Beyond Valor
A World War II Story of Extraordinary Heroism, Sacrificial Love, and a Race Against Time
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Narrated by:
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Zach Hoffman
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Jon Erwin
About this listen
On April 12, 1945, a fleet of American B-29 bombers flew toward Japan. Their mission was simple: Stop World War II by burning the cities, factories, and military bases of the Japanese empire, thereby forcing an unconditional surrender. But it didn't go as planned. Beyond Valor is one soldier's extraordinary tale of bravery, faith, and devotion.
Onboard one of the B-29s, the City of Los Angeles, a phosphorus bomb detonated inside the plane. Staff Sergeant Henry E. "Red" Erwin absorbed the blast of burning phosphorus and managed to throw the still-flaming bomb overboard before collapsing from the third-degree burns that covered his body.
Breaking protocol, the plane diverted to a military hospital at Iwo Jima. President Truman quickly ordered that Erwin be awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest honor of the American military.
Drawn from in-depth interviews with eyewitnesses and deep archival research, Beyond Valor tells the gripping story of Erwin's life—from his upbringing in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, to his enduring commitment to supporting veterans. Beyond Valor gives you a front-row seat to Erwin's amazing life and legacy. Along the way, you'll learn:
- How Erwin's childhood in Birmingham shaped his faith and his family
- How a split-second decision changed the course of his life
- The countless ways that Erwin chose to give back to his fellow veterans after he returned home
Beyond Valor is about more than that fateful day in April 1945. It's a story of one man's journey from the ultimate despair to a place beyond service, beyond honor, and beyond valor: a life illuminated by the light of God's love.
©2020 Jon Erwin and William Doyle (P)2020 Thomas NelsonListeners also enjoyed...
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April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow.
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Chris Wallace killed it!
- By Gaming Pancakes on 06-11-20
By: Chris Wallace, and others
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Dead Men Flying
- Victory in Viet Nam: The Legend of Dust Off: America's Battlefield Angels
- By: Patrick Henry Brady, Meghan Brady Smith
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Viet Nam may be the only war we ever fought, or perhaps that was ever fought, in which the heroism of the American soldier was accompanied by humanitarianism unmatched in the annals of warfare. And the humanitarianism took place during the heat of the battle. The GI fixed as he fought, he cured and educated and built in the middle of the battle. He truly cared for, and about, those people. What other Army has ever done that? Humanitarianism was America's great victory in Viet Nam.
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Courageous Pilots
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 11-13-14
By: Patrick Henry Brady, and others
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Operation Chastise
- The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, Peter Noble
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The attack on Nazi Germany’s dams on May 17, 1943, was one of the most remarkable feats in military history. The absurdly young men of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron set forth in cold blood and darkness, without benefit of electronic aids, to fly lumbering heavy bombers straight and level towards a target at a height above the water less than the length of a bowling alley. Yet this story has never been told in full. Max Hastings takes us back to the May 1943 raid to reveal how the truth of that night is considerably different from the popularized account most people know.
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Wish He Had Stuck to the Core Story
- By John on 06-22-20
By: Max Hastings
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Jayhawk
- Love, Loss, Liberation and Terror over the Pacific
- By: Jay A. Stout, George L. Cooper
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in the Philippines to an American father and a Filipina mother, George Cooper is one of the few surviving veteran pilots who saw action over such fearsome targets as Rabaul and Wewak. Not just another flag-waving story of air combat, Jayhawk describes the war as it really was - a conflict with far-reaching tentacles that gripped and tore at not only the combatants, but also their families, friends, and the way they lived their lives.
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An absolute must for any student of the Pacific Air War
- By Ginger on 10-07-20
By: Jay A. Stout, and others
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Luck of the Draw
- My Story of the Air War in Europe
- By: Frank Murphy, Chloe Melas, Elizabeth Murphy
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Murphy, Jonas Moore, Chloe Melas
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Beginning on August 17, 1942, American heavy bomber crews of the Eighth Air Force took off for combat in the hostile skies over occupied Europe. The final price was staggering. 4,300 B-17s and B-24s failed to return; nearly 21,000 men were taken prisoner or interned in a neutral country, and a further 17,650 made the ultimate sacrifice. Luck of the Draw is more than a war story. It’s the incredible, inspiring story of Frank Murphy, one of the few survivors from the 100th Bombardment Group, who cheated death for months in a German POW camp.
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Personal Accounting that the Narrator Destroyed
- By David Sajben on 03-09-23
By: Frank Murphy, and others
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Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot
- By: Starr Smith, Walter Cronkite
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Of all the celebrities who served their country during World War II - and they were legion - Jimmy Stewart was unique. On December 7, when the attack on Pearl Harbor woke so many others to the reality of war, Stewart was already in uniform - as a private on guard duty south of San Francisco at the Army Air Corps Moffet Field. Seeing war on the horizon, Jimmy Stewart, at the height of his fame after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and his Oscar-winning turn in The Philadelphia Story in 1940, had enlisted several months earlier.
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After-action intelligence report
- By David on 04-20-18
By: Starr Smith, and others
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Dead Reckoning
- The Story of How Johnny Mitchell and His Fighter Pilots Took on Admiral Yamamoto and Avenged Pearl Harbor
- By: Dick Lehr
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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“AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT DRILL.” At 7:58 a.m. on December 7, 1941, an officer at the Ford Island Command Center frantically typed what would become one of the most famous radio dispatches in history as the Japanese navy launched a surprise aerial assault on the American navy stationed in Hawaii. In a little over two hours, the Japanese killed more than 2,400 Americans and propelled the US’s entry into World War II. Dead Reckoning is the story of the mission to avenge that devastating strike.
