Author: William E. Finley
Publisher: PublishAmerica
ISBN: 145607122X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 464
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Book Description
The day before the daredevil stunt pilot, Black Jack Hosmer, crashed fatally in front of an air show crowd, he launched his 12-year-old son, Lori, into his own risky aerobatics, declaring him "The world's youngest pilot!" Joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939, he became a military test pilot then led an 8th Air Force Bomb Group toward smashing Hitler's ambitions to conquer all of Europe. His ingenious, unorthodox attacks against the Germans forced the American authorities to either jail him or give him another medal. Lori Hosmer crossed paths and swords with military leaders but recruited President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to sanction his wild-eyed tactics. After volunteering to obtain Nazi secrets to protect Eisenhower's D-Day invasion, Lori's spectacular victory celebration led the British allies to doubt the sanity of American flyers.
Author: Frederick Libby
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 9781559705264
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
" From breaking wild horses in Colorado to fighting the Red Baron's squadrons in the skies over France, here in his own words is the true story of a forgotten American hero: the cowboy who became our first ace and the first pilot to fly the American colors over enemy lines.Growing up on a ranch in Sterling, Colorado, Frederick Libby mastered the cowboy arts of roping, punching cattle, and taming horses. Once he even roped an antelope. As a young man he exercised his skills in the mountains and on the ranges of Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Colorado prairie. When World War I broke out, he found himself in Calgary, Alberta, and joined the Canadian army. In France, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an "observer," the gunner in a two-person biplane. Libby shot down an enemy plane on his first day in battle over the Somme, which was also the first day he flew in a plane or fired a machine gun. He went on to become a pilot. He fought against the legendary German aces Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen. He became the first American to down five enemy planes and won the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry in action. When the United States entered the war, he became the first person to fly the American colors over German lines. Libby achieved the rank of captain before he transferred back to the United States at the behest of another aviation legend, then-colonel Billy Mitchell. Written in 1961 and never before published, Horses Don't Fly is a rare piece of Americana. Libby's memoir of his cowboy days in the last years of the Old West will remind readers of Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy-but it's the real thing. His description of World War I combines a rattling good account of the air war over France with captivating and sometimes poignant depictions of wartime London, the sorrow for friends lost in combat, and the courage and camaraderie of the Royal Flying Corps. Told in a modest, self-deprecating, and often humorous voice in a pure American vernacular, Horses Don't Fly is, as Winston Groom notes in his introduction, "not only an important piece of previously unpublished history [but] a gripping and uplifting story to read."
Author: Judy Yung
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295802057
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
Eddie Fung has the distinction of being the only Chinese American soldier to be captured by the Japanese during World War II. He was then put to work on the Burma-Siam railroad, made famous by the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. In this moving and unforgettable memoir, Eddie recalls how he, a second-generation Chinese American born and raised in San Francisco's Chinatown, reinvented himself as a Texas cowboy before going overseas with the U.S. Army. On the way to the Philippines, his battalion was captured by the Japanese in Java and sent to Burma to undertake the impossible task of building a railroad through 262 miles of tropical jungle. Working under brutal slave labor conditions, the men completed the railroad in fourteen months, at the cost of 12,500 POW and 70,000 Asian lives. Eddie lived to tell how his background helped him endure forty-two months of humiliation and cruelty and how his experiences as the sole Chinese American member of the most decorated Texan unit of any war shaped his later life.
Author: Robert Sidney Bowen
Publisher: VM eBooks
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 171
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Book Description
Junk Wings With one eye on the instrument board, and the other on the lookout for other planes in that area of cloud-filled sky over England, Dave Dawson hauled the Lockheed Lightning around to the left at a fast clip, and then deliberately pulled the nose straight up, and let the fighter plane take the bit in its teeth until it stalled. It did just that eventually, and at practically the same time the starboard Allison engine sputtered badly and started to throw black smoke.
Author: Jim Harmon
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786485086
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
From the 1920s to the 1950s, radio was the entertainment source for millions. Two of the primary themes of radio serials were mysteries and adventure. This is a detailed analysis of the important programs in these genres--Jack Armstrong, The Green Hornet, Sergeant Preston, Tom Mix, and more. Each entry includes type of series, broadcast days, air dates, sponsors, network, cast and production credits, and a comprehensive essay. When, as often happened, the series landed in other media, that is examined as well.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 120
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Book Description
Published for devotees of the cowboy and the West, American Cowboy covers all aspects of the Western lifestyle, delivering the best in entertainment, personalities, travel, rodeo action, human interest, art, poetry, fashion, food, horsemanship, history, and every other facet of Western culture. With stunning photography and you-are-there reportage, American Cowboy immerses readers in the cowboy life and the magic that is the great American West.
