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cutiger83
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I'm now on "To the Last Man" by Jeff Shaara. Early in the book and so far it's great. Besides All Quiet On the Western Front, this is the only other WWI book I've really read so learning a lot from it.

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All Quiet On the Western Front,

 

That book is amazing... I just read it for the first time a couple months ago. Definitely should be recommended reading for anyone interested in military history.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Charlie Flick

Just finished "Lucky 13" by Hugh Godefroy. He was an RCAF ace in the ETO flying Hurricanes and Spitfires. This was one of the most enjoyable personal accounts of the air war I have encountered in quite a while. Funny, tragic, hair-raising were terms that came to my mind when reading this one. He served in 401 and 403 Squadrons of the RAF flying from the UK. He somehow managed to escape the grim reaper who took so many of his squadronmates and made it back to Canada where after the War he became a doctor. He died in South Carolina in 2002.

 

Highly recommended to those with an interest in the air war in the ETO or, more particularly, Canada's role in it.

 

Regards,

Charlie

 

lucky-thirteen.jpg

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Just finished reading 'Limits of Partnership' by Angela Stent, a book focused on US and Russian relationships from the collapse of the USSR through present day

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A bit of a shameless plug. I recently received my author's advance copy of "Desert Uniforms, Patches, and Insignia of the US Armed Forces". Even though I am one of the co-authors, Al Barnes and I finished the book over a year ago, so reading it again now that it's in print was like picking it up for the first time.

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The forward, kindly written by a legendary SF officer...

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And a couple of pages from the book...

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Shamless plug maybe, but I'm glad you posted this. I hadn't even heard of this book until just now.

Looks good!

 

Lee, Much appreciated. We have a number of collectors both here in the US and abroad that are chomping at the bit to get their copy of the book. However I'm sure there are still a lot of people who don't know about it yet. Kevin

 

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Currently reading "Orchids in the Mud, Personal Accounts by Veterans of the One Hundred Thirty-Second Infantry", edited Richard C. Muehrcke, about the 132d Infantry's time on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and in the Philippines.

 

Although it came out in 1985 it is very similar in style to an immediate postwar unit history. As it's described as comprising "personal accounts", I was led to believe it was more of an oral history, which it is not. The book is organized chronologically but in a somewhat disjointed manner as the editor relates things that people said and weaves anecdotes among the combat narrative - this is done without much thought to quotes, context, etc., with the result that the reader has difficulty understanding who said what. Due to all of this the book sometimes comes across as a dry read, as with most of these type of histories. It evidently was self-published so there are occasional grammatical and typographical errors. The book would have benefited from a better editor. There are some statistics and lists in the appendices.

 

Despite what I've said, the book gives a valuable glimpse of the 132d and its parent division, the Americal, in WWII.

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"If This Be Glory" by Hasso G. Stachow

It's listed as non-fiction but written like a novel. I haven't found info to support if this is fiction pretending to be an interview with a real vet or not. The author, I've found, was there, so maybe it's his experiences through a fictional person's eyes?

Very well-written book about a signalman assigned to the German army on the Russian front.

I couldn't grasp being in the situations in this book, but they clearly happened to plenty of Germans there, even if this is fiction.

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northcoastaero

Presently, I am trying to get through the 1983 era The Epic of Flight series by Time Life Books. Also, I am

reading the second edition of Sketches of a Black Cat Story of a night flying WWII pilot and artist by Ron Miner.

This book is about a PBY Black Cat Catalina pilot / Patrol Plane Commander experiences during the war and has

his PTO art sketches throughout the book.

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catalinajack

Presently, I am trying to get through the 1983 era The Epic of Flight series by Time Life Books. Also, I am

reading the second edition of Sketches of a Black Cat Story of a night flying WWII pilot and artist by Ron Miner.

This book is about a PBY Black Cat Catalina pilot / Patrol Plane Commander experiences during the war and has

his PTO art sketches throughout the book.

On Page 50 of "Sketches" you will find a picture captioned "VP-54 Gets Rude Welcoming". The sailor standing with his left arm on his hip is my father. He was assigned to PATSU 1-1 which was the service unit for VP-54. He was an ordinanceman (AO2c) and sometimes volunteered to fly as a waist gunner when an aircrewman was needed. He later moved on to New Georgia Island (Munda Point) and to Bougainville.

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"No Margin for Error" by: Ehud Yonay

 

The history of Israeli military forces is inseparable from American history, and this book is an attempt to describe the development of Israel's Air Force which, it must be said, in 1948 literally "started from nothing" - no airplanes, no pilots, no mechanics, no air traffic control, barely useable airfields... nothing, zip, nada, zilch. Without venturing into the politics of those times, it is noteworthy that 2 of the 4 first pilots to make an Israeli Air Force happen were Americans:

 

Lou Lenart, USMC

Milton Rubenfield, USAF

 

The first military aircraft of the Israeil Air Force, as it were, were antique Norseman.

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I recently finished "Hero of the Empire", a great biography of Churchill in the Boer War. Then "The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero" about Thomas Francis Meagher, a leader of the 1848 Irish Uprising who was sentenced to life the penal colony of Tasmania, escaped, and commanded the Irish Brigade in the US Civil War, later became acting Governor of Montana. Have just begun "Ernie Pyle in England", the author's first hand account of the Blitz in London. I recommend all three - great reads.

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northcoastaero

catalinajack,

 

Interesting to note. I provided some reference materials to the author on the five USN aircrewmen who were rescued by the PBY-5A Frisco Gal from the Philippines. The author's father had an interesting career and artistic gift.

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Currently reading "Liberty Lady - A True Story of Love and Espionage in WWII Sweden".

 

This book is written about the parents of an old high school friend. Her mother served in the OSS and her father was a B-17 bombardier. When her father's plane was forced to land in neutral Sweden, he ended up also working for the OSS which is how her parents met.

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"Serenade to the Big Bird" by Bert Stiles. Have read it several times since 1952. Now on my Amazon Kindle. Author was a B-17 co-pilot in the 91st BG, 8th Air Force. Completed 35 bomber missions. Stayed in England to fly fighters. Was KIA Nov 26th, 1944 in his P-51 after scoring a victory. He was 24. He was a terrific short story writer, Book is an aviation classic. A reminder of the humanity that war takes away at a way too early age.

 

Also reading "Masters of the Air". Tipped off to this huge volume here on the Forum. It is the basis for the upcoming HBO series by Spielberg/Hanks. It is a must for anyone interested in the 8th Air Force. It's like a Phd. thesis! Fantastic read!

 

Bobgee

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