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Half Soap Opera, target audience 20 something male
- By Donald L. Hogan on 03-20-21
By: Dick Lehr
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Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
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The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
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The Bomber Mafia
- A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Malcolm Gladwell, author of New York Times best sellers including Talking to Strangers and host of the podcast Revisionist History, uses original interviews, archival footage, and his trademark insight to weave together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in Central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard. As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.
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Listen to the same story on his podcast for free
- By Dustin on 04-28-21
By: Malcolm Gladwell
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The Last Zero Fighter
- By: Dan King
- Narrated by: Drew Bott
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Firsthand accounts from interviews conducted in Japan with five WWII Japanese Naval aviators. All are veterans of the pivotal battles of the Pacific War including; USS Panay, Nanking, Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Rabaul, Port Darwin, Indian Ocean Raid, Ceylon, Midway, Guadalcanal, Marshall Islands, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the kamikaze in the Philippines, the home defense and the dropping of the atomic bomb. Includes an introduction to the Japanese pilot training system for both officers and enlisted men.
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Fascinating and humanizing story
- By courtney mckean on 07-03-23
By: Dan King
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The Mighty Eighth
- The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It
- By: Gerald Astor
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Europe has fallen. Pearl Harbor is in flames. Enter: the Eighth. In 1941 the RAF fought a desperate battle of survival against the Luftwaffe over Britain. Then, from across the Atlantic, came a new generation of American pilots, gunners, and bombardiers, a new generation of flying machines called the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, the P-47 Thunderbolt, and the P-51 Mustang fighter.
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A Good Listen with 1 problem
- By Matthew Schuller on 08-23-19
By: Gerald Astor
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Invisible Heroes of World War II
- Extraordinary Wartime Stories of Ordinary People
- By: Jerry Borrowman
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Invisible Heroes of World War II documents 10 fascinating true stories of a diverse group of soldiers and noncombatants from all over the world, including African Americans, women, and Native Americans, who fought with the Allies during World War II. These heroes made significant contributions in the war effort, and sometimes gave their lives for freedom and liberty, often without much recognition or fanfare. All served with valor and distinction as part of the massive Allied forces who fought to free the world from tyranny and oppression.
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EXCELLENT AND INSPIRING!
- By B. ADAMS on 12-22-20
By: Jerry Borrowman
What listeners say about Beyond Valor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lady Pamela
- 04-11-24
Enter Text Here
I got this book because it dealt with aviation history. The first few words were all about "Red" Erwin, Medal of Honor recipient. It got better and the author weaves him into the story of the war in the Pacific during WWII. And, don't forget that he loved God and his family too. The book was short ( 7 hours) and to the point.
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- James
- 08-30-20
Pretty Good Listen
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book, but thought I'd give it a try. I've read several books about the B-29 recently, so was passingly familiar with the Red Erwin story. This book naturally expanded on it, as one would expect, but was also not a bad overview of the B-29 saga over Japan. If you're not really familiar with this topic, this is not a bad way to find out about it; not super detailed, but provides enough information that you won't feel lost.
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- katherine
- 09-15-20
One of the best books I’ve ever listened to!!!
This book is a must listen!
Be ready… it may become your favorite book of all times. And that is no exaggeration!
As a story of a well-lived godly life,- it inspires you to re-examine your values and fills your heart with inspiration and courage to go and be used by God in every day challenges. “Uncommon Valor” was an excellent pic of a title!
Great job, Erwin Brothers! You blessed me once more.
You do have a God given talent of storytelling, no doubt. I have gained a brand new perspective on history as well as my country, thank you so much! I can only pray you will make it a movie, it surely can become of the best tools in the Lords hand Entertainment industry needs so much!!!
... If you are looking for the truth, that can inspire and propel your personal growth, you will indeed do yourself a huge favor to buy this book and listen to it first and then send it as a gift to your whole family.
Prepare to fall in love❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
You will not be disappointed!
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4 people found this helpful
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- J.Brock
- 04-04-22
Incredible
The story of Red Irwin is one that should be required reading. Completely burned by phosphorus during a bombing run, Erwin depended on his Christian faith to get him through. How he survived and persevered is a miracle only God could allow.
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- Cinnabelle
- 12-16-22
Amazing story of heroism and resilience
I write very few reviews but felt compelled to write this one.
The book was not what I expected, nevertheless it was more than I had hoped for. The story wove the history of WW II in the Pacific Theatre with the bravery and humility of Mr. Red Erwin a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
There were parts of the book that were difficult to listen to as it related the horrors of war - the treatment of American POWs and the bombing of cities in Japan. The depths of human cruelty as well as the compassion cannot truly be understood even when seeing with the eyes of faith.
There are probably thousands of books written about the war in Europe, but to my knowledge not as much about the war with Japan.
This is a well written story with attention paid to historical events woven in with the lives of very brave men, especially Mr. Erwin.
He has left a legacy that only God will be able to unravel.
This book should be a must read.
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- Pete B
- 09-10-20
Absolute MUST READ, to know our heritage!
words cannot express the amount infinite detail, heartfelt and in-depth research , that was put into this book. an amazing amount of our history, of all our lives, that needs to be read, and reread to our children and our children's children.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Snooz
- 10-18-22
Inspirational
Very inspirational book. Sound like Mr. Erwin was a remarkable man.
The story and the narration are both done very well.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-24-20
I loved it!
While listening to the narrator I was struck by a lot of the heroism that the soldiers went thru.. I cried and laughed at multiple times and would gladly listen to this book multiple times. Also, while listening to this story helped me to understand why my grandfather never told of his time in the military. I will also gladly recommend this book to anyone.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Rita Needham
- 08-14-21
Inspirational, story of true heroism; captivating
This is such an important retelling of the selfless action of Red Erwin who suffered unimaginable pain and agony so that others might live. You'll want to listen to the very end. Highly recommend.
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