{"title":"Military Aviation History","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"flyboys-atruestoryofcourage","title":"Flyboys: A True Story of Courage","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. One of those nine was miraculously rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine. The others were captured by Japanese soldiers on Chichi Jima and held prisoner. Then they disappeared. When the war was over, the American government, along with the Japanese, covered up everything that had happened on Chichi Jima. The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed, the lives of the eight Flyboys were erased, and the parents, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts they left behind were left to wonder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFlyboys reveals for the first time ever the extraordinary story of those men. Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself. What he discovered was a mystery that dated back far before World War II-back 150 years, to America's westward expansion and Japan's first confrontation with the western world. Bradley brings into vivid focus these brave young men who went to war for their country, and through their lives he also tells the larger story of two nations in a hellish war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith no easy moralizing, Bradley presents history in all its savage complexity, including the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians. And, after almost sixty years of mystery, Bradley finally reveals the fate of the eight American Flyboys, all of whom would ultimately face a moment and a decision that few of us can even imagine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFlyboys is a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor. It is about how we die, and how we live-including the tale of the Flyboy who escaped capture, a young Navy pilot named George H. W. Bush who would one day become president of the United States. A masterpiece of historical narrative, Flyboys will change forever our understanding of the Pacific war and the very things we fight for., ISBN13: 9780316105842 ISBN10: 0316105848 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46107706261667,"sku":"A-STR_UBD_H000126R","price":14.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/814XBAiTcuL_b185bc6b-a492-404a-afa4-12e326144796.jpg?v=1754535785"},{"product_id":"b-17-fortress-at-war","title":"B-17 Fortress at War","description":"\u003cp\u003eCharles Scribner's Sons New York 1977 Book Club Edition, ISBN13: B001NGCZ8A ISBN10: B001NGCZ8A Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46108485222563,"sku":"TN_STR_UBD_H0000TVY","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/518q32LOmyL.jpg?v=1754551638"},{"product_id":"triumph-and-defeat-the-vicksburg-campaign-volume-1","title":"Triumph and Defeat: The Vicksburg Campaign: Volume 1","description":"\u003cp\u003eNow available in paper for the first time. Ten fascinating chapters on the complex and decisive campaign to capture the city of Vicksburg and sever the Confederacy in two.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor Terry Winschel, chief historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, weaves a professional lifetime of personal experience and scholarship into this remarkable study. His chapters cover every major aspect of what many consider to have been the decisive military achievement of the war--the capture of \"The Gibraltar of the Confederacy.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow good was General Grant's generalship? Was Confederate Lieutenant General John Pemberton really as inept as we have been led to believe? Which battle of the months-long campaign was decisive and sealed the fate of the city? How did the civilians deal with the lack of food and supplies? What role did cavalry play in this critical campaign? Winschel discusses these issues and many others with articles on General Grant's march through Louisiana, Grierson's Federal cavalry raid, the battles of Port Gibson and Champion Hill, the infantry assault on Vicksburg, siege operations, John Walker's Texas Division, the citizens of Vicksburg, and much more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR: Terrence Winschel is the Chief Historian of Vicksburg National Military Park and the author or editor of several books and dozens of articles on the Civil War. He lives withi his family in Vicksburg., ISBN13: 9781932714043 ISBN10: 1932714049 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46111585140899,"sku":"A-STR_UBD_H0000T9X","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/51FGKZY26YL.jpg?v=1754630862"},{"product_id":"luftwaffe-secret-projects-strategic-bombers-1935-1945","title":"Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Strategic Bombers 1935-1945","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis eagerly awaited companion volume to the enormously popular volume on fighters looks at the might-have-been strategic German bombers. Filled with transatlantic jets and projects that were on the drawing board or in prototype form at the war's end. Full color action illustrations in contemporary markings and performance data tables show vividly what might have been achieved had the war continued beyond 1945., ISBN13: 9781857800920 ISBN10: 1857800923 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46111632621731,"sku":"B7.19.1 F_PHR_07-04-25_H0000NFG","price":73.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/71AZGeGpIVL.jpg?v=1754632663"},{"product_id":"airborne-forces-at-war-from-parachute-test-platoon-to-the-21st-century-association-of-the-united-states-army","title":"Airborne Forces at War: From Parachute Test Platoon to the 21st Century (Association of the United States Army)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis handsome, large-format book takes the reader on an illustrated tour of the U.S. Army's hard-hitting airborne forces, from the original Parachute Test Platoon of 1940 to the multiple global commitment of the twenty-first century. Featuring more than 150 photographs, some rare or seldom seen and many in color, the work highlights the extraordinary history of the airborne units as they added new dimensions to national power and military operations, arriving from the sky by parachute and aircraft and compressing time by their swift deployment and flight to objectives thousands of miles distant. Airborne operations of World War II in the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Pacific begin an inspiring story that leads through Korea, Vietnam, and into the twenty-first century. The operations take a prominent place in the story, along with the paratroopers who received the nation s highest award for heroism, the Medal of Honor.\u003cbr\u003e\nThe esprit de corps of the airborne volunteers and their sacrifices in peace and war are consistent themes throughout the book. Whether operating as small groups of paratroopers scattered about the countryside or as powerful parachute infantry regiments, brigades, or divisions, the airborne spirit is always evident. Coauthors John Greenwood and Robert K. Wright, Jr. highlight key leaders and crucial battles spanning more than six decades to help tell this exciting story. Through skillful integration of photographs and text, they show how lessons learned in combat led to improved doctrine and the development of equipment that enhanced the mobility and striking power of these versatile units. This book is published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army., ISBN13: 9781591140283 ISBN10: 1591140285 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46111741051043,"sku":"A.8.6 F_04-03-25_ART_H00003BZ","price":22.34,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/51IP2AU0E0L.jpg?v=1754638366"},{"product_id":"to-command-the-sky-smithsonian-history-of-aviation-and-spaceflight-series","title":"TO COMMAND THE SKY (SMITHSONIAN HISTORY OF AVIATION AND SPACEFLIGHT SERIES)","description":"\u003cp\u003eExamines the people, technology, command decisions, and events in the struggle for control of the skies in World War II, ISBN13: 9781560980698 ISBN10: 1560980699 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46111878643875,"sku":"TN_STR_UBD_H0000WOJ","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/71nT9M_MXJL.jpg?v=1754642631"},{"product_id":"a-duck-looking-for-hunters","title":"A Duck Looking for Hunters","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Duck Looking for Hunters is Capt Dale Amends first person true experience story as a Bird Dog FAC in Vietnam in 1965-66. The Forward Air Controller (FAC) flew alone in an unarmed airplane about as heavy as a Toyota Corolla and traveled about as fast, 75 knots. The FAC directed all air strikes in South Vietnam. He frequently operated just over the treetops. The losses of airplanes and pilots were large. Bird Dog FACs had a high profile job, full of drama and danger. The central theme of the book is the FAC business of controlling air strikes, but the scope of the book is broad. It includes Green Berets, bets over catching rats, Christian missionaries --- the Real Warriors, black market and prostitution, the ineptness of the Vietnamese military, the Worst Officer, the Best FAC, Christmas and Easter music recorded and sent back home, heroes and traitors, culture of the native Montagnards, happy homecoming and much more., ISBN13: 9781439235614 ISBN10: 1439235619 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46112189874339,"sku":"A.7.2 CH_03-28-25_ART_H0000311","price":63.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/417Z-0z6uWL.jpg?v=1754646593"},{"product_id":"the-dream-machine-the-untold-history-of-the-notorious-v-22-osprey","title":"The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey","description":"\u003cp\u003eWHEN THE MARINES decided to buy a helicopter-airplane hybrid “tiltrotor” called the V-22 Osprey, they saw it as their dream machine. The tiltrotor was the aviation equivalent of finding the Northwest Passage: an aircraft able to take off, land, and hover with the agility of a helicopter yet fly as fast and as far as an airplane. Many predicted it would reshape civilian aviation. The Marines saw it as key to their very survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy 2000, the Osprey was nine years late and billions over budget, bedeviled by technological hurdles, business rivalries, and an epic political battle over whether to build it at all. Opponents called it one of the worst boondoggles in Pentagon history. The Marines were eager to put it into service anyway. Then two crashes killed twenty- three Marines. They still refused to abandon the Osprey, even after the Corps’ own proud reputation was tarnished by a national scandal over accusations that a commander had ordered subordinates to lie about the aircraft’s problems.