Jayhawk: Love, Loss, Liberation, and Terror Over the Pacific [Paperback]

The vivid story of Philippine-born George Cooper, who flew 74 missions over the Pacific.Born in the Philippines to an American father and a Filipina mother, George Cooper was one of the few surviving veteran pilots who saw action over such fearsome targets as Rabaul and Wewak. Not just another flag-waving story of air combat, Jayhawk describes the war as it really wasa conflict with far-reaching tentacles that gripped and tore at not only the combatants, but also their families, friends and the way they lived their lives.Stout examines the story of Coopers growing up in gentle and idyllic pre-war Manila and how he grew to be the man he was. Stout reviews Coopers journey to the United States and his unlikely entry into the United States Army Air Forces. Trained as a B-25 pilot, Cooper was assigned to the iconic 345th Bomb Group and flew strafing missions that shredded the enemy, but likewise put himself and his comrades in grave danger. A husband and father, Cooper was pulled two ways by the call of duty and his obligation to his wife and daughter. And always on his mind was the family he left behind in the Philippines who were in thrall to the Japanese.The vivid story of Philippine-born George Cooper, who flew 74 missions over the Pacific.This is the story of George L. Cooper, who flew 55 missions in B-25 strafers over the Pacific.It includes detailed accounts of air combat over the Pacific.Author Jay Stout, a former fighter pilot, brings to life the reality of life as a young pilot during the Pacific War, not only the air combat but also recruitment and training, the evolution of aircraft and tactics, and what it was really like conducting combat from jungle bases.Intertwined with George's story is that of his family, living in the Japanese-occupied Philippines. Coopers comments on the differences between the airplanes he flew in combat were particularly interesting. Author Jay Stout, himself an air combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm, hits his stride desl