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These narratives are weaved together in a way where they did not clash too much. His wife has an aggressive cancer that recurs repeatedly after treatments like chemotherapy, and was likely terminal. Tailspin tells the story of Gene's improbable survival and the other hurdles he faced before he got back home after the war: the "Hell Ship," Nazi detention/prison labor camps, forced marches, and more.Ī parallel narrative to Gene's life story is Armbruster's own struggles. Gene Moran, a WWII tail-gunner, survived being shot down in the most improbable way possible. This was a fascinating and well put-together book about a historical figure from Wisconsin whose story hasn't been told until historian and author, John Armbruster (a fellow Wisconsinite), interviewed and then wrote a book about him.

I had heard the buzz regarding the author visiting our library back in August, and the book almost immediately went on my to-read list! Do you think practices have changed since then in helping to cope with trauma for returning veterans?

Gene experienced a lot of trauma and grief after serving in the war. How did these interviews help them both with their pain and grief?ĭo you think the narrative style enhanced the story? The author interweaves the story of his wife's brain cancer with the loss of gene's crew mates respectfully without making it about him. Outside of Gene who was your favorite person depicted in the book?ĭo you have any friends or family that served? What accounts have you heard of the Hell ship and European death march?

Hear a discussion of the book with the author on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR): We also we lucky enough to have John Armbruster visit our library.įeel free to post what you thought of the book below and feel free to ignore the questions as they are just there to get the ball rolling for a discussion. We were excited to pick this book because the author and Gene both lived close to our area. Mod Our December 2022 book club pick is Tailspin by John Armbruster.