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBased on in-depth research and hundreds of interviews, The Dream Machine recounts the Marines’ quarter-century struggle to get the Osprey into combat. Whittle takes the reader from the halls of the Pentagon and Congress to the war zone of Iraq, from the engineer’s drafting table to the cockpits of the civilian and Marine pilots who risked their lives flying the Osprey—and sometimes lost them. He reveals the methods, motives, and obsessions of those who designed, sold, bought, flew, and fought for the tiltrotor. These stories, including never before published eyewitness accounts of the crashes that made the Osprey notorious, not only chronicle an extraordinary chapter in Marine Corps history, but also provide a fascinating look at a machine that could still revolutionize air travel., ISBN13: 9781416562955 ISBN10: 1416562958 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46112219758755,"sku":"U1.6.3-KCILLI_05-27-25_H0000H3E","price":47.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/61wnEGBEexL.jpg?v=1754647894"},{"product_id":"robert-taylor-air-combat-paintings-vi","title":"Robert Taylor - Air Combat Paintings: VI","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe name Robert Taylor is synonymous with aviation art. Widely regarded as the world's foremost painter of aviation subjects, Robert Taylor has attained a level of popularity rare among living artists. No fewer than eight full color books of his paintings have been published during the past 25 years. This book is the sixth in his Air Combat Paintings series and has been eagerly sought by his armada of followers across the globe. Containing more than 30 of his recent works, this volume delights his admirers new and old while evoking memories of a period in history when the airplane played a significant role in shaping the free world. Robert Taylor provides his own absorbing text, guiding readers through the fascinating stages of research, preparation and development of his paintings, providing an intriguing insight into the life of one of the world's most successful representational artists., ISBN13: 9780954997021 ISBN10: 0954997026 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46112390086819,"sku":"A.21.5 F_04-19-25_ART_H00005LQ","price":117.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/71US2HnK9ML.jpg?v=1754653104"},{"product_id":"battle-over-bavaria-the-b-26-marauder-versus-the-german-jets-april-1945","title":"Battle over Bavaria: The B-26 Marauder Versus the German Jets, April 1945","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlmost a private battle, the Marauders of the 17th, 323rd and 344th Bombardment Groups took on the unique Me 262 jet fighter unit JV 44, one of the Luftwaffe's most controversial and mysterious units. A series of fierce and bitter battles over Germany pitted some of the Reich's best pilots and most revolutionary planes against the crews of the much-maligned Martin B-26., ISBN13: 9780952686743 ISBN10: 0952686740 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46112390414499,"sku":"A.10.2 F_04-04-25_ART_H00003LS","price":58.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/51GFGNPHKSL.jpg?v=1754653119"},{"product_id":"a-lonely-kind-of-war-forward-air-controller-vietnam","title":"A Lonely Kind of War: Forward Air Controller, Vietnam","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Harrison gives us a well-written account of a little-known facet of the air war over Vietnam.\"-- Rocky Mountain News, ISBN13: 9780891416388 ISBN10: 0891416382 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46114924986531,"sku":"A.7.3 CH_03-28-25_ART_H000031I","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/51NGC1FX9DL.jpg?v=1754733968"},{"product_id":"aircraft-carriers-of-the-us-navy","title":"Aircraft Carriers of the U.S. Navy","description":"\u003cp\u003eText: English (translation)\u003cbr\u003e\nOriginal Language: German, ISBN13: 9780831701093 ISBN10: 0831701099 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46115034464419,"sku":"U1.02.03-KCILLI_H0000CL5","price":67.03,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/91Qs_684t8L.jpg?v=1754739033"},{"product_id":"air-force-officers-guide","title":"Air Force Officer's Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eU.S. Air Force organizations and types of assignments Duties and responsibilities Privileges, benefits, and restrictions Customs and courtesies Career development and promotion Pay and allowances Command and leadership Uniforms and insignia Complete data on Air Force installations worldwide Extensive references to regulations and other information\u003cbr\u003e\nUpdated to reflect changes in the military in general and the Air Force in particular, this new edition of Air Force Officer's Guide contains professional materials needed for a successful career as an Air Force officer, from cadet to general, both active duty and reserves., ISBN13: 9780811734523 ISBN10: 0811734528 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46115096133795,"sku":"A-STR_UBD_H0000QLT","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/51JMcZiaxRL.jpg?v=1754741053"},{"product_id":"the-raf-at-war-the-epic-of-flight","title":"The RAF at War (The Epic of Flight)","description":"\u003cp\u003eBook by Barker. Ralph., ISBN13: 9780809432936 ISBN10: 0809432935 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46115105407139,"sku":"S_H0000E5Q","price":21.53,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/81BRrkO_agL.jpg?v=1754741596"},{"product_id":"among-the-dead-cities-the-history-and-moral-legacy-of-the-wwii-bombing-of-civilians-in-germany-and-japan","title":"Among the Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Nuremberg was scouted in 1945 as a possible site for the Nazi war crime trials, an American damage survey of Germany described it as being \"among the dead cities\" of that country, for it was 90% destroyed, its population decimated, its facilities lost. As a place to put Nazis on trial, it symbolized the devastation Nazism brought upon Germany, while providing evidence of the destruction the Allies wrought on the country in the course of the war.\u003cbr\u003e\nIn Among the Dead Cities, the acclaimed philosopher A. C. Grayling asks the provocative question, how would the Allies have fared if judged by the standards of the Nuremberg Trials? Arguing persuasively that the victor nations have never had to consider the morality of their policies during World War II, he offers a powerful, moral re-examination of the Allied bombing campaigns against civilians in Germany and Japan, in the light of principles enshrined in the post-war conventions on human rights and the laws of war.\u003cbr\u003e\nIntended to weaken those countries' ability and will to make war, the bombings nonetheless destroyed centuries of culture and killed some 800,000 non-combatants, injuring and traumatizing hundreds of thousands more in Hamburg, Dresden, and scores of other German cities, in Tokyo, and finally in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. \"Was this bombing offensive justified by the necessities of war,\" Grayling writes, \"or was it a crime against humanity? These questions mark one of the great remaining controversies of the Second World War.\" Their resolution is especially relevant in this time of terrorist threat, as governments debate how far to go in the name of security.\u003cbr\u003e\nGrayling begins by narrating the Royal Air Force's and U. S. Army Air Force's dramatic and dangerous missions over Germany and Japan between 1942 and 1945. Through the eyes of survivors, he describes the terrifying experience on the ground as bombs created inferno and devastation among often-unprepared men, women, and children. He examines the mindset and thought-process of those who planned the campaigns in the heat and pressure of war, and faced with a ruthless enemy. Grayling chronicles the voices that, though in the minority, loudly opposed attacks on civilians, exploring in detail whether the bombings ever achieved their goal of denting the will to wage war. Based on the facts and evidence, he makes a meticulous case for, and one against, civilian bombing, and only then offers his own judgment. Acknowledging that they in no way equated to the death and destruction for which Nazi and Japanese aggression was responsible, he nonetheless concludes that the bombing campaigns were morally indefensible, and more, that accepting responsibility, even six decades later, is both a historical necessity and a moral imperative.\u003cbr\u003e\nRarely is the victor's history re-examined, and A. C. Grayling does so with deep respect and with a sense of urgency \"to get a proper understanding for how peoples and states can and should behave in times of conflict.\" Addressing one of today's key moral issues, Among the Dead Cities is both a dramatic retelling of the World War II saga, and vitally important reading for our time., ISBN13: 9780802714718 ISBN10: 0802714714 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46115155837091,"sku":"TN_STR_H0000ALZ","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/71bk1uVehyL.jpg?v=1754743447"},{"product_id":"the-worlds-greatest-aircraft","title":"The World's Greatest Aircraft","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhich are the finest aircraft ever to have flown? The finest military aircraft, the finest airliners, the finest planes of today, and yesterday? This book answers these questions comprehensively, and with photographs and illustrations which help convey just what is so special about each aircraft.\u003cbr\u003e\nOver 250 of the world's most important, influential aircraft, from the first powered aircraft, the Wright Brother's 'Flyer' to Northrop's highly advanced B-2 stealth bomber. Commercial aircraft such as the Douglas DC-3 Dakota and the new A380 double decker Airbus, are detailed as are many of the classic fighters and bombers from World War II, such as the Supermarine Spitfire, North American P-51 Mustang and Boeing B-17 Fortress.\u003cbr\u003e\nAll the essential detail is here. Fascinating histories of the design, development, manufacture, and service life of each aircraft are accompanied by a technical specification highlighting on its most important variants. Each is illustrated by a large and detailed color side view artwork, a three-view general arrangement line drawing, and supported with additional photographs., ISBN13: 9780785820109 ISBN10: 0785820108 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46124368724131,"sku":"A.9.1 F_04-03-25_ART_H00003GK","price":19.