WWII is now a long time ago and many of the major actors are no longer with us. The desire to get some of the stories before the men died led the author in the seventies to interview five WWII pilots who were famous for their exploits
The pilots include Jimmy Doolittle who led the raid on Tokyo that showed the island was vulnerable, Ed Haydon who dueled famous German fighter pilots, Robin Olds a West Pointer who became celebrated in the European theater, Robert Johnson famous for his 27 kills, and my favorite, Curtis LeMay who was responsible for the air tactics pummeling of Germany.
This is a must read book if you’re interested in aviation during WWII. The history is told in other places but the interviews being immediacy to the historical actions. I particularly liked that the author followed the men’s careers beyond WWII. I enjoyed Curtis LeMay’s reactions to senior officials including President Johnson and Secretary of War, McNamara during the Vietnam War.
I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.
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