To 319th B.G. survivors and their descendents:

This is it, men. Our heritage book, The 319th in Action, has been reprinted and is now available. One or more copies can be obtained by mailing your check or money order to me at the address below. The price is the printer’s cost at $25.00 per book plus an additional cost of packaging and postage not to exceed $5.00 per book. Two books still $5.00 per book. Three to six books fits the USPO flat rate Priority Mail box at $11.35 - a real shipping bargain.

The book is a paperback reprinted exactly like the original except it has been increased in size to 8.25” x 10.75”, is perfect bound and with a new white cover design you might recognize as the art work of 438th Sqdn. veteran Ed Steinman. Two appendices have been added. At the request of 438th Sqdn. veteran Al Falcone, Appendix I is "A Brief History of the 319th Bomb Group Reunion Association" that includes Table I Dates & Places of Reunions, Table II 319th BGRA Officers and Table III 319th BGRA Projects. Appendix II is a listing of the “319th Bombardment Group Men Killed during World War II compiled by Esther Oyster. The list includes each individual’s name, rank, squadron, date lost and cause.

Esther Queneau, (formerly Esther Oyster) one of the surviving authors, authorized and participated in the reprinting process. The original masters were found at the Akron Marauder Archives and were in excellent condition. Archivist Mark Brown gave us tremendous assistance in converting the masters and photographs into electronic images for publication.

For those not familiar with the book it contains the daily account records of the 319th (156 pages) from its beginning to the end of WW II - real neat for checking service records and mission lists against. There are nine pages of photographs in about the center of the book, and 99 pages of exciting human-interest stories and press releases. At the end, before the new appendices, is a copy of the Diary of the Lost Crew (11 pages), a terrible tragedy of a 440th Sqdn. crew flying the B-26 the Northern Route to England.

Best regards,

Joseph Connaughton
6404 Chadwell Road
Huntsville, AL 35802