Air Power: Heroes and Heroism in American Flight Missions, 1916 to Today Heroes and Heroism in American Flight Missions, 1916 to Today

by Gilbert, Bill

• ISBN13: 9780806524795
• ISBN10: 0806524790
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: Citadel

Summary

From World War I to the present day, an inspirational look at the heroic pilots of the U.S. Air Force offers fifteen detailed accounts of acts of valor, including Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo, the Berlin Airlift, Operation Desert Storm, and others.

Table of Contents

Salutes	vii
Introduction: Eleven Stories and Their Heroes	ix
PART 1. The Hunt for Pancho Villa	1	(16)
1. "Crazy Birdmen"	3	(14)
PART 2. The St. Mihiel Offensive of World War I	17	(14)
2. "Be an American Eagle!"	19	(12)
PART 3. The Question Mark	31	(10)
3. 150 Hours, 40 Minutes, 14 Seconds	33	(8)
PART 4. Doolittle's Raid Over Tokyo	41	(38)
4. When Americans Cheered Again	43	(10)
5. "Army Pilots, Man Your Planes!"	53	(13)
6. The Eighty Heroes	66	(13)
PART 5. Conquering the Himalayas	79	(22)
7. "Flying the Hump"	81	(9)
8. "While I Was Their Commander, by God . . . "	90	(11)
PART 6. Ploesti	101	(16)
9. Black Sunday and Big Week	103	(14)
PART 7. Hiroshima	117	(50)
10. "Extremely Powerful Bombs of a New Type"	119	(18)
11. What Truman Wrote in His Diary	137	(20)
12. The Aftermath, Then and Now	157	(10)
PART 8. The Berlin Airlift	167	(32)
13. When Millions Looked Skyward	169	(10)
14. "The Easter Parade"	179	(10)
15. "Blockade Free!"	189	(10)
PART 9. Korea	199	(18)
16. The Biggest Bombing Raid of the War	201	(16)
PART 10. Vietnam	217	(22)
17. "Maximum Destruction"	219	(11)
18. "Unprecedented Massive Bombing Raids"	230	(9)
PART 11. Desert Storm	239	(26)
19. The Longest Flight	241	(11)
20. "The Coalition Was at War"	252	(13)
Epilogue: History's Heroes	265	(2)
Bibliography	267	(4)
Index	271