Download or read book Unsung Eagles written by Jay Stout and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2013-09-27 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nearly half-million American aircrewmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. Award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay A. Stout uses Unsung Eagles to save an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men whoÑin the aggregateÑactually won it. They are the recollections of your Uncle Frank who shared them only after having enjoyed a beer or nine, and of your old girlfriendÕs grandfather who passed away about the same time she dumped you. And of the craggy guy who ran the townÕs salvage yard; a dusty, fly-specked B-24 model hung over the counter. These are ÒeverymanÓ accounts that are important but fast disappearing. Ray Crandall describes how he was nearly knocked into the Pacific by a heavy cruiserÕs main battery during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea. Jesse BarkerÑa displaced dive-bomber pilotÑtells of dodging naval bombardments in the stinking mud of Guadalcanal. Bob Popeney relates how his friend and fellow A-20 pilot was blown out of formation by German antiaircraft fire: ÒI could see the inside of the airplaneÑand I could see Nordstrom's eyes. He looked confusedÉand then immediately he flipped up and went tumbling down.Ó The combat careers of 22 different pilots from all the services are captured in this crisply written book which captivates the reader not only as an engaging oral history, but also puts personal context into the great air battles of World War II. Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Jay Stout is a former Marine Corps fighter pilot who flew F-4 Phantoms and F/A-18 Hornets during a military career from 1981 to 2001. A graduate of Purdue University, he has also written FORTRESS PLOESTI, FIGHTER GROUP and THE MEN WHO KILLED THE LUFTWAFFE .
Download or read book Unsung Eagles written by Jay A. Stout and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2013-09-27 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nearly half-million American aircrewmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. Award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay A. Stout uses Unsung Eagles to save an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men who—in the aggregate—actually won it. They are the recollections of your Uncle Frank who shared them only after having enjoyed a beer or nine, and of your old girlfriend’s grandfather who passed away about the same time she dumped you. And of the craggy guy who ran the town’s salvage yard; a dusty, fly-specked B-24 model hung over the counter. These are “everyman” accounts that are important but fast disappearing. Ray Crandall describes how he was nearly knocked into the Pacific by a heavy cruiser’s main battery during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea. Jesse Barker—a displaced dive-bomber pilot—tells of dodging naval bombardments in the stinking mud of Guadalcanal. Bob Popeney relates how his friend and fellow A-20 pilot was blown out of formation by German antiaircraft fire: “I could see the inside of the airplane—and I could see Nordstrom's eyes. He looked confused…and then immediately he flipped up and went tumbling down.” The combat careers of 22 different pilots from all the services are captured in this crisply written book which captivates the reader not only as an engaging oral history, but also puts personal context into the great air battles of World War II. Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Jay Stout is a former Marine Corps fighter pilot who flew F-4 Phantoms and F/A-18 Hornets during a military career from 1981 to 2001. A graduate of Purdue University, he has also written FORTRESS PLOESTI, FIGHTER GROUP and THE MEN WHO KILLED THE LUFTWAFFE .
Download or read book Philadelphia Eagles The written by Brian Michael, Andrew Palagruto and Andrew Weicker and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021-08-30 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the Philadelphia Eagles spans multiple championships, many more near misses, and a cast of characters both on and off the field. The passion of the game has flowed through the veins of generations of Philadelphians, and this book details the history of the Eagles from a unique fan perspective. Compiled from more than two dozen sources, The Philadelphia Eagles features rarely seen archival and personal photographs, including ones from Pete Pihos, Vince Papale, Upton Bell, Ed Mahan, and fans across the Delaware Valley.
Download or read book The Battle for Hell s Island written by Stephen L. Moore and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of Pacific Payback, the true story of how a patchwork band of aviators saved Guadalcanal during WWII. November 1942: Japanese and American forces fight for control of Guadalcanal, a small but pivotal island in the South Pacific. The Japanese call it Jigoku no Shima—Hell's Island. Amid a seeming stalemate, a small group of U.S. Navy dive-bombers is called upon to help determine the island’s fate. When their carriers are lost, they are forced to operate from Henderson Field, a small dirt-and-gravel airstrip on Guadalcanal. They help form the Cactus Air Force, tasked with making dangerous flights from their jungle airfield while holding the line against Japanese air assaults, warship bombardments, and sniper attacks from the jungle. When the Japanese launch a final offensive to take the island, these dive-bomber jocks answer the call of duty—turning back an enemy warship armada, fighter planes, and a convoy of troop transports. The Battle for Hell's Island reveals how command of the South Pacific, and the outcome of the Pacific War, depended on control of a single dirt airstrip—and the small group of battle-weary aviators sent to protect it with their lives. INCLUDES PHOTOS
Download or read book I Will Run Wild written by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-17 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating volume - now available in paperback offers a vivid narrative history of the early stages of the Pacific War, as US and Allied forces desperately tried to slow the Japanese onslaught that began with the sudden attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In many popular histories of the Pacific War, the period from the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor to the US victory at Midway is often passed over because it is seen as a period of darkness. Indeed, it is easy to see the period as one of unmitigated disaster for the Allies, with the fall of the Philippines, Malaya, Burma and the Dutch East Indies, and the wholesale retreat and humiliation at the hands of Japan throughout Southeast Asia. However, there are also stories of courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds: the stand of the Marines at Wake Island; the fighting retreat in the Philippines that forced the Japanese to take 140 days to accomplish what they had expected would take 50; the fight against the odds at Singapore and over Java; the stirring tale of the American Volunteer Group in China; and the beginnings of resistance to further Japanese expansion. In these events, there are many individual stories that have either not been told or not been told widely which are every bit as gripping as the stories associated with the turning tide after Midway. I Will Run Wild draws on extensive first-hand accounts and fascinating new analysis to tell the story of Americans, British, Dutch, Australians and New Zealanders taken by surprise from Pearl Harbor to Singapore that first Sunday of December 1941, who went on to fight with what they had at hand against a stronger and better-prepared foe, and in so doing built the basis for a reversal of fortune and an eventual victory.
