‘A Bracelet for Lily’ enchanting, haunting

A BRACELET FOR LILY by Dick Goodie, Irving Books, Portland, paperback, 210 pages, $12.95.

The scene is occupied Belgium during the summer and fall of 1944. A young pilot from Maine has his P-47 Thunderbolt shot out from under him while on a support mission with the 9th Tactical Air Force. The good part is that he manages to find a pasture in which to crash land. The bad part is that he is well behind enemy lines and soon learns that the Germans use dogs to hunt down Allied pilots on the run.

Run is exactly what Capt. Russell Perry does (it helps to have been a runner before the war) until he finds a temporary refuge with a Belgian farmer and his family. Pinned down in the Belgians’ farmhouse, waiting for a guide from the underground, Perry suddenly finds himself sharing the haven with a doctor from the German garrison in the village near the farm. For most of his stay, the doctor has no idea that upstairs, on the other side of the house, an American pilot is hiding.

Lily (pronounced Lelee) is the farmer’s 22-year-old daughter who also lives in the house while teaching at the village school. Lily is young, bold, beautiful and, of course, speaks several languages fluently, including English and German. Although both “guests” are attracted to her, she, in turn, is attracted to only one of them. Since the Germans had not exactly asked permission of the locals before overrunning and occupying Belgium, the reader can readily guess to which “guest” Lily was most attracted.

If the plot sounds hackneyed and war-weary, it nevertheless is all true. Author Dick Goodie, born in Bangor and now living in Portland, served in the 3rd Armored Spearhead Division during the war. In January 1945, after the Nazis were driven back in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge, Goodie and his comrades spent several nights in the same room and the same farmhouse in which the model for Russell Perry had stayed. It was from the farmer himself that Goodie heard the story of the P-47 pilot, the German doctor and the farmer’s daughter. Goodie never met the real-life Lily. She and her mother evacuated the area during the battle.

For those of us rusty on our military history, one notes with awe that 19,000 Americans lost their lives during Hitler’s last grand offensive. It had started during several days of wet weather with heavy fog and low-flying clouds. There are those who argue that the offensive would never have started if the P-47 and their brothers in the Allied forces had been able to fly their daily missions of devastation.

Goodie never forgot the farmer’s touching story of young love, and recently resolved that after 50 years the time had come to share it. It is also his way of remembering his friends in the 3rd Armored, as well as paying tribute to the fliers who brought those P-47s down to tree-top level to save American lives and shorten the war. That it was nasty and dangerous work is highlighted by the fact that one pilot Goodie interviewed lost seven planes to flak damage and still came home safely.

The story of Russell Perry and Lily is enchanting and haunting. It is a story of young love and separation under trying conditions. We do not know if Russell and Lily both survived the war. There was less than a year left when they parted, but a lot of young lives still to be lost before the Germans surrendered. As wonderful a story as it is, one can only wish the author had exhibited more of his passion. The prose tends to be plodding and somewhat stilted. It is sometimes difficult to believe the characters were saying the words Goodie puts in their mouths. Young lovers need space to grow in their love, instead of being harnessed together in a plot that lurches forward predictably in pace and direction. That being said, we must ultimately respect one man’s attempt to honor his comrades in arms.