He was only five years old when a local barnstormer offered to take young Bill Brown for a flight in a biplane in exchange for one of his mother’s home-cooked meals. That day birthed a life-long fascination with aviation. As a young man, he grew up near the home of the man who would become the most famous pilot of the Second World War — Jimmy Doolittle of the “Doolittle Raiders.” By twenty-one, Brown had earned his own wings and found himself as a flying P-51 Mustang fighter pilot performing daring raids from battlefields like Iwo Jima. Ultimately he was shot down during a combat mission over Japan, but would live to become a dynamic servant of the Cross.
Featured in the film, The League of Grateful Sons, Bill Brown is now the subject of a thrilling story of combat, faith, and fatherhood told through the eyes of granddaughter Kelly Brown. In Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer: A Granddaughter Remembers Her Wartime Hero, a beautiful, pictorially rich book, Kelly recounts the life of her flyboy grandfather as a letter to generations yet to be born.
I want to personally recommend this book to readers of Doug’s Blog for the following reasons: This is a great family read-aloud book that brings the generations together, training young and old alike how to appreciate the providences of God. Boys will love it for the tremendous story of the young men that flew the planes that helped to secure America’s victory in the Pacific. Girls will love it, too. The book, written by home school author Kelly Brown, is a special encouragement to Christian young women everywhere. Through her work as an author, Kelly models one of the many ways that faithful daughters can expand the ministry and mission of their households, demonstrate multi-generational faithfulness, and use personal gifts for glory of God in their capacity as faithful daughters.