Into the Cold Blue: My World War II Journeys with the Mighty Eighth Air Force

Sunday, March 22, 2:00 p.m.
Centre Furnace Mansion, 1001 E. College Ave., State College

 

A born daredevil, John Homan joined the Army Air Forces after the Pearl Harbor attack. By 1944, he was co-piloting a B-24 Liberator over Nazi Germany, raining death and destruction on the enemy. He miraculously survived thirty-four combat missions over four months. Nearly eighty years later, he teamed up with Penn State Altoona history professor Jared Frederick to author a powerfully revealing memoir of the air war in Europe.

Join us on March 22, 2026, for an engaging conversation on the camaraderie, heroism, and horror experienced by Homan and his fellow aviators. Audience Q&A will follow. Personalized, signed copies of Homan's and Frederick's book, Into the Cold Blue, will be available for purchase after the authors' presentation. 

This program is a part of Henszey-Pyle Distinguished Author Series underwritten by the Anne Hamilton Henszey Pyle and Kenneth B. Pyle Educational Fund for Regional Heritage Preservation (Henszey-Pyle Fund.) The Series is coordinated by CCHS Board of Governors member Dr. Ford Risley.

Please find a parking map below. You may park in the main lot off Porter Road, or in front of Frye's (since Sunday is not a business day for them), or in the grass lawn next to E. College Ave., or in the parking lot behind Esber Home & Rugs.

History is an interpretive art, based on available evidence. Accordingly, the interpretations are, at times, controversial and contested. The Centre County Historical Society strongly supports freedom of speech and the First Amendment rights of our speakers, authors, and writers. The Society does not necessarily endorse or support all views, conclusions, and opinions expressed, yet believes they merit entry into the marketplace of ideas and the scrutiny it affords.