Author: Peter Stekel
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493025325
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 329
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Book Description
Drama. Tragedy. Irony. Unsolved mysteries. And throw in a little greed. Beneath Haunted Waters is not a ghost story; it’s not that kind of “haunted” at all. These are waters haunted by generations of people who cannot forget the story of how two B-24 Liberator bombers disappeared in 1943 and what happened to the boys on board. During the World War II years, the convention was to call young men in their late teens to their late 20s, “boys.” The boys who piloted bombers and fighter aircraft during World War II were 19 or 20 years old - barely out of their childhood. Imagine boarding a 737 today and seeing a teenager at the controls instead of a person with greying temples. That was the situation during the war. Beneath Haunted Waters is a story about that era, when children flew large airplanes equipped with enough firepower to destroy cities. And yet, boys they were, and boys they will always be. But it’s primarily a story of how they died, not in combat, but by accident. During World War II the USA lost 7100 combat aircraft and 5300 trainers, along with 15,530 pilots, crew members, and ground personnel in over 52,000 domestic accidents. These statistics don’t compare to the huge numbers of RAF, 8th Air Force, and Luftwaffe losses during the European air war but the numbers are still frightening: Between 1942-1945, US aviation losses to accidents (12,400) exceeded combat losses (4500) to the Japanese. For every plane shot down in the South Pacific there were three lost to accidents within the United States. While memoirs of those who served, histories of military and political leaders, and books about combat abound, very little has been written about the terrible toll of aviation training accidents during the war. Beneath Haunted Waters is unique because it tells this hardly known and little appreciated story. Most information on this subject is covered in official reports. It appears in a casual way in many memoirs. There are a few histories of the air war during World War II that mention aviation accidents during training or once the boys were in theater. There has been no popular, academic, or comprehensive book on the subject. I propose to cover this subject within the more personal story of what happened to the two Liberators that wound up in Huntington Lake and Hester Lake. Usually, pilots and crews of World War II aircraft were neither old enough to vote nor to drink. Many had never driven a car or taken a train ride much less been in an airplane. Nine months after enlistment they were flying the most technologically advanced, high performance, machines ever built. The same could be said for their navigation equipment and radio gear. But aviation had been around for only 40 years! Aircraft design was still in its infancy. Engines failed, pilots flew into mountains, navigators got lost, radios broke, and weather forecasts were frequently and fatally wrong.
Author: Fred Kaiser
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595274625
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
Many books have been written about World War II, but this one is a little different. It looks at the war from the standpoint of a young boy just out of high school. He soon learned that in wartime, your life is on the line and it is the luck of the draw that determines whether you live or die. He was lucky. He did his duty, flew all over the world and returned home unscathed. He calls it a GOOD war story because he didn’t have to kill anyone. The author was trained as a flight radio operator. His job was to ferry bombers from the factory where they were built to every part of the world where US troops served. For three years, he flew to and from the war zones, visiting six of the seven continents, Greenland, Iceland and many of the Pacific islands. The book relates his adventures during these travels. It is based on his official flight log and mission orders, as well as personal letters and other memorabilia.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 110
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Book Description
LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.
Author: Robert Sidney Bowen
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 136
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Book Description
Robert Sidney Bowen's 'Dave Dawson with the Eighth Air Force' provides readers with a thrilling and detailed account of Dave Dawson's adventures as a young American pilot during World War II. The book seamlessly blends historical accuracy with a fast-paced, action-packed narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Through vivid descriptions and gripping dialogue, Bowen captures the harrowing experiences of Dawson and his comrades as they face enemy forces in the skies over Europe. This book is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and war literature, as it offers a unique perspective on the bravery and sacrifices made by Allied pilots during the war. Robert Sidney Bowen, a prolific author known for his military-themed novels, brings a wealth of knowledge and research to 'Dave Dawson with the Eighth Air Force'. His own experiences as a naval aviator during World War II likely inspired him to write this compelling story of courage and camaraderie in the face of adversity. Bowen's attention to detail and nuanced character development make this book a standout in the genre. For readers looking for a gripping and immersive story set against the backdrop of World War II, 'Dave Dawson with the Eighth Air Force' by Robert Sidney Bowen comes highly recommended. Whether you're a history buff or simply enjoy a riveting tale of heroism and sacrifice, this book will not disappoint.
