A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II

Summer 1943 introduces 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown, a West Virginia farm boy turned B-17 pilot, as he and brand-new copilot Spencer “Pinky” Luke log their final seven-hour training flight out of Columbus, Ohio. Cruising low over the Appalachian ridges, Charlie detours south to show Pinky his hometown of Weston and the back-country fields where he first scrubbed a Ford Trimotor for an airborne reward. The cockpit banter sketches both men’s histories—Charlie’s punishing chores, National Guard service and nose-breaking car crash; Pinky’s West Texas mechanic roots—and recounts the aging boxer whose quick jabs once urged Charlie toward the Air Corps.

Circling Weston, Charlie yields to impulse: dropping the “Queen of the Skies” to river-top height, he flies beneath the town’s treetops, barely clearing the central bridge while residents scatter and his astonished father, Judge Charles M. Brown, beams with pride. A sudden mountain loom forces a steep pull-up, reminding the crew that daring has limits. As they turn back for base—dreams of fighters momentarily quenched—Charlie basks in a moment, knowing that his community now sees the boy who left as the pilot he has become.