Book retraces path path of Lib nav

Antipodean Andy · May 4, 2008

Book retraces path of World War II navigator | Denton Record-Chronicle | News for Denton County, Texas | Local News

As an Army Air Corps navigator in World War II, Edward Weir spent breaks between bombing raids writing his combat tales in a journal.

Edward Weir He wanted to record them for his family.

Today, those tales form the basis of Down to Two Feet Alti*tude, a new book by Denton author James A. Wells.

He wanted to record them for posterity.

“Of the 16 million veterans from that war, we’re down to about 3 million left,” Wells said. “If we don’t get these stories [recorded] pretty quickly … these stories will be gone forever.”

Down to Two Feet Altitude tells the story of Weir, a Texas-born navigator on B-24 Libera*tor bombers during the war. Weir’s combat missions included the 1943 low-level raid over the Nazi-held oil re*fineries at Ploiesti, Roma*nia, which claimed 54 Allied bombers and their crews.

Weir, 86, a Denton resident since 2005, worked closely with Wells on the book over the past 2 1/2 years. He’s proud of the finished product.

“You can’t quit reading it,” Weir said. “It’s just like reading a novel, but every word is true.”

Weir gained attention last year for his appearance in the PBS documentary Most Honorable Son. The film starred onetime crewmate Ben Kuroki, who overcame bigotry over his Japanese ancestry to become a decorated war hero.

Kuroki, who lives in California, helped advise Wells on the book and plays a major role in the written narrative, Weir said.

But the two veterans didn’t always see eye to eye.

“It’s amazing how he and I — being on the same airplane, seeing the same things — didn’t always agree on what we saw,” Weir said.

It was nothing new for Wells, a Denton police officer who writes in his spare time.

“Jim said in police work that’s not uncommon, that several witnesses to an accident or incident will see it differently,” Weir said.

For that reason, Wells, 53, likes to base his writings on journals of the time. His first book, 2005’s Pretend I’m Dad When He Was in the War, was based on the journal of his father, Ned R. Wells, a machine gunner in Gen. George Patton’s army.

Both of his books are self-published.

With journals, “it’s there in black and white and pen and ink, and it’s preserved,” Wells said. “You don’t have to depend on their foggy memories. It’s a record, and it’s a record I’m fascinated with.”

Wells’ fascination with Weir started during a chance meeting in 2005. Weir, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, had recently moved to Denton after the death of his wife. Wells had just finished writing the book about his father.

The author struck up a conversation about the war, and Weir mentioned his combat journal.

The collaboration was on.

Soon, Weir found himself consumed by the project.

“As I told Jim during the writing, this book is the most important thing in my life right now except for my family,” Weir said. “The more we got into it, the more I felt that way. My motivation was to record this for my family.”

But the book is already finding a wider audience. On Thursday, Wells and Kuroki were expected to sign copies of the book at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The two were there for an IMAX showing of Most Honorable Son and an aviation lecture featuring Kuroki.

Weir plans to join Wells on Tuesday afternoon for another book signing, at Good Samaritan retirement home in Denton.

“We’re glad that it’s finished, that we’ve got the book,” Weir said. “We can read it, we can share it.”
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