Forged in Fire

<p><span style=color: rgba(65 65 66 1)>Most American women of the 1940s did not attend college; learn to fly a plane drive a 21/2 ton truck or a Sherman tank; or serve in war zones but Blanche Gregory Barnes did before the age of 28. Forged in Fire is a coming-of-age tale of a sheltered midwestern woman who after suffering a sudden heart-breaking loss found something larger than herself that ultimately provided her a new purpose for her shattered life. The vehicle for this transformation was the American Red Cross's new and innovative overseas clubmobile program.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(65 65 66 1)>As a clubmobile girl Blanche served on multiple 8th Air Force air bases outside of Kettering England including Molesworth Airfield the home of the famous 303rd Bombardment Group or Hell's Angels then she served on the continent at the Cigarette Camps located outside of Le Havre France and finally in war-torn Germany. Along the way she crossed paths with such notables as Medal of Honor winner Col. John Killer Kane journalist Ernie Pyle and U.S. Generals George S. Patton Jr. Omar N. Bradley; and Leonard T. Gerow as well as movie actress Marlene Dietrich and the members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. She also witnessed first-hand the destruction and tragedy of world war.</span></p><p><em style=color: rgba(65 65 66 1)>Forged in Fire</em><span style=color: rgba(65 65 66 1)> expertly weaves Blanche's story in with the history of the clubmobile program and how it raised the morale of America's fighting men. The backbone of the program was a cadre of well-educated independent and resolute women (such as Blanche) who served up coffee doughnuts and hope for the future to hundreds of thousands of war-weary exhausted American GIs.</span></p>