Click Here To Purchase Departure Message

Author: Charles L. Lunsford

ISBN: 1-58898-231-9

Publisher: BookSurge 

Although war stories abound, from the middle ages to present day Iraq, inevitably, the heroes are always the helicopter and fighter pilots, the ground soldiers, and the renowned ‘Green Beret’, ‘Navy Seals, or the ever popular ‘A few good men’ the Marines.  Charles Lunsford in this exceptional novel Departure Message pays fitting tribute to the men-behind-the-scenes, the radio operators of the 50’s. 

These unsung heroes were proud men of the American Air Force who put themselves in harm’s way as a daily routine; facing not only unseen enemy forces, but also, the dangers of soaring high above the earth through nature’s fickle fallacies.  Few metals of honor adorned the chests of these brave men; love of their job and their country sustained them throughout the beginning and end of the era of the air borne radio operator.  

Departure Message follows the true adventures of a young radio operator assigned to an elite group of cargo and combat troupe carriers, the Fairchild C-119, the infamous “Flying Boxcars”.  Lunsford vividly brings his readers to the edge of their seats as he recounts the hair-raising adventures of the flying mishaps that threaten the lives of all the crew members on numerous missions.  He makes you want to grab the arms of your chair and pull back to help the pilot make it over the mountains ahead—realism born of living it.  Then he makes you laugh out loud at the antics carried out by young soldiers with time on their hands and pre-mission jitters compelling them to ‘do something, anything’ to shorten the waiting time.

Although my husband and sons and brothers all served in and met the enemy of Korea and Viet Nam from the air and direct hand-to-hand combat, they were all lucky enough to come home.  They never talked about their service experiences and I felt disinclined to have them elaborate on their remembrances of times best forgotten.  Therefore it was a great honor to me to be allowed to read and review this wonderful story and feel the excitement and enthusiasm of this young soldier as he begins his career as a green and hopeful recruit until he musters out as a mature and well-rounded individual who has served his country well. 

We all have much to learn from history and Charles Lunsford has done a fantastic job of making some of that history come to life for us with his elaborate descriptions of countries that most of us will never have the honor of visiting and a way of life that we would otherwise have never known.  So we must read and depend on gentleman like Mr. Lunsford to take us there in our hearts and senses.

Thank you Charles for taking me along on this trip; I will never forget it—or you.

God bless you and all the men who served by your side all those years ago.