Semper Fi in the Sky: The Marine Air Battles of World War II

by Gerald Astor

Book Overview

Here, one of America's most popular military historians re-creates, using their own moving and powerful voices, the true stories of the U.S. Marine pilots who flew the Allies to victory in World War II. These riveting accounts recreate conflicts ranging from the Marines' gallant defense of Wake Island, where Captain Henry "Baron" Elrod destroyed two enemy planes before joining the fight on the ground, earning a posthumous Medal of Honor in the last-ditch...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891418776
• ISBN13: 9780891418771
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Group
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Concentrates on the big marine battle - Guadalcanal

Although this book has a few pages on earlier and later Marine aviation, the bulk of it is on the activities of the Marines during World War II. The WW II activities began at Pearl Harbour where several Marine Corp aircraft were destroyed. The action then moved to Wake Island, where Brewster Buffalo's and Grumman Wildcats went up to face Jpanese Zeros and were shot out of the sky. Later the Marines got Corsairs when the Navy refused to use the Corsair from carriers. The Marines thought they were just fine and used them to great distinction all over the Pacific. But if there was a single place where Marine aviation earned its spurs it was Guadalcanal where five of the eleven Medals of Honor were awarded. This book is mostly told from the standpoint of quotations from the people who actually flew them in combat.