Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Arthur Ordel moved with his family to Virginia in the Thirties. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VA Tech) and enlisted in the Air Corps in May 1942 and as an Aviation Cadet in October of the same year. Training as a bombardier, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in October 1943 in Victorville, California. After additional training at Ardmore, Oklahoma he was assigned to the 390th Bomb Group/570th Bomb Squadron and was sent overseas in the Spring of 1944. Stationed at Framlingham, Suffolk, England, Art flew as a Bombardier on 35 missions, from 19 April to 8 August 1944, 14 of them on B-17 # 42-31974. His regular pilot was Lt Charles N. Baker. Ending his tour in November 1944, Arthur went back to the United States in December 1944. There, he completed active service as a Bombardier Instructor on B-29s at Pyote, Texas, being honorably discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in October 1945. Arthur married Grace Holmes in 1950. Art had scribbled through the years about his wartime experience and it was thanks to Grace's prompting and editorial help that the couple finally published a book in 2015 : "A Front Row Seat at the War" (Blackwell Press, Lynchburg, Virginia), a few months before Grace's passing.