Bird of Prey

About the Book

During World War II, America placed its faith in the young lads who had just finished with high school.   Experienced military commanders and career soldiers were ready, but “the troops” were made up of those young men who held other hopes for their futures.  Duty called and they bravely met that call.  Many, like Marvin W. Coffee, came from  small towns and probably most had never been but a few miles from their homes.  As we look back we can take a closer look how our war was won by these quickly trained young folks.

How would one expect that a 21 year old fellow from the small farming community of Salem, Ohio would be the pilot of a B-17 and lead his crew on twenty seven combat missions?  The farthest he had been from his northeaster Ohio town was a trip to Chicago when he won a rural electrification award. Would this young pilot’s parents ever imagine that his experience driving a tractor on their small farm would provide him with the knowledge that allowed him and his crew to get their downed plane out of the war torn ground of Belgium and back to their home base in Nuthampstead, England?

This story is not an unusual story but it is one that was lived by many of our young men who served their country in that perilous war.  We are thankful for their service and for their willingness to share some of their experience.

About the Author

Marvin W. Coffee was a senior at Salem High School at the time of Pearl Harbor.  After registering for the draft at age 18, he was drafted into the Army when he turned twenty years old.  He had one year of work experience following high school graduation.

Marvin’s childhood, spent on a family farm in northeastern Ohio, provided a useful background for the many difficult decisions he would make during the training and the period in which he was the pilot of a heavy bomber, a B-17, during WWII.  The B-17 was named “Coffee Grinder” and his crew was known as “Coffee’s Grinders”.  They completed twenty-seven combat missions over Germany.  Marvin was a natural leader and at this young age earned the respect of his outstanding crew.  They cared deeply for one another, not unlike most military units.

This book tells of the Coffee Grinder missions as well as events occurring to other crews within their squadron.  Several of the stories seem unbelievable, but these seemingly impossible feats were repeated frequently during this long war.