From Hollis, Oklahoma, Lt. Lloyd Brooks Mitchell, navigator of Kipling's Error III, tells his story as a young man dealing with life in the Oklahoma "dust bowl" and subsequent service to his country. This book is the touching, riveting story straight from the diaries of Lt. Mitchell and four of his crew members. It describes their twenty-five successful raids over enemy-occupied Europe from their base in Snetterton-Heath, England. Their stories reveal every possible human emotion, from bravery to terror, from duty to patriotism, from love to hate. They were, indeed, Good Americans.

Kipling’s Error III: They Were Good Americans

Brooks Mitchell
21st Century Publishers (2006)
ISBN 0960729860
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (3/06)


Brooks Mitchell, PhD, wrote this biography about his father, a B-17 navigator of Kipling’s Error III, and his crew’s 25 combat missions that took place over Europe during World War II. Mitchell gathered his information from diaries written by his father and four of his crewmen. He also used a taped interview with his father that his daughter created while she was doing a high school paper. There are also vintage photographs that bring the stories more vividly alive.

Through this story, Brooks achieves his goal of preserving the experiences of these crewmen during the time of war. The reader learns about the difficult times that these men experienced while they were stationed in Snetterton-Heath England. “Kipling’s Error III” provides excellent insights into what these brave men had to sacrifice during their time of serving our country. Because the information was taken from some of the crewmen’s personal diaries, the reader gets to see life as it really was during this time. Every aspect of the men’s lives is covered.

This book provides so much more rich detail, than a traditional history book. When Captain Lloyd Mitchell wrote in his diary, “They were good Americans,” he was referring to friends of his who were killed during a raid into the Third Reich. He had to help clean up their remains. By learning about the war from the experiences of these men, the reader is able to see the full range of emotions that they had to deal with while they were at war and then the personal issues they faced being so far away from their family and friends.

I highly recommend this book to World War II fans. Reading through the diary entries and seeing the photographs will really make you feel like you are present. Passing on this story also an important way to preserve this historical experience of American men who were truly, “good Americans.”