Product Description

FLY BOY is a Naval Aviator's memoir of almost four years in WWII. It focuses on the lighter side of wartime - learning to fly training and combat planes, including a carrier checkout on the WOLVERINE in Lake Michigan, action in his F4U gull=winged Corsair fighter/bomber squadron on the West Coast, in the Pacific and a little duty on the carrier INTREPID.

The story starts in Chicago at a brunch party on December 7, 1941 when a neighbor bursts in and says: "Turn on the radio. The Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor!" There are many unusual events as an Aviation Cadet, an Officer and a Gentleman earning the coveted wings, and ultimately a Lt. USNR. (fmr). Along the way, a few romances, and the difficult and exciting courtship of the gorgeous young woman who has been his wife for 62 years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1598287 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 84 pages

Customer Reviews

Great Personal Insight from one of "The Greatest Generation"
My dad was a WWII Navy vet, and due to genetic color blindness, was unable to realize his dream of becoming a pilot until a civilian, post-war. I love to read the stories and real-life drama of the humble men and women who saved our democracy and freedoms in what is becoming a forgotten era. The author is bracingly honest in his story of a young pilot during the war, and reveals the thoughts, acts and sometimes bawdy behavior of a typical young man during one of our nation's most challenging times. We "modern-day folk" tend to think we are the first to feel, act and think as we do, and picture our fathers(and mothers)somehow as restrained Victorians. The author shows us that feelings and actions of joy, fear, love and lust were just as predominant during the 1940's as they are today. Now I understand why my father was so hard on my dates as a young girl, and said with a glimmer in his eye- "I was a young man once, you know!" I only wish there were more of these first-hand stories, as the "Greatest Generation" is slipping away, and we will soon only have dusty 3rd hand accounts of what happened during WWII. This book makes it all alive and real!

Good Read for both men and women!
While this book is basically written for men, as it recalls the excitement of learning to fly for Navy in a
variety of planes and different locations in WWII, ending up in the F4U Corsair fighter on the carrier INTREPID,
the shore- based romances and the complicated courtship of his wife seem to turn on the women readers!