SKU: 15039846971

The Education of a Fighter Pilot

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The Education of a Fighter PilotThe Education of a Fighter Pilot is a personal biography written by Austin L. Toss Olsen that covers nearly four years of his life, ages 17 to 20, during which he trained to be a fighter pilot in World War II and shot down five Japanese airplanes. Olsen was on a team of five fliers replacement pilots sent out to the Pacific. The five saw combat; two perished, one was shot down and became a prisoner of war, and Toss and a fellow pilot completed their

ÒThe Education of a Fighter PilotÓ is a personal biography written by Austin L. ÒTossÓ Olsen that covers nearly four years of his life, ages 17 to 20, during which he trained to be a fighter pilot in World War II Ð and shot down five Japanese airplanes.

Olsen was on a team of five fliers Ð replacement pilots sent out to the Pacific. The five saw combat; two perished, one was shot down and became a prisoner of war, and Toss and a fellow pilot completed their service as the war ended.

To write the book, he relied on 144 letters, postcards and telegrams that he had sent to his parents while he trained for some two years in six states and then finally served aboard the aircraft carrier Belleau Wood in 1945.
This book tells the details of his training, of his flights in combat, and of his friendships, some of which were shattered when his comrades died during the war.

The day he shot down four planes, he had been fired on earlier Ð by a fellow pilot. The bullet holes that were evidence of the friendly fire were just inches from his cockpit.

His first inclination was to use the correspondence to write a work of fiction; he was already the author of two novels: ÒCorcho Bliss,Ó published in 1972 by Simon & Schuster, and ÒApache Ambush,Ó published in 2000 by Kensington. But Olsen chose to use the letters and add his recollections to tell the real story of what he went through to become a pilot for the Navy, and how he was able to pay for his ÒeducationÓ by shooting down five airplanes, including a kamikaze that was headed low on the water against a U.S. destroyer with a complement of more than 200 sailors on board.

As he explained, the letters did not contain everything that happened: ÒRegulations prohibited revealing the details of where I was, or what I had done Ð and I myself was not always candid.Ó

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SKU: 15039846971

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4.7 ★★★★★
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Mike M
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 5
He explains how the Rosie the riveter myth is pretty much a fabrication and how America's approach to manufacturing ...
Format: Kindle
Trying to distill WWll down to a little over 400 pages is a Herculean task but Mr. Kennedy does a serviceable job. He provides thumbnail sketches of the major players' personalities and tics. He does an admirable job of jumping back and forth between the European and Pacific theaters of operation, always keeping in mind America's POV in explaining how FDR and his staff dealt with their fractious, troublesome allies. He explains how the Rosie the riveter myth is pretty much a fabrication and how America's approach to manufacturing was able to out produce the German mode of war production: America going for Quantity vs. the German fixation with Quality. Lots interesting information and facts. There are areas where I thought he could have used more depth such as the death of FDR (probably no more than two pages.if that); Mussolini and Hitler's last hours are given mere paragraphs; Churchill being voted out of office just months shy of victory in Europe is given maybe two paragraphs and while he mentions how Tibetts went to the airplane factory to pick the future Enola Gay off the assembly line he gives short shrift the immensely expensive and technically complex challenge of building the A-bomb. Nor does Mr. Kennedy mention that when HST hinted to Stalin that America had an powerful new weapon Stalin was all ready aware of the activities going on at Trinity and of the Manhattan Project. Mr. Kennedy doesn't offer any new information or insights but this is a good, one-book overview, of the war.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2014
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zorba
Draper, US
★★★★★ 4
Thorough But Easily Read Historical Account
Format: Paperback
I bought this book thinking it would be an account of civilian life in the U.S. during WWII. But I was surprised to see that it focused almost exclusively on the military campaigns and the decisions behind them. There was sporadic mention of life on the homefront, but mostly the book is a book about the war. Which is not a criticism. Kennedy deftly and thoroughly takes us through the war, outlines for us the challenges and opportunities and how the leaders of the affected nations developed their strategies. In addtion to the fine details of history, Kennedy writes in such a fashion that this book will probably appeal to the scholar and the layman with equal strength. As someone long in the tooth, I knew most of the history of WWII, but if you are younger and want a comprehensive, well-written history an epic period in world history, you could do a lot worse than read this compelling book.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2010
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stageboss
Boise, US
★★★★★ 5
Thought provoking
Format: Kindle
A insightful look at the American people and the world leaders of the second world war it's beginnings and after effects.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
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Kindle Customer
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent! Finally finished both Freedom from Fear Histories and, I feel that I should personally thank him. These were the tw
Format: Kindle
Excellent ! Thanks to David Kennedy for writing Freedom from Fear! The best 20th Century history ever. Now I must allocate the time to read again!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2016
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Phillip Battista
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
A wonderful telling of history.
Format: Kindle
A wonderful telling of history by an enjoyable author. It isn't light reading per se but if you want a read that will enhance your understanding of the American people this is a good book.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2013

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