SAAAB graduate Ralph Welsh (1943) has compiled 150 vignettes in Wow!, an anthology depicting the trials, triumphs, and daily lives of B-24 bomber pilots during World War II. Third-hand reports and interviews provide context, but the beating heart of the book is found in the vivid recollections of the pilots themselves. Highlights include the author’s original diary of his 33 missions over France and Germany in 1944, the lively account of a downed pilot who managed to escape from behind enemy lines not just once, but twice, and a talk between Albert Speer, the Nazi minister in charge of producing armaments, and Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker and Arthur G.B. Metcalf, the men whose job it was to destroy them. Both WWII buffs and casual readers will find something of interest here. Wow! is also available as a two volume set, Bombs Away!, and is on hand at the Costa Mesa Historical Society Museum.