interviews
Born in Pasadena, California, Steve Snyder
was raised in the neighboring community of
San Marino. He graduated from UCLA and
during the Vietnam War years served six
years in the California Army National
Guard. In 1972, he moved to Seal Beach,
California, where he lives today. In 2009, he
retired from Vision Service Plan (VSP) after
a 36 year career working in sales and sales
management. Soon after retirement, Steve
began his quest to learn more about the
World War II experiences of his father, pilot
Howard Snyder, and his crew of the B-17
Susan Ruth. It became his passion, and after
4½ years of dedicated research, resulted in
book Shot Down, which has won 20 national
book awards. One result of his new career
as a World War II historian is that he is a
member of numerous World War II
organizations and is President of the 306th
Bomb Group Historical Association.
What inspired you to write your father’s story?
When I started my quest to learn more
about my father’s war experiences, I began
by going through all the material my parents
had kept from the war years. Two items
were most significant. The first was a diary
that my father wrote while he was missing in
action and being hidden by members of the
Belgian underground. The other was all the
letters my father had written to my mother
while he was stationed in England before
being shot down. Reading those was
absolutely fascinating, and I became
www.TopShelfMagazine.net
It was 4½ years from the time I started my
research to the time the book was released. I
read book after book about the air war over
Europe. I spent countless hours on the internet
doing research and downloading declassified
military documents. I joined several World War
II organizations and went to their reunions
where I listened to veterans tell their stories. I
traveled to Belgium twice prior to writing the
manuscript. I even found and interviewed the
German Luftwaffe pilot who shot down my
father’s plane. He gave me some wonderful
insight about what it was like to go up against
the 8 th Air Force which is included in the book.
Writing this book must have been emotional.
Please tell us a little bit about that journey.
Initially, I thought the book was going to be
about my father, but soon I realized that it was
about his entire crew (five of which made it
back home and five did not), and to a greater
extent, about all the men who served in the 8 th
Air Force. During World War II, more men in
the 8 th Air Force were killed than in the entire
Marine Corps fighting in the Pacific. It is also
about the courageous Belgian people who
risked their lives and those of their families to
help downed airmen evade capture. While
doing my research, it was so exciting whenever
I came across a new piece of information, or I
found someone who had a connection to the
story. I could hardly believe it when I found
the German Luftwaffe pilot, Hans Berger,
who shot down my father’s plane. Gunners on
the B-17 Susan Ruth shot him down too.
They shot each other down. However, Hans
was able to bail out and made it through the
war. Fortunately for me, he became a translator
after the war and speaks English. We have
become friends, and last May I traveled to
Is it true that the plane your father
piloted was named after your sister?
Yes, after my oldest sister, Susan Ruth
(Snyder), who was one year old at the
time my father went overseas. My
mother’s name was Ruth. My father
was the first pilot and as such was
commander of the plane and its crew.
Therefore, he had the final say in what
the plane was named. Only three of the
ten-man crew were married, and my
father was the only one who had a
child. My other sister, Nancy, was born
while my father was missing in action.
Please tell us a little bit about the 306th
Bomb Group Historical Association where
you currently serve as President.
INTERVIEW WITH AWARD
WINNING, BESTSELLING
AUTHOR, STEVE SNYDER
How much research did you do for this book?
Munich, Germany, to meet him in person
and filmed an interview with him.
fascinated with the story of my father and
his crew. However, I might not have written
the book if it were not for two Belgian
gentlemen, Dr. Paul Delahaye and Jacques
Lalot, who were young boys during the war
and the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Later
in life they became local historians and
interviewed Belgian citizens and members
of the underground, recording their
testimony about events that took place
involving my father and members of his
crew. I owe them a great debt for all the
information they provided to me about
events that would have been lost forever
without their detailed research.
INTERVIEWS
The Association was formed by Russell
Strong who was a navigator in the 306 th
Bomb Group and became its historian after
the war. Originally, it was strictly a veterans
group, but with the passing of time and of the
veterans, is now predominately made up of 2 nd
generation relatives like myself. Our mission is
to Reme