This daring plan-to evacuate hundreds of stranded airmen while avoiding detection by the Germans-faces overwhelming odds. From a Texas airbase he volunteers for a secretive and dangerous assignment, codenamed Operation Halyard, that will bring together American special operations officers, airmen, and local guerilla fighters in Yugoslavia’s green hills. With three failed air missions behind him, Lieutenant Drew Carlton is desperate for redemption. Though grateful to the locals who are risking their lives to shelter and protect him from German troops, Bogdonavich dreams of the impossible: escape.

Hundreds of Allied airmen have been shot down over this volatile region, among them American lieutenant Bill Bogdonavich. In addition to fighting the German occupation, warring factions battle each other. Summer 1944: Yugoslavia is locked in a war within a war. He currently works as an airline pilot based at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.Ī powerfully authentic and thrilling saga based on the true story of Operation Halyard, WWII's most daring and successful rescue mission, from air combat veteran and acclaimed author Tom Young. in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Young spent a decade of his civilian life as a writer and editor with the broadcast division of the Associated Press. He retired from the Air Guard in 2013, having served for over two decades. The recipient of several military honors, including the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal, Young attained close to 5,000 hours as a flight engineer on the C-5 Galaxy and the C-130 Hercules, while flying to nearly forty countries. Young served in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Air National Guard, and flew combat missions to Bosnia and Kosovo. He is best known for writing the Parson and Gold thrillers, as well as the non-fiction title The Speed of Heat (2008).

Young, otherwise known as Tom Young, is an American Air Guard veteran and author of thriller and historical thriller novels.

Sand and Fire by Tom Young