Luck of the Draw: My Story of the Air War in Europe

by Frank Murphy, Chloe Melas (Contribution by), Elizabeth Murphy (Contribution by)

Overview

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“In the pursuit of authenticity, of accurate history and undeniable courage, no words matter more than, ‘I was there.’ Read Luck of the Draw and the life of Frank Murphy and ponder this: how did those boys do such things?” —Tom Hanks

The epic true story of an American hero who flew during WWII, as featured in the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks TV Series, Masters of the Air.

Beginning on August 17, 1942, American heavy bomber crews of the Eighth Air Force took off for combat in the hostile skies over occupied Europe. The final price was staggering. 4,300 B-17s and B-24s failed to return; nearly 21,000 men were taken prisoner or interned in a neutral country, and a further 17,650 made the ultimate sacrifice.

Luck of the Draw is more than a war story. It’s the incredible, inspiring story of Frank Murphy, one of the few survivors from the 100th Bombardment Group, who cheated death for months in a German POW camp after being shot out of his B-17 Flying Fortress.

Now with a new foreword written by his granddaughter Chloe Melas, of NBC, and daughter Elizabeth Murphy.

“A gripping, inspirational account of incredible bravery, resilience, and sheer will to survive. A truly extraordinary story!” —General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250866899
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/28/2023
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	64,747
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

FRANK MURPHY survived months in a German POW camp after being shot out of his B-17 Flying Fortress. His bravery earned him the Prisoner of War Medal, Purple Heart, and Air Medal. The incredible stories of Murphy and his 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group are featured in the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks TV Series, Masters of the Air.

CHLOE MELAS is an entertainment reporter for NBC, covering breaking celebrity news, industry analyses and in-depth investigations. She currently resides in New York with her husband and two sons.

ELIZABETH MURPHY holds a Masters of English Literature from Northern Arizona University and is the author of numerous children's books. She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was born and raised.

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2022

Originally published in 2001, this finely wrought memoir captures the fortitude and resilience of the “greatest generation.” Atlanta native Murphy, who died in 2007, volunteered for the armed forces after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As a navigator with the VIII Bomber Command, better known as the Mighty Eighth, Murphy flew daylight missions over Germany before U.S. fighter escorts could travel such distances; losses were so great that “a crew member’s chance of completing his combat tour was statistically zero,” Murphy writes. Murphy’s own luck ran out in October 1943, when his plane was shot down near Münster. Held prisoner at Stalag Luft III in Poland, Murphy viscerally describes “the uncertainty inherent in waking up each morning, day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out, in an enemy prison camp, never knowing when it would end,” and recounts the March 1944 escape of 76 airmen (later dramatized in the film The Great Escape) and its aftermath. Students of military history will appreciate Murphy’s detailed accounts of the Army Air Corp’s training program and a B-17 navigator’s responsibilities, while more casual readers will savor Murphy’s heartfelt tributes to comrades in arms. The result is a winning WWII story. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

In the pursuit of authenticity, of accurate history and undeniable courage, no words matter more than, ‘I was there.’ Read Luck of the Draw and the life of Frank Murphy and ponder this: how did those boys do such things?” —Tom Hanks

"Murphy describes some of the bloodiest air battles of the war as only a person who was actually there can. Luck of the Draw is a riveting and often harrowing must-read for anyone interested in military aviation, the second world war, or just plain real-life adventure." —John Orloff, writer, Band of Brothers (HBO) and Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)

"Originally published in 2001, this finely wrought memoir captures the fortitude and resilience of the "greatest generation"...Students of military history will appreciate Murphy’s detailed accounts of the Army Air Corp’s training program and a B-17 navigator’s responsibilities, while more casual readers will savor Murphy’s heartfelt tributes to comrades in arms. The result is a winning WWII story." —Publishers Weekly

"We should be grateful to have this book again, with or without a TV tie-in. A lot of cliches have been spilled about the Greatest Generation, but without ever being the least bit boastful Frank Murphy embodies it...Ultimately, Murphy remembered just about everything, augmented by excellent research." —New York Journal of Books

