- Boris Sapunov Ph.D., Director, The Hermitage   The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, one of the world’s great museums, acknowledges the cultural importance of the groundbreaking book about the life and times of Russia’s greatest female flying hero. About 15 years ago, I visited a little-known traveling exhibition called World War II though Russian... Learn More

-US Navy Airforce Commander   Circa 1943. Lt. Lilia Litvyak, 21, boards her YAK-1 at an airfield field on the outskirts of Moscow A few years back, I was aboard the celebrated World War II aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, dry docked in San Diego, to celebrate the accomplishments of the US Naval Air Force... Learn More

Lilia’s crash site as it sits today in the middle of a barren field in the Eastern Ukraine. What Amazon readers are saying about Call Sign, White Lily. “Deeply recommended to anyone who cares about justice, freedom, and the gifts God has given women.” “The life story of a woman who most people have never... Learn More

- American Russian Cultural Foundation   Lt. Lilia Litvyak, 20, humiliates Hitler’s elite all-male Luftwaffe over Stalingrad Hitler believed invading the Russians during WWII and turning its citizens into cheap Nazi slave labor would be a “slam dunk.” And, so on June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa, the largest single military invasion in history of... Learn More

- Retired U.S. Brigadier General   Lt. Lilia Litvak (1921-1943), 268 missions, 15 solo kills, 22 assists About ten years ago, I accidentally met a determined and beautiful young lady named Lilia Litvyak, who was in fact the world’s first female fighter-pilot. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became that... Learn More

- Voice of America, Washington D.C.   Ordinary child to Adolph Hitler’s worst public relations nightmare in less than 9 years There have been hundreds, maybe thousands of books about female accomplishment under adverse conditions. Curiously, one of the greatest woman against-all-the-odds stories, has somehow been lost in time for more than 70 years. ... Learn More

Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese, AKA The Salad Oil King, loved to gamble….on sure things. Growing up, Yo-Yo contests were held daily in Little Italy. The entry fee was 5 cents per play. Fonso knew his opponents were bigger and older, but he had a streak of larceny in his ice water veins. Minutes... Learn More

During World War II every American contributed to the war effort by receiving and using ration stamps to ensure everyone shared the pain. But, there were those like Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese and his Mafia cronies who made a handsome profit in the black marketing of goods and services through the use of... Learn More

When Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese, AKA The Salad Oil King, was a 9-year old kid, his father asked him to help sell fresh fish from his ice-filled cart after school to their neighbors on Spring Street in Little Italy. "Fonso" quickly learned if he stuffed ice into the fish's mouth with some of the... Learn More

(Circa 1945: Russian flying aces raise the Ameican Flag on Victory Day in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.) Given the endless anti-Russian tirades in the media about Russian election manipulation and Russian collusion, it’s hard to imagine they sacrificed over 30 million citizens and soldiers while having our back against Hilter’s ground advances. Imagine a... Learn More