Red Wings PA announcer Budd Lynch

“A Moaning Minnie hit me. The shell was three inches in diameter, but luckily, it was a solid shot that went right through my shoulder. I could feel the flesh, but I didn’t know how badly I was hurt. We were commando trained, so I took the shell dressing and had the German kid grip my hand to control the nerves. Then Lett gets hit in the side of the head and he has to have the other kid bandage him up. We finally got back to a farmhouse area, almost a quarter of a mile away, where there was a doctor’s forward post. Both Lett and myself had been hit pretty hard, but we didn’t realize it.”

 As a young Major of the Essex Scottish Regiment in World War II, Budd Lynch lost his right arm and shoulder at the hands of an enemy rocket shortly following the D-Day Invasion at Normandy. Soon after the attack, he resumed his pre-war radio career and contributed to the BBC throughout the remainder of the war. But that was just the beginning of Lynch’s hall of fame broadcasting career. After the war, Lynch joined the Detroit Red Wings as a broadcaster and continues to be a vital part of the historic hockey club today as the public address announcer at Joe Louis Arena.

Lynch’s autobiography -- as told to famed Windsor Star sports writer Bob Duff -- chronicles a life as a soldier, broadcaster and humanitarian aid worker with War Amps. In Lynch's years with the Red Wings, he has arguably seen more of team’s ups and downs than anyone else. “My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown” is packed with fascinating anecdotes and insider information from the man who saw it all.

“My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown” includes some of the following chapters:

• Over the Air Waves and Overseas — Lynch’s early days in radio and military career
• The One-Armed Bandit — Lynch’s return to North America and the start of his career
• That’s A Fact, Jack — Lynch’s relationship with legendary Red Wings coach Jack Adams
• The Wings I Knew — Insider stories about the hockey greats Lynch worked around
• Other Voices — Stories about Lynch’s radio contemporaries
• Back at the Mic —Lynch’s shift into Joe Louis Arena’s PA booth

The book, which retails for $19.95, contains more than 115 pages detailing Lynch’s odyssey through World War II and hockey with photos of Lynch and his associates spanning his life. The foreword was written by Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Bruce Martyn

"My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown" is available by calling 1-800-WINGS-25.