One Friend's Lesson Keeps me Going

My wife, Geri, Herb Alf, and me in Roseburg, Oregon, 2003. Herb is one of my heroes and the man whose philosophy guides my work.


Another day in the life of a Working Class Dog. Today, I signed a contract to teach three hours a night, in addition to my day job. Why? The renumeration of five thousand dollars over twelve weeks. I'll be teaching US Government to seniors at night school till the end of the school year. Why? To help finance my second career as a writer. I have yet to see the glamour associated with the field of professional writing. However, I'm not giving up. As my mentor and good friend, Herb Alf, told me a few years back: "Success is more about PERSERVERANCE than it is about intelligence". Herb should know. He was a child of the great Depression, a man who rode the rails as a hobo and then became a B-17 pilot. Shot down, he began a new journey as a prisoner of war. All I have to do is think of Herb, and it gives me the strength to press on.

Herb, you taught me a lesson that has sustained me ever since. I miss you, my friend. And in your honor, I will never tire and never give up.

Herb Alf and Petals of Fire

Geri Morris, Herb Alf, and Rob Morris in Roseburg, Oregon, c. 2003. Geri and Herb are holding some of Herb's original notes he took as a POW in a German prison camp. These notes formed the nucleus of his World War Two novel Petals of Fire. He wrote on both sides of sheets of toilet paper, and hid the work in a secret compartment in his wallet. Herb was one of the only survivors on his B-17 Flying Fortress after it took a direct hit and exploded. He then survived prison camp hardships and a forced march across Germany in 1945.

Today's recommended book is 100th Bomb Group pilot and POW Herbert Alf's Petals of Fire. Herb conceived and wrote this book over a fifty-year span. He began it as a prisoner of war in Germany, writing on BOTH sides of sheets of toilet paper, which he stored in a 'secret compartment' in a dime store wallet. The Germans never found it. In 1999, Petals of Fire was published in a limited quantity of 2,000 books. It is almost impossible to find a copy anymore, but anyone wishing to read it, get in touch with me about possibly borrowing mine. It is a historical novel in which Herb tried to cover all aspects of strategic aerial bombing.

I had the good fortune to get to know Herb quite well while writing my own book. We had several very enjoyable days together at his home in Roseberg, Oregon with Herb and his wife Sylvia.

Herb passed away a few years ago and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was an artist, a sculptor, an educator and one of the finest men I've ever met. His book is must reading for any air war historian or 100th Bomb Group member, especially anyone interested in the POW experience.

One of the only known photos of Herb as a pilot, taken when he was in flight training Stateside. Enlarged and edited for clarity and color by R. Morris