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/91_sfCxXQ3L.jpg?v=1754806223"},{"product_id":"lightning-strike-the-secret-mission-to-kill-admiral-yamamoto-and-avenge-pearl-harbor","title":"Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto and Avenge Pearl Harbor","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the story of the fighter mission that changed World War II. It is the true story of the man behind Pearl Harbor--Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto--and the courageous young American fliers who flew the million-to-one suicide mission that shot him down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYamamoto was a cigar-smoking, poker-playing, English-speaking, Harvard-educated expert on America, and that intimate knowledge served him well as architect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next sixteen months, this military genius, beloved by the Japanese people, lived up to his prediction that he would run wild in the Pacific Ocean. He was unable, however, to deal the fatal blow needed to knock America out of the war, and the shaken United States began its march to victory on the bloody island of Guadalcanal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDonald A. Davis meticulously tracks Yamamoto's eventual rendezvous with death. After American code-breakers learned that the admiral would be vulnerable for a few hours, a desperate attempt was launched to bring him down. What was essentially a suicide mission fell to a handful of colorful and expendable U.S. Army pilots from Guadalcanal's battered \"Cactus Air Force\":\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e- Mississippian John Mitchell, after flunking the West Point entrance exam, entered the army as a buck private. Though not a \"natural\" as an aviator, he eventually became the highest-scoring army ace on Guadalcanal and the leader of the Yamamoto attack.\u003cbr\u003e\n- Rex Barber grew up in the Oregon countryside and was the oldest surviving son in a tightly knit churchgoing family. A few weeks shy of his college graduation in 1940, the quiet Barber enlisted in the U.S. Army.\u003cbr\u003e\n- \"I'm going to be President of the United States,\" Tom Lanphier once told a friend. Lanphier was the son of a legendary fighter squadron commander and a dazzling storyteller. He viewed his chance at hero status as the start of a promising political career.\u003cbr\u003e\n- December 7, 1941, found Besby Holmes on a Pearl Harbor airstrip, firing his .45 handgun at Japanese fighters. He couldn't get airborne in time to make a serious difference, but his chance would come.\u003cbr\u003e\n- Tall and darkly handsome, Ray Hine used the call sign \"Heathcliffe\" because he resembled the brooding hero of Wuthering Heights. He was transferred to Guadalcanal just in time to participate in the Yamamoto mission---a mission from which he would never return.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDavis paints unforgettable personal portraits of men in combat and unravels a military mystery that has been covered up at the highest levels of government since the end of the war., ISBN13: 9780312309077 ISBN10: 0312309074 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46124675530915,"sku":"NC-STR_UBD_H0000R3E","price":10.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/81m2qt8RvNL.jpg?v=1754818652"},{"product_id":"the-few-the-american-knights-of-the-air-who-risked-everything-to-fight-in-the-battle-of-britain-2","title":"The Few: The American \"\"Knights of the Air\"\" Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy the summer of 1940 World War II had been under way for nearly a year. Hitler was triumphant and planning an invasion of England. But the United States was still a neutral country and, as Winston Churchill later observed, \"the British people held the fort alone.\" A few Americans, however, did not remain neutral. They joined Britain's Royal Air Force to fight Hitler's air aces and help save Britain in its darkest hour. The Few is the never-before-told story of these thrill-seeking Americans who defied their country's neutrality laws to fly side-by-side with England's finest pilots. They flew the lethal and elegant Spitfire, and became \"knights of the air.\" With minimal training and plenty of guts they dueled the skilled pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe in the blue skies over England. They shot down several of Germany's fearsome aces, and were feted as national heroes in Britain. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation. At war's end, just one of the \"Few\" would be alive. The others died flying, wearing the RAF's dark blue uniform-each with a shoulder patch depicting an American eagle. As Winston Churchill said, \"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.\", ISBN13: 9780306813030 ISBN10: 0306813033 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46126548844707,"sku":"TN_04-02-25_STR_H00005MM","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/A1cbxpcP2EL_19daff5c-a161-4178-8962-cde5a2bf104f.jpg?v=1754893263"}],"url":"https:\/\/usedbookdepot.com\/collections\/military-aviation-history.oembed","provider":"Used Book Depot","version":"1.0","type":"link"}