Download or read book Vanished Hero written by Jay A. Stout and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A superb, edge-of-the-seat account of [Elwyn] Righetti’s stellar combat career during the final months of the air war against Germany” (Eric Hammel, author of Two Flags over Iwo Jima). A hell-bent-for-leather fighter pilot, Elwyn G. Righetti remains one of the most unknown, yet most compelling, colorful and controversial commanders of World War II. Arriving late to the war, he led the England-based 55th Fighter Group against the Nazis during the closing months of the fight with a no-holds-barred aggressiveness that transformed the group from a middling organization of no reputation into a headline-grabbing team that made excuses to no one. Indeed, Righetti’s boldness paid off, as he quickly achieved ace status and scored more strafing victories—twenty-seven—than any other Eighth Air Force pilot. Ultimately, Righetti’s calculated recklessness ran full speed into the odds. His aircraft was hit while strafing an enemy airfield only four days before the 55th flew its last mission. Almost farcically aggressive to the end, he coaxed his crippled fighter through one more firing pass before making a successful crash landing. Immediately, he radioed his men that he was fine and asked that they reassure his family. Righetti was never heard from again. Vanished Hero tells a story “worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster . . . It is a fitting tribute to both Righetti and the man who collected his life’s journey” (Military Heritage). “An excellent biography of a true American hero . . . a worthy contribution to an understanding of the application of air power in the Second World War.” —History News Network
Download or read book Warplanes of World War II Up Close written by Robert Jackson and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although airplanes were used to some degree in conflicts prior to 1939, World War II was when military aviation truly became a vital component of war plans. Many sophisticated warplanes were developed, increasing the power and accuracy of aerial bombing and tactical air support. This resource provides an in-depth look from every angle at aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang and Boeing B-29 Superfortress, demonstrating how these planes contributed to how each nation waged war during World War II.
Download or read book The Lost Airman written by Seth Meyerowitz and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Documents the story of a World War II American Air Force turret-gunner who was one of two escapees when his team's plane was shot down near Cognac in 1943, tracing his harrowing six-month flight to safety across the Pyrenees under constant pursuit by the Gestapo.
Download or read book Flying against Fate written by S. P. MacKenzie and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-08-04 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, Allied casualty rates in the air were high. Of the roughly 125,000 who served as aircrew with Bomber Command, 59,423 were killed or missing and presumed killed—a fatality rate of 45.5%. With odds like that, it would be no surprise if there were as few atheists in cockpits as there were in foxholes; and indeed, many airmen faced their dangerous missions with beliefs and rituals ranging from the traditional to the outlandish. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie considers this phenomenon in Flying against Fate, a pioneering study of the important role that superstition played in combat flier morale among the Allies in World War II. Mining a wealth of documents as well as a trove of published and unpublished memoirs and diaries, MacKenzie examines the myriad forms combat fliers' superstitions assumed, from jinxes to premonitions. Most commonly, airmen carried amulets or talismans—lucky boots or a stuffed toy; a coin whose year numbers added up to thirteen; counterintuitively, a boomerang. Some performed rituals or avoided other acts, e.g., having a photo taken before a flight. Whatever seemed to work was worth sticking with, and a heightened risk often meant an upsurge in superstitious thought and behavior. MacKenzie delves into behavior analysis studies to help explain the psychology behind much of the behavior he documents—not slighting the large cohort of crew members and commanders who demurred. He also looks into the ways in which superstitious behavior was tolerated or even encouraged by those in command who saw it as a means of buttressing morale. The first in-depth exploration of just how varied and deeply felt superstitious beliefs were to tens of thousands of combat fliers, Flying against Fate expands our understanding of a major aspect of the psychology of war in the air and of World War II.
