Andrews. I first met Andy when I was a college student looking for a summer job. By then, he was an accomplished independent filmmaker. After he hired me as his gofer, we spent many hours together traveling from one film location to another.Over that summer, I learned that he had been a B-17 pilot during World War II, and had flown some of the Eighth Air Force’s most harrowing missions in 1943 with the famed 306th Bomb Group, the unit that served as the model for the book and motion picture film Twelve O’Clock High. While always self-deprecating about his own accomplishments, Andy’s stories about the bravery of his fellow pilots and crew members instilled a sense of awe in me. Andy became an important role model in my life.In the course of researching To Kingdom Come, I had an opportunity to travel across the country to meet the pilots and crew members whose stories I hoped to tell. Researching and writing this book has been one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my life.The men whose stories are in this book were not unique.
