Unsung Eagles: True Stories of Americas Citizen Airmen in the Skies of World War II [Paperback]

Jay Stout has written one of the finest tributes to the fighting men of the greatest generation, concentrating not on the famous aces whose actions are well known, but on the ordinary man who rose to greatness when the situation demanded it. The authors deep research and innate writing ability merge to make this book a must for every aviation library. Walter Boyne, former director of the National Air & Space Museum of the Smithsonian InstitutionUnsung Eagles offers a rare cockpit perspective of World War II in the air. Jay Stouts anthology features an extraordinary variety of accounts from airmenmany now deceasedthat will become more valuable as the generation that fought the greatest air campaigns of all time continues to depart the pattern.Barrett Tillman, author of Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan, 19421945The nearly half-million American airmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. In Unsung Eagles, award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay Stout has saved an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men whoin the aggregateactually won it.These are everyman accounts that are important but fast disappearing. Ray Crandall describes how he was nearly knocked into the Pacific by a heavy cruisers main battery during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea. Jesse Barkera displaced dive-bomber pilottells of dodging naval bombardments in the stinking mud of Guadalcanal. Bob Popeney relates how his friend and fellow A-20 pilot was blown out of formation by German antiaircraft fire: I could see the inside of the airplaneand I could see Nordstrom's eyes. He looked confused&and then immediately he flipped up and went tumbling down.The combat careers of 22 different pilots from all the services are captured in this crisply written book which captivates the readl#¦