Pacific skies : American flyers in World War II / Jerome Klinkowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Klinkowitz, Jerome.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- American.

Biographies.

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xxii, 285 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2004]

Summary:

At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck without warning and won an overwhelming victory. Their Zeros and torpedo bombers could outfly almost anything America put in the air. Despite what looked like long odds, American flyers responded to the challenge. From 1941 to 1945 the skies over the Pacific Ocean afforded the broadest arena for battle and the fiercest action of air combat during World War II. It was in these skies that air power launched from carriers became a new form of engagement and where the war ultimately ended with kamikaze attacks and with atomic bombs dropped over Japan. Throughout the conflict American flyers felt a call to supplement official news and military reports. In vivid accounts written soon after combat and in reflective memoirs recorded years after peace came, both pilots and crew members detailed their stories. Their first-person testimonies describe a style of warfare invented at the moment of need and at a time when the outcome was anything but certain.

Gathering more than a hundred personal narratives from American and Japanese flyers, Pacific Skies recounts a history of this tremendous struggle. Included are the words of such famous aces and bomber pilots as Joe Foss, Pappy Boyington, Dick Bong, and Curtis Lemay, as well as the words of many rank-and-file airmen. Together their stories express fierce individualism and resourcefulness and convey the vast panorama of war that included the skies over Pearl Harbor, Wake, and Guadalcanal and missions from Saipan and Tinian. As Pacific Skies recounts the perilous lives of pilots in their own words, Jerome Klinkowitz weaves the individual stories into a gripping historical narrative that exposes the shades of truth and fiction that can become blurred over time. A book about experiencing and remembering, Pacific Skies also is a story of unforgettable perspectives on the war.

Contents:

Introduction: A World Away from War 3

Going to War in Peacetime 33

An Air War at Sea and on Land 78

Tales of the South Pacific 122

Endgame: Kamikazes and the Bombing of Japan 167

Conclusion: Dimensions Moral and More 227.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-276) and index.

ISBN:

1578066522

OCLC:

53459076