The Heavenly Body

A Novel by Robert E. Shanks
Published by Infinity Publishing Company
519 West Lancaster Avenue
Haverford Pa. 19041
1.877.BUY.BOOK
ISBN #0-7414-1218-7
278 pgs $16.95

 

World War II, the last of the good wars, one where you knew clearly, who the enemy was, and what you had to do. Where the nation banded together, and neighbors joined neighbors in a mass outpouring of patriotism and public support. Men that were of age to fight joined up en mass to go fight the Germans and Japanese, to bring democracy and freedom to those crushed under the oppressive thumb of Nazism. Among the most staunch of those freedom fighters were the men of the United States Air Force, or as they were called back in those days, the Army Air Corps. Men that were between the ages of 18 and 26 with at least 2 years of college and a desire to take to the skies joined in droves, but relatively few ever made it to an illustrious position in that beloved corp.

And beloved is the right word when it comes to what author Robert Shanks has written here in his book, “The Heavenly Body”. Mr. Shanks lived what he writes and it shows with each sentence, for only someone that has walked this walk can talk the talk as grippingly and compellingly as he does. You are with him as the men in the 42nd Bomb Group go through all the steps from training to first mission and beyond. But most of all, your with them as they get the plane that is going to take them to war and bring them back home, a B-25D that they christen The Heavenly Body. They emblaze her with “a lovely smiling blonde of medium build, well formed, graceful and trailing a gossamer white veil behind her as she floated over the name ‘Heavenly Body’”. Once named, she became just as much of the crew as any of the men, taking on almost a life of her own as she takes care of those assigned to her, with the crew striving to take care of their lady the best way they know how.
The men and the missions that he writes about come to life thanks to a style of writing that makes them not into caricatures or stodgy clichés, but friends and comrades in arms that he knew, respected, and served alongside. He takes what could almost be perceived as glossed over memories and makes it seem as if they are tales being told for the first time as you turn each page to see what happens to the squad.
War is never a pretty subject no matter how hard someone might try to gloss over it. But Mr. Shanks will have none of that, striving to show that those that flew and fought in The Heavenly Body were men that fought hard to keep America strong and free, willing and ready to lay down their lives to make sure that we stay that way. They were not unique, they were Americans, and that is what we do. When our country is threatened, we band together as one, even to this day, with the current political climate in our land, still we are as one. I think too often we of a younger generation take for granted what others before us have done, the sacrifices made on our behalf. Never let us, any of us, forget what was done so that we can enjoy the life we have today, and many take for granted. I don’t know if anyone has ever personally thanked Mr. Shanks, but even if they have, let me add my thanks to theirs. If it were not for him and the men that served in the ‘War that was to end all wars’, I would not have all of the freedoms that I as an American enjoy. Thank you.