Whatever It Took

Published to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day,an unforgettable never-before-told first-person account of World War II: the true story of an American paratrooper who survived D-Daywas captured and imprisoned in a Nazi work campand made a daring escape to freedom. Now at 95one of the few living members of the Greatest Generation shares his experiences at last in one of the most remarkable World War II stories ever told. As the Allied Invasion of Normandy launched in the pre-dawn hours of June 61944Henry Langrehran American paratrooper with the 82nd Airbornewas among the thousands of Allies who parachuted into occupied France. Surviving heavy anti-aircraft firehe crashed through the glass roof of a greenhouse in Sainte-M├¿re-├ëglise. While many of the soldiers in his unit diedHenry and other surviving troops valiantly battled enemy tanks to a standstill. Thenon June 29thHenry was captured by the Nazis. The next phase of his incredible journey was beginning. Kept for a week in the outer ring of a death campHenry witnessed the Nazis’ unspeakable brutality–the so-called Final Solutionwith people marched to their deathstheir bodies discarded like cords of wood. Transported to a work camphe endured horrors of his own when he was forced to live in unbelievable squalor and labor in a coal mine with other POWs. Knowing they would be worked to deathhe and a friend made a desperate escape. When a German soldier cornered them in a barnthe friend was fatally shot; Henry struggled with the soldierkilling him and taking his gun. Perilously traveling westward toward Allied controlled land on footHenry faced the great ethical and moral dilemmas of war firsthandneeding to do whatever it took to survive. Finallyafter two weeks behind enemy lineshe found an American unit and was rescued. Awaiting him at home was Arlenewholike millions of other American womenwent to work in factories and offices to build the armaments Henry and the Allies needed for victory. Whatever It Took is her storytoobringing to life the hopes and fears of those on the homefront awaiting their loved ones to return. A tale of heroismhopeand survival featuring 30 photographsWhatever It Took is a timely reminder of the human cost of freedom and a tribute to unbreakable human courage and spirit in the darkest of times.