Eyes in the Florida Skies

"Your east coast is the best hunting ground in the world for submarines." - unnamed WWI German Sub Commander 1936.

In early 1942, German U-boats returned to prowl U.S. shores sinking tankers and other ships. The U.S. military reluctantly allowed a newly- formed civilian defense organization, the Civil Air Patrol, to patrol the East coast from the air to thwart those attacks. A ninety-day experiment with three bases, expanded to 21 bases from Maine to Mexico. In August 1942, the "All-Ohio" Coastal Base 14 opened in Panama City, Florida.

"Eyes in the Florida Skies" begins with Ric Lawrence, a 19-year-old Ohio college student and aspiring Navy pilot. His carefully mapped out plan of marrying his college girlfriend after completing Officer Candidate School in Pensacola and eventually flying off aircraft carriers soon runs into some major turbulence and a need to course correct.

Meanwhile, barnstormer Lila Palmer is not content to be grounded after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She joins the newly formed Civil Air Patrol, and in March 1942, signs on to a newly opened coastal patrol base, though she is not permitted to fly patrol. When her estranged Merchant Marine husband is injured in a U-boat attack, they are reunited and she is forced to reconsider what is most important to her.

Inspired by the oral history of an Ohio Coastal Patrol pilot, Ric and Lila face new challenges and a shared cause of defending the home shores.

"It patrolled our shores and performed its antisubmarine work at a time of almost desperate national crisis. If it had done nothing beyond that, the Civil Air Patrol would have earned an honorable place in the history of American air power."-General Henry H. (Hap) Arnold, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, December 15, 1944