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OUT OF ALBANIA

My dad, Lawrence O. Abbott served in the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Unit that was stranded in Albania from November 7, 1943 to January 9, 1944 before being rescued. After receiving  an honorable discharge from the Air Force in 1945, he set out to publish his memoirs of this experience. However, the manuscript was never published.
 
Dad would later marry, raise our family and  enjoy 30 years of service at General Motors. He rarely talked of his WW2 experiences.  Dad passed away in the summer of 1982 from heart bypass complications.  His story seemingly lost.
 
In May of 2000, I was asked to write  about my dad's war experiences for a local newspaper. In the process, the manuscript was found and so was the story that Dad never shared.
 
It is the story of 30 Americans stranded behind enemy lines for two months, trying to get home. This thrilling story is now here for all to know about.