The Wild Blue

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The Barnes Noble ReviewMaster WWII military historian Stephen Ambrose, bestselling author of such classic works as Band of Brothers and D Day , hits the front lines again with this exciting and compelling look at the courageous young men who flew the massive B 24 bombers over Germany during the last two years of World War II. The focus of the book is on George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate, who, ironically, was lambasted by the right for his anti Vietnam stance Here, he shines brightly as an American airborne hero, bravely piloting his huge and awkward bomber through massive German flak bombing McGovern also comes across as a fine commanding officer, deeply caring about the men under his authority McGovern, at the tender age of 22, wound up flying 35 missions and ultimately won the Distinguished Flying Cross.The B 24 was not an easy machine to fly It had a thin aluminum skin, which made it sufficiently airworthy but terribly susceptible to attack from ground based enemy gunfire It was a simple machine, though built with one purpose in mind dropping a maximum load of 8,800 pounds of bombs There were no windshield wipers, so a pilot like McGovern was often forced to stick his head out the window of the plane to see where he was going Above 10,000 feet, the only way to breathe was through an oxygen mask There was no heat, which made the bombing runs that much arduous And there were no bathrooms, meaning that the pilots and their crews had to use relief tubes Ambrose goes into much useful detail on the origins of the pilots themselves Interestingly, they were all volunteers the Army Air Corps the precursor to the modern Air Force did not want to make anyone take part in this difficult duty They came from all walks of life Some were college graduates, while others were still in high school Many went straight from the farm to the airfield. The pilots were treated quite well by the AAC, considering that they were part of the same armed forces that tended to dehumanize servicemen in order to get the maximum use out of them They got to wear winged insignia on their uniforms They got extra pay As volunteers, they knew what they were getting into, unlike the typical draftee Most of all, they wanted to serve and they wanted to fly.Once again, Stephen Ambrose has turned his spotlight on a special and unique facet of the U.S military and brought the heroism and courage of the American soldier back home to us In his own way, Ambrose himself has done a great service to the American peopleNicholas Sinisi Nicholas Sinisi is the BarnesNoble.com History editor. Best Download [ The Wild Blue ] By [ Stephen E. Ambrose ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Slow down with that zipping and zooming about, whipper snapper This is a far tamer tale Like the planes Stephen E Ambrose is describing herein, his prose plods along at a steady, satisfying pace These are not jet fighters, these are workhorses carrying out a task The Wild Blue The Men and Boys Who Flew the B 24s Over Germany 1944 45 is just as much the story of George McGovern as it is of the pilots and crews of those famous World War II bombers McGovern is most famously known as the Demo Slow down with that zipping and zooming about, whipper snapper This is a far tamer tale Like the planes Stephen E Ambrose is describing herein, his prose plods along at a steady, satisfying pace These are not jet fighters, these are workhorses carrying out a task The Wild Blue The Men and Boys Who Flew the B 24s Over Germany 1944 45 is just as much the story of George McGovern as it is of the pilots and crews of those famous World War II bombers McGovern is most famously known as the Democratic candidate who lost to Nixon in the 1972 election, the year the Democratic National Headquarters was raided by Republican operatives in the dead of night during a little incident you may have heard of called Watergate Prior to that, he piloted one of these finicky, taxing aerial beasts.Ambrose wisely uses McGovern s wartime experience as a template and as the narrative thread for his treatise on the B 24, infusing a dull, non fiction text with a h...Note that I wrote this review before the plagarism controversy See my review of Wings Over MorningAmbrose became a widely popular popularizer of World War II history and he has managed to churn out several in the past few years that focus on the common soldier experience Joseph Heller, author of Catch 22 and himself a bombardier on B 24s, told Ambrose, never had a bad officer Ambrose was startled to hear this from the creator of Major Major Major, Colonel Cathcart, and General Dreedle, but Note that I wrote this review before the plagarism controversy See my review of Wings Over MorningAmbrose became a widely popular popularizer of World War II history and he has managed to churn out several in the past few years that focus on the common soldier experience Joseph Heller, author of Catch 22 and himself a bombardier on B 24s, told Ambrose, never had a bad officer Ambrose was startled to hear this from the creator of Major Major Major, Colonel Cathcart, and General Dreedle, but Heller, when queried by Ambro...From the back cover I thought I would be getting the story of the 741 Squadron and, in particular, the crew of the Dakota Queen What you actually get is the story of George McGovern from early days through his training and onto the end of the Second World War Very little time is spent with any of the other crewmen or the wider 741 Squadron This is very much the war as experienced by McGovern and the reader joins the squadron when McGovern does in September 1944, at the tail end of the war If From the bac...This is an very well documented and well written book about being a bomber pilot during the Second World War The main character, George McGovern, is not painted well enough to overcome his embarrasing defeat running against Nixon, but Ambrose makes it clear that while McGovern may not have been the choice for president, he was a good pilot and soldier Also, the description of the B 24 s strengths and weaknesses I personally found interesting, as the plane is one of my favorites Overall, very This is an very well documented and well written book about being a bomber pilot during the Second World War The main character, George ...While the title and cover would lead one to believe The Wild Blue is about B 24s, it isa biography about George McGovern, U.S Senator and Presidential Candidate.It was incredibly interesting to learn details about the B 24s and the conditio...This book is good enough to overcome Stephen Ambrose s usual faults There s a little of the the breathlessness that often overwhelms his works, but he manages to keep his style out of the way of the material Or maybe I was just fine with it, as I have met a few of the men who flew the B 24 Liberators over Europe, and found them to be the soft spoken heroes that Ambrose portrays My father was a PTO vet, and one of his business partners was a huge fellow who had flown with the 8th Air Force o This book is good enough to overcome Stephen Ambrose s usual faults There s a little of t...I read this book many years ago and enjoyed This time I listened to the audiobook version.Stephen Ambrose always told a good story and this one is just as good as any of his fine books.The main character in the story is George McGovern who most ...Damn good book Always expect good things from Stephen Ambrose.Stephen Ambrose has written another amazing book about men flying B 24 planes during WWII, giving the reader an action filled bookThe Wild Bluefollows the men who gave their lives to protect their country by flying over enemy lines McGovern always keeps his crew members alive and does not let them down He always keeps everything in check He never is in a tight spot McGovern signed up to be a fighter pilot when he was 19 years old When he went into training he was traded over to be a bStephen Ambrose has written another amazing book about men flying B 24 planes during WWII, giving the reader an action filled bookThe Wild Bluefollows the men who gave their lives to protect their country by flying over enemy lines McGovern always keeps his crew members alive and does not let them down He always keeps everything in check He never is in a tight spot McGovern signed up to be a fighter pilot when he was 19 years old When he went into training he was traded over to be a b 24 pilot When he finished with school he went to the airbase and saw th...The author of the book was Stephen E Ambrose, a WWII military historian Ambrose did a exceptional job on this book and delivers an entertaining account and perspective on The Thousands of young, eager volunteers that lined up to be pilots during World War II, and The Wild Blue The Men and Boys Who Flew the B 24s Over Germany 1944 45 tells their story by focusing on one bomber, George McGovern One of the presidential candidates that ran against Nixon in the 1972 election McGovern, a South Da The author of the book was Stephen E Ambrose, a WWII military historian Ambrose did a exceptional job on this book and delivers an entertaining account and perspective on The Thousands of young, eager volunteers that lined up to be pilots during World War II, and The Wild Blue The Men and Boys Who Flew the B 24s Ove...

The Wild Blue
  • English
  • 27 December 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 299 pages
  • 0743203399
  • Stephen E. Ambrose
  • The Wild Blue