{"events":[{"id":84859,"global_id":"www.atlantahistorycenter.com?id=84859","global_id_lineage":["www.atlantahistorycenter.com?id=84859"],"author":"26","status":"publish","date":"2025-12-22 16:47:59","date_utc":"2025-12-22 21:47:59","modified":"2025-12-22 16:48:02","modified_utc":"2025-12-22 21:48:02","url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/event\/jan-cress-dondi\/","rest_url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/events\/84859","title":"Jan Cress Dondi","description":"
\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t @ \t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Not-Yet Member. $12.<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n Tickets<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Member. $6.<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n Tickets<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Insider. Free.<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n Tickets<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

Online ticket sales close at 5pm EST on the day of the event. Tickets will be available at the door prior to the event start time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navigator\u2019s Letter<\/em> brings to light one of the best untold and dangerous stories of World War II, chronicling a moving and heroic story of patriotic duty, familial bonds, brotherhood, and love.
<\/strong>
One of the riskiest air raids of World War II occurred on August 1, 1943, over the oil fields at Ploesti, Romania\u2014Nazi Germany\u2019s primary fuel source. The Allies believed that the destruction of Hitler\u2019s oil refineries would shorten the war. Using an untested strategy, it was worth the gamble, but the mission did not go according to plan\u2014with 53 aircraft and 532 crewmen lost, it was the costliest US air raid of the war.

A true story, The Navigator\u2019s Letter <\/em>is a tale of uncanny coincidences: two friends from the same small Illinois town; both joined the Air Corps; both became navigators; both were assigned to B-24 Liberators; both flew missions over Europe; both of their planes were forced down over Ploesti; and both went missing-in-action.

Intertwined with events of WWII, the story follows the two B-24 navigators coursing through wartime, both with ties to the same woman. Their lives unfurl with the Air Force\u2019s darkest day, Operation Tidal Wave. It was the first-ever zero-altitude air raid, which lead to Operation Reunion, the largest evacuation by air in history repatriating 1,162 POWs from Romania back to American air bases in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t
\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tAbout the Author<\/strong>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/h2>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan Cress Dondi\u00a0<\/strong>has a BS from the University of Georgia, conducted post-graduate studies at the University of Alaska, and has done research and legal writing for decades. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>","excerpt":"","slug":"jan-cress-dondi","image":{"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi.png","id":84862,"extension":"png","width":800,"height":800,"filesize":764448,"sizes":{"medium":{"width":300,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":98651,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-300x300.png"},"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":27524,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-150x150.png"},"medium_large":{"width":768,"height":768,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":608744,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-768x768.png"},"post-thumbnail":{"width":300,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":98651,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-300x300.png"},"Square Small":{"width":320,"height":320,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":111871,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-320x320.png"},"Square Medium":{"width":760,"height":760,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":596600,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-760x760.png"},"Landscape Small":{"width":320,"height":180,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":90113,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-320x180.png"},"Landscape Medium":{"width":768,"height":432,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":482325,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-768x432.png"},"Tall Small":{"width":320,"height":320,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":111871,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-320x320.png"},"Tall Medium":{"width":760,"height":760,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":596600,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-760x760.png"},"Almost Square Medium":{"width":720,"height":800,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":698541,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-720x800.png"},"Cover Small":{"width":760,"height":800,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":726198,"url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Author-Talk-Event-Listing-Jane-Cress-Dondi-760x800.png"}}},"all_day":false,"start_date":"2026-02-24 19:00:00","start_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"02","day":"24","hour":"19","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"end_date":"2026-02-24 19:00:00","end_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"02","day":"24","hour":"19","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"utc_start_date":"2026-02-25 00:00:00","utc_start_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"02","day":"25","hour":"00","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"utc_end_date":"2026-02-25 00:00:00","utc_end_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"02","day":"25","hour":"00","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"timezone":"America\/New_York","timezone_abbr":"","cost":"","cost_details":{"currency_symbol":"$","currency_code":"USD","currency_position":"prefix","values":[]},"website":"","show_map":false,"show_map_link":false,"hide_from_listings":false,"sticky":false,"featured":false,"categories":[{"name":"Author Talks","slug":"author-talks","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":40,"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","description":"","parent":0,"count":69,"filter":"raw","id":40,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories\/40","collection":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories"}},{"name":"Main Campus","slug":"main-campus","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":172,"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","description":"","parent":0,"count":75,"filter":"raw","id":172,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories\/172","collection":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories"}}],"tags":[{"name":"After Hours","slug":"after-hours","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":156,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":32,"filter":"raw","id":156,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/tags\/156","collection":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/tags"}},{"name":"Author Talks","slug":"author-talks","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":52,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":85,"filter":"raw","id":52,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/tags\/52","collection":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/tags"}},{"name":"WWII","slug":"wwii","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":83,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw","id":83,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/tags\/83","collection":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/tags"}}],"venue":{"id":13847,"author":"8","status":"publish","date":"2021-03-04 10:13:43","date_utc":"2021-03-04 15:13:43","modified":"2024-05-10 16:55:42","modified_utc":"2024-05-10 20:55:42","url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/venue\/mcelreath-hall\/","venue":"McElreath Hall","slug":"mcelreath-hall","address":"130 W Paces Ferry Road","city":"Atlanta","country":"United States","province":"Georgia","state":"GA","zip":"30305","phone":"4048144081","stateprovince":"GA","show_map":true,"show_map_link":true,"global_id":"www.atlantahistorycenter.com?id=13847","global_id_lineage":["www.atlantahistorycenter.com?id=13847"]},"organizer":[],"custom_fields":[],"is_virtual":false,"virtual_url":null,"virtual_video_source":""}],"rest_url":"https:\/\/www.atlantahistorycenter.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/events\/?page=1&per_page=10&start_date=2026-01-01 00:00:00&end_date=2028-01-02 23:59:59&status=publish","total":1,"total_pages":1}