Flyboys
brilliantly illuminates a hidden piece of World War II history as it tells the harrowing true story of nine American airmen shot down in the Pacific. One of them, George H. W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. What happened to the other eight remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth, and not even the families of the airmen were informed of what happened to their sons. Their fate remained a mystery--until now.
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What Hacker News says
- I highly recommend the book 'Flyboys' by James Bradley (also the author of Flags of our Fathers) for help putting this period of WWII into context. A good portion of the end of the book discusses the firebombing of Japan and the dropping of the two nuclear bombs, and how that was rationalized as acceptable in the minds of those who participated.
- I will check out a summary and if it looks good I will give it a read. My googling makes it look a bit revisionist but I will check it out. Since we are starting a book club try 'With the Old Breed' by Eugene Sledge and/or 'Flyboys' by James Bradley to see the hell on earth the Japanese military had exported all over the Pacific. I was actually somewhat mentally exhausted by the end of 'With the Old Breed' and was glad when it was over. The book described something horrifying and grueling with no end in sight so I can't imagine how it would feel to actually have lived it.
- Check out the book Flyboys, by James Brady. (http://www.amazon.com/Flyboys-Story-Courage-James-Bradley/dp...). It gives some interesting background on why Japan did what they did (their expansion) and it also documents the atrocities committed by both sides. It was a very eye-opening book, and when you are done reading it, you will know why war is hell.
