maddafinga;
Though you wont get the book form, you will get to see the corps come to life in the PTO the way Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan brought the ETO to life. Hanks, Speilberg, and Dreamworks are working on a PTO mini-series for HBO. I can only speculate on how awesome it will be. Last I heard it didn’t have a title yet, it was just called “Untitled World War II Pacific Theater Project”
Gary;
Fix Bayonets!! JWT
'nuff said!
Semper Fidelis.
For the fury, vice and folly of war there is Rumor of War by Phil Caputo, and the Tunnels of Cu Chi. I read one about a Canadian officer in WW II Italy. I think it is called, I Never Heard the Songbirds Sing.
To quote my best man, who was in the Air Force, “you can take the boy outta the Corps, but you can’t take the Corps outta the boy”.
Gary
non fiction flight stories - Ernest K. Gann - Fate Is The Hunter.
Gann’s other stuff is very good as well.
fictional sniper stories -
Stephen Hunter’s series featuring Bob ‘the nailer’
Point of Impact, Dirty White Boys, Black Light and Time to Hunt.
i found William Manchester’s American Caesar to be a very evenhanded look at MacArthur.
sorry, i have many more, but work is distracting me! :-o
garydmason
I have a much longer list. I prefer reading stories on the Vietnam War. Some truly remarkable people. (Both Sides) But I am biased and still prefer the American side. Lot of great air stories from that time.
OK SO I’m late getting into this . I will agree whol4eheartedly about Sephen Ambrose. He was probably the greatest real history write to come along for a long time.Citizen Soldiers and Band of Brothers stand out among the best. And The Wild Blue was very interesting especially the the business about the farm house that George McGovern’s crew bombed,( dont give it away folks, if they haven’t read the book leet them but it ) A few more that might interset You is Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills, one of the most decorated hellio pilots of the Vietnam era. And yes, any thing by Ernest K Gann is a very worthy read especially his biography, I believe it was titled Hostage to Fortune, Fred Amos
Oh christ I can’t wait for that. Hopefully they’ll do the 1st Marines and have my hero in it. The Marines had a D-Day every few months you know. I hope they do Pelilieu, that’s a battle people need to know more about. It’ll be awfully hard to watch though. Thanks for giving me a heads up on that, I really appreciate it! [:D][:D]
Gads I’m excited.
madda
Holy Cow, Guys!!!
Thanks for all of the GREAT suggestions! I didn’t realize that we had this many modelers as readers! It’s gonna take me quite some time to read everything that’s been suggested here. Keep it coming!!!
And I can hardly wait for the HBO special on the PTO myself. You know, I kinda hated history when I was in elementary & high school, but now I can’t get enough of it. Think that maybe modeling has something to do with that?
Here’s a few of my favorites:
Rolling Thunder - Jet combat from WW2 to the Gulf War
Flight of the Intruder
The Wrong Stuff…this is about naval test pilot John Moore
The Right stuff
Survivors - Vietnam P.O.W.'s tell their stories
Marine Sniper - 93 confirmed kills…also the follow up to this book (forgot the name right now) is excellant
Point Man…this cronicles the history of the Navy S.E.A.L.'s
Thunder Below… this is about a WW2 sub commander Eugene Fluckey
Richthofen - Beyond the legend of the Red Baron
Air Combat - Tatics and Maneuvering
Danger - Life and death stories of Naval Aviation…this is a selection of articles from the Navy’s NATOP’s magazine spanning about 30 years. Lot’s of great “there I was” stories.
Darren
i’ve read
feet wet: reflections of a carrier pilot
air warriors: the inside store of the making of a navy pilot
wings of fury
designed for the kill: the jet fighter - development & experience
jane’s how to fly and fight the f-14 tomcat
tomcat! the grumman f-14 story
warplane classics: grumman f-14 story
the naval aviation guide
the last 4 are mostly pictorial and reference books, I highly recommend feet wet to anyone who’s fascinated by naval aviation, although it is out of print, you’d probably only find it used.
Five years to Freedom
Into the Mouth of the Cat
Passing of the Night
Some of my favorites are: American Patriots, Abandon Ship, Shinano, Battleship Bismack, Escort to Berlin, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Band Of Brothers, A Hundred Miles Of Bad Road, The Man Who Flew The Memphis Belle, and Chesty. My most favorite book and it should be on everyone’s reading list if you love the American spirit is Into The Mouth Of The Cat. This is the story of Lance P. Sijan, USAF, Medal of Honor.
Shoot, I had forgotten all about this subject. Thanks for the update, guys. I have bought a few of the books mentioned, and, so far, they’re all great reads. Thanks!!!
Gary,
I somehow missed this “thread” before. It was a couple weeks after the 174th AHC Reunion. I probably hadn’t recovered yet! In 2002 we had CMO winner Mike Novosel as our Guest Speaker. He may hold the “unoffical” title to the Shortest Army Aviator because the first time he went to the Flight Surgeon he didn’t pass him because he was only 5’ 3’'. His buddies talked the Flight Surgeon into letting him try again and they put Mike on a makeshift “rack” and “streched” the poor guy. They then carried him prone back to the the Flight Surgeon and he “passed”! I was privileged to be seated next to Mike during our Banquet and got to chat with him during the evening. A very fine gentleman! This story came from our Assn Pres. and confirmed by Mike Novosel. It may be in his book, I don’t know. I’ve been meaning to get it.
Flyboys is incredible
Melgyver,
I’ve read that book, but danged if I can remember the title!! Just read it around May or June of 2003. For some reason, I don’t recognize the name that you mentioned. Unfortunately, a friend of mine has the book right now, so I can’t see what the name is in the book. They called him “Mini-Man” as his call-sign, though. I do remember that. This guy claimed he was the shortest Army Helo pilot ever. Everything you said above was in the book that I read, except for him recieving the Medal Of Honor. I think the highest award in the book I read was the Silver Star, but I don’t remember for sure. It was a damned good read, though. I think the book was called “Taking Fire!!”, but I just don’t remember for sure. For some reason, Rob or Rodney comes to mind as the guy’s first name. I’ll post again as soon as I get the book back.
nsclcctl,
I’ve read “Fly Boys”. A truly absorbing read. The only thing I found confusing was trying to figure out which side of the war the author was on. First, he’s a True American, then he sounds like he grew up in Japan. DIdn’t know what to think about that aspect of it. But, he did some great historical research for the book. Shades of Stephen Ambrose. Highly recommended.
Ahhh…Military Professional reading, so many subjects, so many books but all good reading. I would like to see Hollywood make a film from Tom Clancy’s “Red Storm Rising” it would be an awesome flick!
I would LOVE to see a mini-series made from W.E.B. Griffin’s “The Corps” series. I just read the 10th book of that series, and he still ain’t finished. I’m guessing maybe 13 - 14 books before he finally has to make all of the characters retire.
A book I’ve read about a half-dozen times over the years is “Day of Infamy”, by Walter Lord. A minute-by-minute story of Pearl Harbor as related by those who were there (both American and Japanese) Very well written and utterly fascinating.