BRAT and the Kids of Warriors was honored to recieve the 2018 Beverly Hills Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.
Work Horse Helicopter
Photo from Ken Stalker. In the book Brat: Kids of Warriors during the German American Week celebration there is a demonstration of a tank engine being replaced on the battlefield. In the demo a helecopter lowers down a new tank engine. I don't have a photo of that, but thought this picture would show the amazing capability of these work horse helecopters.
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German countryside just beyond the peremeter fence
Photo From John Francis. This is what Gunther's farm would have looked like. Note the Hohenstaufen in the upper left cornor of the photo. Quite a hike from the base.
read moreDer Flugplatz at Cooke Barracks
Photo from Ralf Stumpf. If you look in the upper right quadrent of this photo you can see The Glass House. Look carefully and you can see the two stairwells. In the book Jack lives in the right one. Charlie, Sam and Jayla live in the left one. Just down from The Glass House is the cliff and then flugplatz with all the aircraft hangers, and aircraft maintenance facilities. To the far left is the Headquarters 4th Armored Division...
read moreView of the Cooke Barracks Flugplatz
Photo from John Francis From the eyes of a brat there was no more beautiful place on earth than Cooke Barracks.
read moreThe Cliff and the Glass House behind the hanger
Photo from Curt Cheese. In my book Brat: Kids of Warriors there is a lot of discussion about the cliff overlooking the Flugplatz. It is difficult to see but behind this hanger is the cliff and behind that the Glass House. From this angle it is difficult to tell that the cliff was three stories high, but it was. I only wish I had better photos of that cliff as it was in the late 1950's.
read moreThe Air Traffic Control Tower at the Flugplatz
Photo from Shane Daly. Jack confronted with th airtraffic control towere being operational tells the other brats to quickly get back behing the maintenance hanger before they are spotted. This is the real Air Traffic Control Tower at Cooke Barracks.
read moreHelicopter maintenance work being done in a hanger at the Flugplatz
Photo from Ken Stalker. The first day Jack McMasters and Charlie Carron meet, they go exploring down at the Flugplats. Sneaking up to the window of a maintenance hanger and peaking through a window they saw a sceen very much likt this photo.
read moreCommander 4th Armored Division’s L-20
Photo from Ken Stalker. In my book Brat: Kids of Warriors, when Jack, Charlie, and Kevin are down at Property Disposal and Ol' Henry tells them about this aircraft. It's the plane the Commander 4th Armored used for reconnissance and getting to meetings all over Germany.
read moreCH 34 Choctaw – Work Horse of the 4th Armored Division
Photo from Ken Stalker. Jack and the brats see them regularly down at the Flugplatz.
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I am a military brat—and I say that with great pride.