Forgotten Fields of America


Book Description

During a relatively short period of time, from 1939 to late 1943, the Army Air Corps grew from just 17 air bases to 345 main bases, 116 sub-bases and 322 auxiliary fields. Additionally, there were almost 500 bombing and gunnery ranges. This volume tells the story of 12 of those fields and shows them as they were during WWII and as they appear today: Freeman, Moton, Carlstrom, Buckingham, San Angelo, Hondo, Wendover, Walnut Ridge, Pyote, Pratt, Craig and Sioux.--Publisher description.




Honey, I Bought an Airplane


Book Description

No one else ever took a trip like this. Nearly 600 trips, actually. But who cares, I thought, when first approached to edit the manuscript for this book about flying into every little airport in Indiana, then moving on to those in surrounding states? Pilots? Perhaps. Even so Im a writer, not a pilot. And Bob Hechlinski is a pilot not a writer. Except Bob has an insatiable curiosity about people, places, events, you name it. To him, an airport is more than a name or a spot on a map. Hes a great listener. He has ears and eyes for detail nuggets that many people either overlook or dont connect with other nuggets like dots on a page, to create picture after picture after picture. And Bob has a gift for gab. Storytelling, if you will. So if you believe (as I do) that writing is talking when you cant be there, give this book a listen. Hear things you never knew about John Dillinger, Al Capone, a WWII pilot named OHare back-road encounters on Mackinac Island and not flying under the bridge out-maneuvering storm clouds the Oshkosh air show close-knit neighborhoods with hangar-garages airports in Ohio police in Gary, Indiana the link between Northwestern University and a historic Lake Michigan passenger-ferry tragedy how a teenagers Happy Birthday flight launched a career and more. Much more. Some people read books from page 1; the opening line hooks them. Others check the ending first. (If I like how it ends, Ill like getting there.) With Honey, feel free to start in the middle; pick a page any page. Chances are, you will quickly be drawn in and pulled onward from one mini-tale to the next. And at some point, youll say Geez, lets go back and read the rest! I did. Cmon along for the ride. Bob makes even the shortest hop a fun trip. Richard E. Schingoethe




The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology


Book Description

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American pilots in American military service, is a complex tapestry with many story threads, such as the training story, the 99th Fighter Squadron story, the 332d Fighter Group Red Tail story, and the 477th Bombardment Group story. One story did not end when another began. The stories unfolded simultaneously. For example, while some Tuskegee Airmen were learning to fly at Tuskegee, others were flying combat missions overseas, while still others were being arrested for resisting segregation at another base. This Tuskegee Airmen Chronology links the stories together, filling a crucial historiographical niche. All the important events in Tuskegee Airmen history are included, such as the graduation of each flying class at Tuskegee Army Air Field, the activation and movement of each Tuskegee Airmen flying unit, the movement to and from each base, the award of each of the 96 Tuskegee Airmen Distinguished Flying Crosses, the achievement of each of the 112 Tuskegee Airmen aerial victories over enemy aircraft, a brief summary of every one of the 312 missions the Tuskegee Airmen flew for the Fifteenth Air Force, all the important Tuskegee Airmen leaders, and when each assumed command of his flying unit, the transition to each new aircraft type, and each Tuskegee Airmen who was shot down, disappeared, was captured, or returned. Readers should find it a unique and valuable tool for understanding and appreciating the varieties of Tuskegee Airmen experience as they distinguished themselves in the air and on the ground and forged new frontiers for equal opportunity. Dr. Dan Haulman the leading authority on the Tuskegee Airmen, a sought-after presenter on the topic. The chronology format is unique and comprehensive; it significantly adds to the published literature about the Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology is being released at time of increased interest in Tuskegee Airmen history. The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology: A Detailed Timeline of the Red Tails and Other Black Pilots of World War II provides a unique year-by-year overview of the fascinating story of the Tuskegee Airmen, embracing important events in the formation of the first military training for black pilots in United States history, the phases of their training at various airfields in Tuskegee and elsewhere, their continued training at other bases around the United States, and their deployment overseas, first to North Africa and then to Sicily and Italy. The book is the fifth on the subject by Airmen expert Dr. Daniel Haulman. The Tuskegee Airmen are best known for flying P-47s and red-tailed P-51s to escort B-17 and B-24 bombers deep into enemy territory. Their exemplary performance proved conclusively that given the opportunity and resources black men could fly and fight in combat every bit as well as their white counterparts. They lost fewer bombers than the other fighter groups, and they shot down 112 enemy aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology also includes abundant information on the many Tuskegee Airmen who were not fighter pilots, including B-25 bomber crews who trained in the U.S., and the thousands of Tuskegee Airmen who served as ground support. They fought two enemies, Nazis in Europe and racism at home, and through their dedication and efforts earned a hard-won double victory.




