Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
Retired Hudson Falls history teacher Matt Rozell says his newest book is “a narrative history of World War II over Europe, told by guys with a connection to Hometown USA.”
Featured are nine men who flew heavy bombers in World War II, including:
- Earl Morrow, a B-17 pilot from Hartford who became a prisoner of war.
- Dick Varney, a B-24 flight engineer from Hudson Falls.
- Clarence McGuire, a B-17 waist gunner from Hudson Falls who died in action.
- Sonny Segan, a B-24 bombardier from Queensbury, who was also taken as a prisoner of war.
- Richard Alagna, a B-24 gunner from Saratoga Springs.
- The 320-page book, entitled The Things Our Father Saw — The War In The Air, is priced at $17.
Mr. Rozell said he’ll sell and sign books at the Sandy Hill Farmers Market the next three Sundays, weather permitting, and he’ll be at the 22nd Glens Falls Chronicle Book Fair on Sunday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Queensbury Hotel.
Mr. Rozell, himself a 1979 Hudson Falls High School graduate, has two previous books in print — The Things Our Fathers Saw: The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation From Hometown, USA: Voices of the Pacific Theater, and A Train Near Magdeburg.
Mr. Rozell says he expects to release a fourth book in mid-October: Volume 2, Book 2 of The Things Our Fathers Saw: The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation From Hometown, USA.
Amazon.com’s blurb on Mr. Rozell’s latest book says:
“At the height of World War II, LOOK Magazine profiles a small upstate New York community [Glens Falls] for a series of articles portraying it as the wholesome, patriotic model of life on the home front.
“Seventy years later, a history teacher tracks down the veterans with a connection to Hometown USA who fought the war in the air over Europe, men who were tempered in the tough times of the Great Depression and forged in battle.
“He rescues and resurrects first-hand accounts of combat and brotherhood, of captivity and redemption, and the aftermath of a war that left no American community unscathed.
“…As we forge ahead as a nation, we owe it to ourselves to become reacquainted with a generation that is fast leaving us, who asked for nothing but gave everything, to attune ourselves as Americans to a broader appreciation of what we stand for.”
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