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Reaper leader : the life of Jimmy Flatley

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	V63.F53 E95 2002	Off-site

Description

xix, 384 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map; 24 cm

Summary

"Although Jimmy Flatley made a significant contribution to the U.S. victory over Japan, few outside the close-knit naval aviation community have heard his colorful story. "A naval hero in every sense of the word," according to former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James L. Holloway III, Flatley was a formidable fighter pilot in combat, an inspiring leader, and a gifted operational planner. This biography examines his combination of talents and shows why he was so vital to the war effort.".
"Known to his squadron mates at Guadalcanal as "Reaper Leader," Flatley - with Jimmie Thach and Butch O'Hare - was instrumental in communicating tactical advice throughout naval aviation and proving that, when used properly, the supposedly inferior F4F Wildcat fighter was actually superior to the Japanese Zero.
His biographer, Steve Ewing, also explains how Flatley's combat experience established the credibility necessary for a middle-grade officer to initiate sweeping changes in naval aviation, both at the front and with the entrenched naval establishment.".
"The author credits Flatley's persistence and credibility for impacting strategic as well as tactical decisions off the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. In postwar years these same qualities helped him effect important changes in naval aviation safety. Part of a planned trilogy on carrier fighter tacticians in the Pacific war, this biography follows the study of O'Hare and precedes Dr. Ewing's work on Admiral Thach."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Bibliography (note)

ISBN

1557502056 (alk. paper)

LCCN

2002004273

OCLC

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries