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Tailspin

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Tailspin

By: John Armbruster
Narrated by: Brandon Pollock
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About this listen

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 Military Military & War World War II War Marriage
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A very engaging story of survival, humour and horror in WW2. Well told. I will listen to it again soon.

Strength of the human spirit

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John, the heart and soul you poured into this work is beyond moving. The melding of your own personal story its impact on you while you simultaneously considered Gene's own traumatic experiences is a gift. You took the advice given to you in the preface and kept true all the way. I was so incredibly moved throughout and feel richer for learning about you both. thank you. Sean.

Gene, the man and legend

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About real events. A man who fell nearly 7km without a parachute and survived .

a Remarkable take of survival

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The two stories are beautifully enmeshed. The story gave an insight into my parents post war mental condition. A valuable contribution for diligent readers to delve into PTSD in a human rather than a text book way. The reader was excellent although mispronouncing a few words not that listeners would have noticed. His accents were entirely relatable.
Of more personal value to me than most .

Relatable

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One of the most resilient, beautiful and heart breaking stories of loss, recovery and legacy from the second world war.

wow

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Facts are more incredible than fiction… A magnificently written biography which captivates and engulfs the reader with all of the emotions we as humans possess.

Incredible story told superbly

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Perfect book, it was amazing from start to finish. Would 100 recommend it to anyone with an interest in WW2

Great book!

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Fantastic details and a story told of a lucky survivor and a Legend , glad to give this a listen and recommending it to all my friends

Amazing

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This is an interesting story - the Vet experience and the authors travails during his writing of the book.

The standout for me was the abysmal narration. I almost gave up on this book multiple times. At various times the narrators cadence was so disjointed I wondered if he was a computer-generated voice. A Google search showed he was in fact a person.

Allied to this issue were ongoing pronunciation errors. German place names, ranks etc might be forgivable, but getting basic English terms wrong? An unforgivable lack of prep for the presenter of an audio book.

Do yourself a favour - buy a print or kindle version that you can read yourself.

Interesting story, terrible narration

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