Serenade to the Big Bird

After completing a tour of duty (thirty-five missions) in B-17s Bert Stiles transferred to a fighter squadron. Just four months later he was killed in action on an escort mission to Hanover Germany on November 26 1944. Stiles' book was written in the period between his two tours. Serenade to the Big Bird portrays the tragedy of war and specifically the loss to the world of a fine sensitive talented writer who had only a short time to prove his merit. He died at twenty-three.