Air Force Magazine


Book Description




The Forgotten 500


Book Description

The astonishing, never before told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II—when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia... During a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes—without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the cargo planes had to make it through enemy airspace and back—without getting shot down themselves. Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of this unforgettable story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery is now being told for the first time ever. The Forgotten 500 is the gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II. “Amazing [and] riveting.”—James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers




Shadow


Book Description

This is the poignant and exciting story of a statistical anomaly, a B-24 bomber crew that completed 50 combat missions in World War II. This crew was part of the famous 450th Bomb Group, which was nicknamed the "Cottontails" because of their white rudders. As part of the 15th Army Air Force, they flew strategic bombing missions out of Manduria, Italy (in the heel of the boot) and struck strategic targets which were out of the reach of the 8th Army Air Force bases in England. The group lost 1,505 airmen in only a year and a half--the equivalent of losing their effective flying strength three times over. The book's title comes from the crew's bomber, Shadow, which in turn was named for the pilot's black cocker spaniel that flew with them on training missions. Based on interviews with the surviving crewmembers and their families as well as extant archival source material, the book details the childhood, training and post-war life of each of its 13 principal characters. Chapter One is a discussion of each man's boyhood years and Chapter Two provides details of the training that each received. In Chapter Three, the original crew of ten (Crew #4-N-33) was formed in Clovis, New Mexico. An assignment for training in Clovis and in B-24s meant that the crew had been designated for heavy bombardment. Chapter Four includes a description of the four main objectives for the crew, one of which was to participate in POINTBLANK, the Combined Bomber Offensive, which called for the destruction of German fighter aircraft plants, ball bearing plants, oil refineries, rubber plants, munitions factories, sub pens and bases. Details of the structural components of most missions are provided in Chapter Five. The crew completes its first missions in Chapter Six. In Chapter Seven, "Shadow" completes its last after taking enemy fire, and Chapter Eight introduces a new plane, Sleepy Time Gal. The book's Epilogue contains information about the post-war lives of the crew.




Faces from the Past


Book Description

Traces the efforts of a scientific team to learn about the life and culture of a person whose skeletal remains are traced to prehistoric times, profiling the valuable technical achievements of artists who use special skills to reconstruct faces from archaeological remains. 10,000 first printing.




A Place Outside the Law


Book Description

Firsthand testimonies from Guantánamo Bay, inspiring future generations to never repeat the human rights violations of the detention center. Law scholar and Witness to Guantánamo founder Peter Jan Honigsberg uncovers a haunting portrait of life at the military prison and its toll, not only on the detainees and their loved ones but also on its military and civilian personnel and the journalists who reported on it. Honigsberg conducted 158 interviews across 20 countries so that the people who lived and worked there could tell their heartbreaking and inspirational stories. In each one, we face the reality that the healing process cannot begin until we start the conversation about what was done in the name of protecting our country. These are a few of them. Many alleged operatives in Guantánamo were purchased by the United States for ransom from Afghan and Pakistani soldiers. Brandon Neely, a prison guard who processed the first group of suspected operatives to arrive in Cuba, flew to London to embrace the detainees he guarded after leaving the military. Navy whistleblower Matt Diaz covertly released the names of 500 detainees by sending them in a greeting card to a lawyer in New York. Journalist Carol Rosenberg committed the past 17 years of her career to documenting life at Guantánamo. And Damien Corsetti, an interrogator who came to be known as the “King of Torture,” received ribbons and awards for the same cruel actions for which he was later prosecuted. In startling, aching prose, A Place Outside the Law shines a light on these unheard voices, and through them, encourages the global community to embrace humanity as our greatest tool to make the world a safer place.




Roswell


Book Description

Best known as the site of an alleged flying saucer crash in 1947 and the Roswell Incident, Roswell began as a humble trading post in the late 1860s along the Goodnight-Loving Cattle Trail and eventually grew into a metropolis of southeastern New Mexico. Once a cow town and home to famous Western figures such as John Chisum, Pat Garrett, and Capt. Joseph C. Lea, Roswell is also the birthplace of the New Mexico Military Institute, the testing grounds for Robert H. Goddards rockets in the 1930s, and the site of the Roswell Army Airfield and a German POW camp in the 1940s. Today Roswell is a popular tourist destination and home to more than 50,000 residents.




White Cargo


Book Description

White Cargo is the forgotten story of the thousands of Britons who lived and died in bondage in Britain's American colonies. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more than 300,000 white people were shipped to America as slaves. Urchins were swept up from London's streets to labor in the tobacco fields, where life expectancy was no more than two years. Brothels were raided to provide "breeders" for Virginia. Hopeful migrants were duped into signing as indentured servants, unaware they would become personal property who could be bought, sold, and even gambled away. Transported convicts were paraded for sale like livestock. Drawing on letters crying for help, diaries, and court and government archives, Don Jordan and Michael Walsh demonstrate that the brutalities usually associated with black slavery alone were perpetrated on whites throughout British rule. The trade ended with American independence, but the British still tried to sell convicts in their former colonies, which prompted one of the most audacious plots in Anglo-American history. This is a saga of exploration and cruelty spanning 170 years that has been submerged under the overwhelming memory of black slavery. White Cargo brings the brutal, uncomfortable story to the surface.




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