Libraries to host World War II memoirist and his co-author for Veterans Day talk

Book cover for Into the Cold Blue

Jared Frederick, assistant teaching professor of history at Penn State Altoona, co-authored “Into the Cold Blue: My World War II Journeys with the Mighty Eighth Air Force” (2024, Regnery History) with John Homan, an aviator with the Army Air Forces and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross award for heroism or extraordinary achievement during aerial flight.

Credit: Images provided; Christopher Blaska

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries will observe Veterans Day with a talk by a local World War II veteran and the Penn State faculty member who co-authored his memoir. 

Jared Frederick, assistant teaching professor of history at Penn State Altoona, co-authored “Into the Cold Blue: My World War II Journeys with the Mighty Eighth Air Force” (2024, Regnery History) with John Homan, an aviator with the Army Air Forces and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross award for heroism or extraordinary achievement during aerial flight. The two authors will speak about Homan’s experiences in the war at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 in Foster Auditorium on the first floor of Paterno Library at the University Park campus. A question-and-answer session will follow.

A pop-up exhibit of selected items from the University Libraries’ Special Collections Eighth Air Force Archive will be on display.

The event is free of charge, but registration is required due to limited seating. A virtual attendance option also is available; registration is required for both.