Wall College professor publishes his book on missing World War II rescue pilot

CCU business professor and former Wall College dean Henry Lowenstein was cleaning out his mother-in-law’s garage when he came upon a sealed box that would change his life and bring closure to a 71-year-old mystery for two families. Rescue Man includes two stories: a biography of First Lieutenant Frank Philby “Bud” Hayes, a decorated World War II rescue pilot lost at sea at the end of war; and a detective story in which Lowenstein uncovers the mystery surrounding the pilot’s death.

The book also tells the broader story of the emergency rescue squadrons of World War II and the PBY Catalina flying boats piloted by Hayes, who was the uncle of Lowenstein’s wife. One chapter describes the little known but extremely consequential turf war between the U.S. Army Air Force and the U.S. Navy over which service would be responsible for rescue missions on the seas.

As a result of the findings of the book, proceedings have begun through the Bring Our Heroes Home Act of 2017 to search for and recover the bodies of Hayes and two other crew members who were lost in the October 1945 crash.

Readers have called this book a “wonderful American story” and have praised Lowenstein on his research and the personal-style account of Hayes’ story. The Rescue Man is currently number 18 in the Kindle Store (Kindle eBooks) in the military regiments category. 

Story courtesy of CCU's Office of University Communications.