Download or read book Forgotten Fifteenth written by Barrett Tillman and published by Regnery Publishing. This book was released on 2014-06-02 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: November 1943—May 1945—The U.S. Army Air Forces waged an unprecedentedly dogged and violent campaign against Hitler’s vital oil production and industrial plants on the Third Reich’s southern flank. Flying from southern Italy, far from the limelight enjoyed by the Eighth Air Force in England, the Fifteenth Air Force engaged in high-risk missions spanning most of the European continent. The story of the Fifteenth Air Force deserves a prideful place in the annals of American gallantry. In his new book, The Forgotten Airmen: The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler’s Oil Supply, Tillman brings into focus a seldom-seen multinational cast of characters, including pilots from Axis nations Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria and many more remarkable individuals. They were the first generation of fliers—few of them professionals—to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against a major industrial nation. They suffered steady attrition and occasionally spectacular losses. In so doing, they contributed to the end of the most destructive war in history. The Forgotten Airmen is the first-ever detailed account of the Fifteenth Air Force in World War II and the brave men that history has abandoned. This book is a must-read for military history enthusiasts, veterans, current servicemen and their families. Includes glossy photo signature of historic pictures and documents
Download or read book The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe written by Jay A. Stout and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dramatic story of World War II in the air How the U.S. built an air force of 2.3 million men after starting with 45,000 and defeated the world's best air force Vivid accounts of aerial combat Winner, 2011 San Diego Book Awards for Military & Politics In order to defeat Germany in World War II, the Allies needed to destroy the Third Reich's industry and invade its territory, but before they could effectively do either, they had to defeat the Luftwaffe, whose state-of-the-art aircraft and experienced pilots protected German industry and would batter any attempted invasion. This difficult task fell largely to the U.S., which, at the outset, lacked the necessary men, materiel, and training. Over the ensuing years, thanks to visionary leadership and diligent effort, the U.S. Army Air Force developed strategies and tactics and assembled a well-trained force that convincingly defeated the Luftwaffe.
Download or read book Modern Warships Up Close written by Martin J. Dougherty and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last century, there have been some pretty amazing advances in naval technology. This visually arresting reference guide profiles several dozen warships. The naval vessels featured include submarines, amphibious landing craft, aircraft carriers, and destroyers. Both historically significant ships from the past and today’s newest high-tech vessels have their moments in the spotlight. The book features amazing images of the vessels profiled, which were created in 3D then rendered as elevations. This one is sure to delight anybody who has an interest in the military, history, technology, or the ocean.
Download or read book Air Apaches written by Jay A. Stout and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American 345th Bomb Group--the Air Apaches--was legendary in the war against Japan. The first fully trained and fully equipped group sent to the South Pacific, the 345th racked up a devastating score against the enemy. Armed to the teeth with machine guns and fragmentation bombs, and flying their B-25s at impossibly low altitudes--often below fifty feet--the pilots and air crews strafed and bombed enemy installations and shipping with a fury that helped cripple Japan. One of the sharpest tools in the U.S. arsenal, the 345th performed essential missions during Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines, earning an impressive four Distinguished Unit Citations. This was punishingly dangerous work, and the 345th lost 177 aircraft and 712 men--young men doing their duty in the spirit of the Greatest Generation. Neither was this the more gentlemanly war of Europe, with its more temperate climate, resistance networks aiding downed crews, and POW camps. Airmen shot down in the Pacific theater faced drowning in the ocean, disappearing in the jungle, or torturing and beheading by the Japanese in a war of no quarter expected, no quarter given. A compelling follow-up to Jay A. Stout’s Hell’s Angels, Air Apaches reconstructs the missions of the 345th Bomb Group in striking detail, with laser focus on the men who manned the cockpits, navigated the B-25s, dropped the bombs, serviced the planes, and helped win the war. To tell this remarkable story, Stout worked closely with the group’s surviving veterans and dug deep into firsthand accounts. The result is a compelling narrative of men at war that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Download or read book Black Tulip written by Erik Schmidt and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2020-02-29 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This myth-busting military biography reveals the true story of the legendary WWII German flying ace—and how his story was manipulated during the Cold War. Over the course of 1,404 wartime missions, Luftwaffe fighter pilot Erich Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills. His storied career contains all the dramas you would expect: frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War. Then, just as Hartmann’s career was faltering, he was adopted by a network of writers and commentators deeply invested in his reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. With each dogfight tale put into print, Hartmann’s legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. Black Tulip digs beneath this one-dimensional account of Hartmann’s life, revealing a man who was neither a full-blown Nazi nor an impeccable knight.
Download or read book Michigan History written by and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Early Eagles written by Frank R. Donovan and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early days of flying - or attempting to fly - from the Montgoldfiers and their balloon to "Wrong Way" Corrigan
Download or read book Lost Eagles written by Blaine Pardoe and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2010-11-02 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVThe first biography of the man who created the way we look for airmen downed in combat behind enemy lines/div
