Description
This is a hardcover, English-language book that was published in 2003. The book, which has nearly four hundred pages, deals with aspects of the Pacific Air War. Most of the pilots and men who are written about here were not well-known, beyond having endured the war’s terrible strain and having performed heroically. (They would never admit to the latter). The one exception was the young pilot of an Avenger Torpedo Bomber who crashed in the Pacific and was rescued by a submarine crew. The young George H. W. Bush went on later to become an United States President. The book contains numerous photos of many participants from both sides. Some are from back in the day, and others from well after WW II when, as old men, they met and became friends.
[Here is an interesting note about the author, James Bradley. Before writing this book, he wrote Flags of our Fathers, the story of the U.S. Marines and Navy Corpsman who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. The latter book became the basis of a movie directed by Clint Eastwood. At the same time, Eastwood also directed Letters From Iwo Jima, which recounted the battle from the Japanese perspective. I personally found it to be a very enlightening tale about the Japanese soldier. As a child of the 50’s and 60’s, I watched many American-made movies from the 1941-1945 period (and later), which presented the Japanese in a very unflattering manner. Although one can understand and sympathize with some wartime propaganda, it is important to remember the human cost of war on all sides]. The book is in mint condition with a dust jacket.
