Author Talk | No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force’s monthly Author Talk series is proud to present author Rona Simmons, who will be discussing her latest book No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24,1944. This program will take place on February 26th at 11:00 am at the museum.

The program is free to the public, but please register at https://forms.gle/W1U571VXPtmS4beN6

Optional Lunch: Join us for an optional lunch afterwards. $10/12 cash/credit for members or $15/17cash/credit for non-members.

About the Book
On Tuesday, October 24, 1944, nearly three years after the United States entered World War II, over 2,600 Americans perished—more than on any other single day of the conflict—yet the day remains overshadowed by more widely remembered dates in WWII history. Drawing from the accounts of men from diverse backgrounds who served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Corps, Rona Simmons offers a gripping retelling of the fateful day, hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First Class Paul Miller’s demise in a prisoner of war camp and ends with the death of Navy Seaman Second Class Wanza E. Matthews after the Japanese submarine I-56 attacked his ship off New Guinea. The sinking of the Japanese “hellship” Arisan Maru—a lesser-known tragedy of the war—looms large, deftly interwoven through each part of the narrative.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of No Average Day is its attention to the human side of conflict, telling the stories of ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews—as they grapple with the horrors of the war. Despite its narrow focus, or perhaps because of it, No Average Day reveals the vastness of World War II through consideration of the largely overlooked events that unfolded on what, for members of the US Armed Forces, was its deadliest day.

About the Author
Rona Simmons has authored historical fiction and nonfiction. Both A Gathering of Men and The Other Veterans of World War II: Stories from Behind the Front Lines shed light on little-known aspects of the Second World War. She is the daughter of a WWII fighter pilot and wife of a US Navy pilot and is proud to honor veterans and their stories through her work. Her articles and interviews have appeared in regional and national literary journals and in online and print magazines and newspapers.