A Wing and a Prayer – Screening & Director Discussion at LBIF

A Story of Courage, Committment and Defiance
The documentary A WING AND A PRAYER tells the remarkable, if little-known, story of an improbable group of World War II veterans who risked their lives and American citizenships to give the newborn state of Israel a chance to survive. Narrated by William Baldwin, the documentary features interviews with more than 20 of the operation’s key aviators, their family members and historians. WWII veteran Schwimmer and his men helped reshape history, yet history books have ignored them. “A Wing and a Prayer” fills in that missing chapter. “A Wing and A Prayer” features firsthand accounts of daring escapes and heart-pounding action by Schwimmer, Lewis and other members of the group, including Christian radio operator Eddie Styrak. Styrak arrested by the British for trying to bring Holocaust survivors into the burgeoning Jewish state, had to escape prison to join Schwimmer’s operation. Moved by the plight of Holocaust survivors and Jews trapped in Palestine, former U.S. Air Transport Command flight engineer Adolph Schwimmer masterminded a plan to assist the besieged Palestinian Jews. Schwimmer’s group – made up of Jews and non-Jews – eluded the FBI, outsmarted the U.S. State Department and created fictitious airlines to help the Israeli army ward off attacks from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. A WING AND A PRAYER follows the twists and turns of this clandestine operation. Admission is $5, free for Lighthouse International Film Society Members.