"Navigator Frank Murphy’s propulsive account of the American bomber war against Nazi Germany is also a powerful and poignant memoir of survival in a German POW compound. The book’s heart-stopping account of the brutal Winter March of the captured Allied airmen across the heart of Hitler’s dying Reich places it with Twelve O’Clock High as a classic of World War II literature." —Donald L. Miller, author of Masters of the Air: The American Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

“A gripping, inspirational account of incredible bravery, resilience, and sheer will to survive. Frank Murphy was a true American hero who served courageously in the skies over Europe during WWII and who then demonstrated extraordinary fortitude and determination in the face of unimaginable challenges as a prisoner of war. A truly extraordinary story!" —General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and NATO and US Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIA

“Ever wonder if you had what it took to stare death in the face and push it aside and go forth into the unknown? That is what these young airmen of the 8th Army Air Force accomplished every time they loaded up for another mission. Frank Murphy has eloquently described the harrowing experiences of a B-17 crew from the loss of crewmembers, confronting his own mortality and ultimately the trauma of incarceration as a prisoner of war. This account is partly to honor his noble brothers of the air but also a reminder to future generations of the heroic young men of the Bomber Command.” —Rick Perry, son of B-17 tail gunner 95th BG, 47th Governor of Texas, and 14th Secretary of Energy

“Every generation needs a spokesman for its endeavors. In this respect Murphy does the young men of VIII Bomber Command proud.” —Roger A. Freeman, author and Eighth Air Force historian

“I urge you to read Frank Murphy’s truly memorable story.” —Ian L. Hawkins, author and World War II historian

From the Publisher

2022-12-13
The true World War II heroics that inspired the 1963 film The Great Escape.

After Pearl Harbor, Murphy enlisted in the Army Air Corps because “it was clear…that long-range bombing would play a major role in how the war would be fought.” Trained as a navigator, he was shipped off to an air base in England, part of a flood of young men, many still in their teens, who flew aircraft that were guinea pigs of sorts; it would be only a couple of years into the war that radar was sufficiently effective that Allied air crews could bomb on more than the rare cloudless days. As Murphy writes, crouched in a cramped B-17, he witnessed plenty of horrors as aircraft collided, were hit by anti-aircraft artillery or Luftwaffe fighters, or crashed. After parachuting into a German field, he was collected by police and sent to the infamous Stalag Luft III. Murphy’s portrait of how discipline was maintained in the camp is especially well crafted. For example, he writes about one captured general in charge who, coincidentally, had knowledge of the ULTRA code-breaking project but, despite constant interrogation by their captors, deprived them of “the biggest intelligence coup of the Second World War.” Unlike many late-in-life war memoirs, Murphy avoids most but not all clichés. He wears his flag on his sleeve, not surprisingly, and while much of his narrative concerns the horrors of combat and captivity (“Life never returned to complete normality, because ’normal’ is a relative term”), he can also wax hyperbolic: “The world will never again see a sight to equal that of the United States Eighth AF in full battle array moving majestically through the skies over Germany toward the end of the Second World War.” Frank Murphy's story in Luck of the Draw will be featured in the TV series Masters of the Air, from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

A good choice for students of Air Force history.

Kirkus Reviews

01/13/2023

Originally published in 2001, this memoir from a former navigator with the 100th Bombardment Group is a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought in World War II. Frank Murphy, who died in 2007, flew with the VIII Bomber Command to run highly dangerous bombing runs over Germany. By the end of the war, the group had lost 4,300 bombers and 17,650 men. In addition, nearly 21,000 men were taken prisoner or interned in a neutral country. Murphy was taken prisoner after his plane was shot down near Münster in October 1943. He was held prisoner at Stalag Luft III in Poland, the scene of a March 1944 escape dramatized in the film The Great Escape. This reissue includes hefty contributions from his daughter, Elizabeth, and granddaughter, CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas, and it presents a personal account of an airman's life and the daily struggles in a prisoner camp. Murphy will be featured in the forthcoming Apple+ series Masters of the Air, based on Donald Miller's book of the same name. VERDICT This reissue will appeal to readers of World War II history and the Apple+ series will make this story relevant again.—John Rodzvilla

Library Journal