Scan barcode
A review by komet2020
One Fighter Pilot's War by John W. Walcott
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
ONE FIGHTER PILOT'S WAR is an account the author wrote in November 1999 for his family of his service during World War II as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Force (USAAF). Following Walcott's death in 2003, his son J. Andrew Walcott had it edited and published in 2015.
John W. Walcott had been in his senior year at the University of Michigan studying engineering when he enlisted in the USAAF in 1942. He was officially called up in February 1943, underwent flight training in PA and TX, won his wings in April 1944, and was assigned to the 31st Fighter Group in Italy during the late summer of 1944. The 31st flew P-51 Mustangs, which Walcott only learned to fly with said unit before taking part in his first combat mission over Hungary, where he was part of a strafing attack on a block of locomotives. He would fly 39 combat missions up to April 17, 1945.
The parts of the book describing the stages of Walcott's flight training were very revealing, as was Walcott's conveying to the reader the everyday life of an USAAF aviation cadet who earned his wings and became a fighter pilot with a front-line fighter group during the latter stages of World War II in Europe. The book also has photos interspersed throughout to give the reader a palpable tangibility of the experiences of a fighter pilot, who, though not an 'ace', faithfully served his country to the best of his ability, hazarding his life every time he took to the skies.
John W. Walcott had been in his senior year at the University of Michigan studying engineering when he enlisted in the USAAF in 1942. He was officially called up in February 1943, underwent flight training in PA and TX, won his wings in April 1944, and was assigned to the 31st Fighter Group in Italy during the late summer of 1944. The 31st flew P-51 Mustangs, which Walcott only learned to fly with said unit before taking part in his first combat mission over Hungary, where he was part of a strafing attack on a block of locomotives. He would fly 39 combat missions up to April 17, 1945.
The parts of the book describing the stages of Walcott's flight training were very revealing, as was Walcott's conveying to the reader the everyday life of an USAAF aviation cadet who earned his wings and became a fighter pilot with a front-line fighter group during the latter stages of World War II in Europe. The book also has photos interspersed throughout to give the reader a palpable tangibility of the experiences of a fighter pilot, who, though not an 'ace', faithfully served his country to the best of his ability, hazarding his life every time he took to the skies.