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The hostile sky : a hellcat flier in World War II

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Item details
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	D811 .V363 2003	Off-site

Description

x, 208 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits; 21 cm

Summary

"In the summer of 1942 Jim Vernon, a nineteen-year-old student in Butte, Montana, joined the U.S. Navy's aviation cadet training program. By the end of the war he was flying F6F Hellcats from the USS Ticonderoga against the Japanese mainland. This memoir provides a carrier pilot's view of the conflict in the Pacific during the final months of the war when atomic bombs were dropped and Japan capitulated.".
"A member of VBF-87, Vernon gives a highly personal eyewitness account of life in a bomber-fighter squadron and the roller-coaster emotions involved in combat sorties over hostile sea and land. He describes his feeling about meeting the challenges of war and offers stirring memories of his love of flying and the camaraderie of his flying mates - both in the air and on liberty.
Added to this entertaining narrative are details of the mobilization and training of carrier pilots as well as a discussion of the high incidence of noncombat fatalities and the air group's response to the kamikaze threat, information that contributes important dimensions to the overall story of the air war.".
"Completely candid about his emotions regarding day and night landings and errors made in the cockpit, Vernon gives a vivid glimpse into the past at a time when teenagers matured rapidly as they faced the realities of war. His recollections will strike a cord of recognition with aviators everywhere and will inform and entertain those with an interest in World War II combat."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Note

ISBN

1557508658 (alk. paper)

LCCN

2002005546

OCLC

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries