Where Do We Get Such Men: The Story of One Such Man - Softcover

Reynolds, Steven Craig

Softcover

ISBN 10: 143899298X ISBN 13: 9781438992983

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2009

Synopsis

Gil Erb was one of the men who flew the Navy's first jet, the first carrier qualified jet, the first supersonic carrier qualified jet and the first Mach 2 carrier qualified jet. He participated in two combat tours in Korea and then became a test pilot. He flew 43 different Navy aircraft and suffered a dozen near death experiences. His humorous as well as tragic life episodes are all chronicled in this biography. Gil has, over the three year course of our interviews, enthusiastically opened up about his flying days. The thrilling training, combat and test piloting episodes are interspersed with the humorous after-hours tales that seem to come with the fighter jock turf. The chapters include anecdotes from some of the seven original astronauts such as Alan Shepherd, Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra; as well as Gil meeting Chuck Yeager and spending a day with Charles Lindbergh. Despite the name dropping, the author has tried to tell an honest "every man's" story of what it was like to become one of the first pilots to fly jets on and off aircraft carriers and just how brave these men really were. The author also believes he has included in Gil's biography a little of how this kind of life typically affects a family. Dr. Peter Bartis of the Library of Congress' Veteran's History Project said the biography was "a beautifully documented history of Commander Erb." Dr. Dave Winkler of the Naval Historical Foundation has accepted the manuscript for inclusion in the Naval History and Heritage Command Archives and is forwarding it to several other Navy museums/libraries. Paul Gillcrist, the author of "Feet Wet", "Vulture's Row", and several other naval aviation novels said about the manuscript, "Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Congratulations! You have written a wonderful story."

About this title

About the Author

The author quit High School halfway through his senior year, joined the Navy and quickly earned his GED. Ironically, his test scores in boot camp were the best in his company so the Company Commander made him Educational Petty Officer for the unit. He was also the Drill Team Commander. Four of the author's almost six years in the US Navy were spent aboard the USS Lawrence DDG 4 as a Missile Fire Control Technician. The remainder of his enlistment was spent in various technical schools. Five years, eight months and seven days after he enlisted, an Honorable Discharge was granted and the author soon began a career in naval engineering. He supported the US Navy for 40 years. He earned his AA and BS Degrees by going to college at night over a period of twelve years. This path to higher education is not recommended to any future generations. Mr. Reynolds has written a plethora of technical documentation. Other than a half dozen newspaper articles and numerous technical papers, "Where Do We Get Such Men" is his first published work. A collection of short stories will be published in late 2009 followed by his first fictional novel "Alone in the Water" in 2010. He lives with his wife, Carol, in Northern Virginia and Florida's Treasure Coast. The author's love of the written word made him decide to pursue writing when he retired in 2005. He is an avid reader. It should be noted that without his wife Carol's continued support he couldn't possibly spend his days at the keyboard.

About this edition

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 143899298X
• ISBN 13: 9781438992983
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 252