By VALERIA FISHER
Adult Program Administrator,
Warsaw Community Public Library

On the morning of June 19, 1944, as U.S. troops were battling Japanese forces on Saipan in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, American pilots based on aircraft carriers offshore rushed to their planes to protect their fleet from an enemy attack from the air.

Calling the mission a once-in-a-lifetime fighter pilot’s dream when he spotted a large mass of enemy planes bearing down on the U.S. ships, one navy pilot from Indiana, Alex Vraciu, flying a Hellcat fighter from the USS Lexington, pounced on the Japanese and shot down six dive bombers in just eight minutes.

Written by award-winning biographer Ray E. Boomhower, “Fighter Pilot: The World War II Career of Alex Vraciu”, the sixth volume in the Indiana Historical Society Press’s youth biography series, examines the daring exploits of the Hoosier flier during his wartime career.

Boomhower will present Vraciu’s life as a WWII fighter pilot.

This free program will be held at the Warsaw Community Public Library at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Boomhower’s book will be available for purchase after the program.

Register by calling 574-267-6011 or go online at: www.warsawlibrary.org.