six-hundred-mile death march in 1945 across Central Europe.

When Gene returned home, he kept those memories locked up for nearly seventy years. His nine children knew little of their dad's war story. But when John, a young history teacher, learns of Gene's amazing fall, he's desperate to learn more. Finally, Gene agrees.

So begins a series of "Thursdays with Gene" interviews. Gene, nearing his ninetieth birthday, recounts incredible tales. But John has no idea what wounds he's reopening. Gene's nightmares and grief return. But both men persevere, bonded by their close and growing friendship.

As the interviews go on, John faces an ordeal of his own. His wife is fighting brain cancer. What will happen to his wife and his two young children? John must continue uncovering Gene's story of survival as he himself confronts the greatest trial of his life.

Tailspin is more than a war story. It's a story of two men's separate journeys confronting trauma and loss. It's a story of resilience and hope.

©2022 John Armbruster (P)2022 Tantor

Outstanding! Must read for any WW2 buff

One of the best if not the best. it's a tear jerker though. be prepared with tissue.

piece of history

a somber tale of triumph, pain, and grit. thankful these accounts weren't lost to time.

Triumph, Tragedy, History

Although I often rate the books I listen to, I don't usually take the time to write a review. This book is so well done that I just felt the need to say so. It's really two stories in one. It's about a tailgunner who falls four miles inside the severed tail of his B-17 over Germany and survives, and it's about the author's own life, getting to know this tailgunner, winning his trust--and then dealing with a tragedy in his own life. No spoilers here. Read the book!

There is one minor downside: The narrator is really pretty good, but he definitely did not do his homework to try to get pronunciations right. As a couple of examples, he pronounces "commandant" in a way that rhymes with "commandment", and he pronounces "archivist" with a "ch" sound as in "chair", rather than the "k" sound that is used in both American and British diction. He also consistently mispronounces some Wisconsin place names, most notably Viroqua (at least he's consistent!) It's pronounced vr-OW-kwuh. I guess these aren't big things, but they are somewhat annoying, and it seems to me that a narrator should take the time to look these words up and get them correct. (It's just lucky he didn't have to pronounce Oconomowoc!)

As I said, read (or listen to) the book! You will not be disappointed.

A riveting story.

I liked the way the author wove the war story in with the writing and interview process with Eugene.
The narrator had a pleasant voice. He needs to work on his pronunciation of some common words as well as town names.

Incredible story

Incredible story and the way the author overlays it with current and his personal story was very well done.

I felt like I was there.

It had to end and I wished for more. I felt like part of this family.

Wow.

You were quite a man Gene. I wish I’d known you. You went thru more than a crowd of people ever will. You made it.

Narration made the story a struggle to hear.

The narrator continually mispronounced several key words that were heard multiple times throughout the story.

As a frequent visitor to the SW Wisconsin region, that was a small disappointment to an otherwise FANTASTIC story.

The performance was lackluster, but the story is epic.

I couldn’t wait to get back in the car to listen to more of this astounding biography of WWII POW, Sargent Eugene P Moran. It is worth every second spent listening.

Gods Grace

Very Emotional story. I can’t imagine the courage and strength it took to survive. Thank you and his family for sharing their story.