A Drop In The Night

From an impoverished youth and prewar bootlegging escapades to the perilous night skies of World War II Europe, this is the extraordinary true story of an ordinary man who answered the call.

Told in Royce Fulmer’s easygoing, vivid voice, this book traces a life shaped by hardship, chance, and an unshakable optimism. Fulmer found his purpose in the Army Air Corps, flying some of the most dangerous and secret missions of the war as part of Operation Carpetbagger—covert nighttime flights that resupplied the French Resistance and delivered spies behind enemy lines. His firsthand accounts of life-threatening missions are gripping, suspenseful, and infused with quiet patriotism, illuminating a shadowed chapter of WWII history rarely told from the inside.

Woven seamlessly with Fulmer’s recollections, co-author Thea Rademacher provides rich historical context and careful research that deepen the narrative without ever dulling its heart. Together, their voices create an intimate, almost fireside experience—one that captures the camaraderie, courage, and wonder of these once-secret operations.

More than a war memoir, this is the portrait of a renaissance man forged by necessity. The discipline and lessons of military life carried Fulmer into postwar pursuits in aviation and real estate, proving that resilience and reinvention can shape a life again and again.