John D. Lukacs

Writer, adventurer, historian and documentary filmmaker John D. Lukacs specializes in one-of-a-kind stories—the unusual, the unprecedented and the virtually unknown.

His first book, "Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War," was called "a most impressive authorial debut" by World War II Magazine and "diligent, impassioned history" by Booklist. Lukacs's first documentary film, titled "4-4-43," was an official selection of the 2014 GI Film Festival.

Recognized as a "gifted stylist and storyteller" and a "top-notch non-fiction writer," his work has appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, ESPN The Magazine and on ESPN.com. He is a regular contributor to World War II Magazine. Lukacs has made numerous local and national television and radio appearances, including on ESPN and C-SPAN, as well as Sirius Satellite Radio.

A hands-on historian who enjoys forensic documentary research and believes that first-hand knowledge of a geographical location is essential to fashioning a riveting narrative, he has explored World War II battlefields and historic sites throughout both Europe and the Pacific, including: Attu, the Ardennes, Bastogne, Bataan, Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden, Cabanatuan, Corregidor, Coral Sea, Dachau, Davao, Dutch Harbor, Fiji, Guadalcanal, Guam, Hiroshima, Hong Kong, Iwo Jima, Kiska, Manila, Midway, the Maginot Line, the New Hebrides, Paris, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, Rabaul, Reims, Saipan, the Siegfried Line, Singapore, Tarawa, Truk and Wake Island.

A veterans' rights advocate and staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, Lukacs received the 2011 Senator John Heinz Award from the Veterans Leadership Program of Pittsburgh.

A former resident of New York City’s famed Hotel Chelsea, Lukacs is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.