Inferno By: Joe Pappalardo [Audiobook]

Author: Joe Pappalardo
Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

“With both his heroism and his flaws, Medal of Honor recipient ‘Snuffy Smith’ perfectly represents the dramatic and deadly campaign for control of the skies over Europe in World War II. The ornery, charming, and brave B-17 tail gunner anchors this thrilling tale of how, warts and all, we won that brilliant and bloody air war.” (Tom Clavin, New York Times best-selling author)

Joe Pappalardo’s Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history.

There’s no higher accolade in the US military than the Medal of Honor, and 472 people received it for their action during World War II. But only one was demoted right after: Maynard Harrison Smith. 

Smith is one of the most unlikely heroes of the war, where he served in B-17s during the early days of the bombing of France and Germany from England. From his juvenile delinquent past in Michigan, through the war and during the decades after, Smith’s life seemed to be a series of very public missteps. The other airmen took to calling the 5-foot, 5-inch airman “Snuffy” after an unappealing movie character. 

This is also the man who, on a tragically mishandled mission over France on May 1, 1943, single-handedly saved the crewman in his stricken B-17. With every other gunner injured or bailed out, Smith stood alone in the fuselage of a shattered, nameless bomber and fought fires, treated wounded crew and fought off fighters. His ordeal is part of a forgotten mission that aircrews came to call the May Day Massacre. The skies over Europe in 1943 were a charnel house for US pilots, who were being led by tacticians surprised by the brutal effectiveness of German defenses. By May 1943 the combat losses among bomb crews were a staggering 40 to 50 percent. 

The backdrop of Smith’s story intersects with some of the luminaries of aviation history, including Curtis Lemay, Ira Eaker and “Hap” Arnold, during critical times of their storied careers. Inferno also examines Smith’s life in a new, comprehensive light, through the use of exclusive interviews of those who knew him (including fellow MOH recipients and family) as well as public and archival records. This is both a thrilling and horrifying story of the air war over Europe during WWII and a fascinating look at one of America’s forgotten heroes. 

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press

General Information
===================
 Title:                  Inferno : The True Story Of A B-17 Gunner's Heroism And The Bloodiest Military Campaign In Aviation History
 Author:                 Joe Pappalardo
 Read By:                Matt Godfrey
 Date:                   2020-12-01
 Publisher:              Macmillan Audio
File Information
================
 File Type:              MP3
 Source Format:          RB Digital
 Number of Chapters:     20
 Total Duration:         11:48:34
 Total Size:             243.29 mb
 Encoded At:             48 kbps, 32 kHz, Mono
Book Description
================
"With both his heroism and his flaws, Medal of Honor recipient 
'Snuffy Smith' perfectly represents the dramatic and deadly 
campaign for control of the skies over Europe in World War II. 
The ornery, charming, and brave B-17 tail gunner anchors this 
thrilling tale of how, warts and all, we won that brilliant and 
bloody air war."
 Tom Clavin, New York Times bestselling author
Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who 
flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero
 who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest 
military campaign in aviation history.
There's no higher accolade in the U.S. military than the Medal 
of Honor, and 472 people received it for their action during 
World War II. But only one was demoted right after: Maynard 
Harrison Smith.
Smith is one of the most unlikely heroes of the war, where he 
served in B-17s during the early days of the bombing of France 
and Germany from England. From his juvenile delinquent past in 
Michigan, through the war and during the decades after, Smith's 
life seemed to be a series of very public missteps. The other 
airmen took to calling the 5-foot, 5-inch airman Snuffy after 
an unappealing movie character.
This is also the man who, on a tragically mishandled mission 
over France on May 1, 1943, single-handedly saved the crewmen in 
his stricken B-17. With every other gunner injured or bailed out,
 Smith stood alone in the fuselage of a shattered, nameless 
bomber and fought fires, treated wounded crew and fought off 
fighters. His ordeal is part of a forgotten mission that aircrews
 came to call the May Day Massacre. The skies over Europe in 1943
 were a charnel house for U.S. pilots, who were being led by 
tacticians surprised by the brutal effectiveness of German 
defenses. By May 1943 the combat losses among bomb crews were a 
staggering 40 to 50 percent.
The backdrop of Smith's story intersects with some of the 
luminaries of aviation history, including Curtis Lemay, Ira Eaker
 and Hap Arnold, during critical times of their storied 
careers. Inferno also examines Smith's life in a new, 
comprehensive light, through the use of exclusive interviews of 
those who knew him (including fellow MOH recipients and family) 
as well as public and archival records. This is both a thrilling 
and horrifying story of the air war over Europe during World War 
II and a fascinating look at one of America's forgotten heroes.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

308K	01 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
372K	02 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
4.7M	03 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
26M	04 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
14M	05 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
19M	06 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
13M	07 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
17M	08 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
9.8M	09 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
12M	10 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
20M	11 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
11M	12 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
26M	13 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
23M	14 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
11M	15 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
7.4M	16 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
16M	17 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
14M	18 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
6.8M	19 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
304K	20 Inferno - Joe Pappalardo.mp3
64K	Inferno.jpg
4.0K	Joe Pappalardo - Inferno.nfo
245M	total