P-38 pilot shot down over New Guinea in 1943, and is sheltered by locals for 8 months before he's picked up by sub.
But he never forgets what he feels is the debt of life he owes...and spends years raising funds and returning to help those who helped him. Eventually lived there teaching at the school he raised funds to build. Last visit was at 90, when villagers carried him by chair to the mountain side where they had recently rediscovered his plane's wreck.
This one's so inspirational that you could never sell it as fiction. Well worth the time to read!
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23538741/