Normandy to Nazi Surrender: Firsthand Account of a P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot

"Slayden piloted the Army's flying tank from the Battle of the Bulge into the heart of Germany, telling us what it was like to fly by the seat of his pants against the Nazis–engrossing and unforgettable." –James Jay Carafano, Washington, DC, author of After D-Day

The late Van Slayden trained on the PT-3 kite-like biplane in 1937, but he learned fighter pilot operations flying "by the seat of his pants," walking away from five crashes. Shortly after the invasion of Normandy, he landed on Utah Beach to help establish a US Army Air Forces' (AAF's) presence in Europe. He flew the P-47 Thunderbolt, a fighter-bomber, in combat over Northern France and commanded the 36th Fighter Group-the "Fightin' 36th-at Batogne, St. Vith, the Bridgehead at Remagen, Operations Grenade, Clarion, Varsity and other missions. His 22nd Fighter Squadron was the first in the AAF to land voluntarily on German soil.

He was deep into Germany when the Nazis surrendered on May 8, 1945, which was remarkably anticlimactic. Van Slayden, a country boy from rural Tennessee, like so many of his contemporaries, stepped up to the challenge as part of the Greatest Generation.

Colonel Phillip Van H. Slayden (1913 - 1996), US Air Force Retired, taught Military History at West Point, served as US Chief Advisor to rehabilitate the Republic of Korea Air Force after the war, and commanded the 4504th Missile Wing at Orlando AFB, Florida, among other assignments. From flying bi-wing aircraft in 1937 to standing up America's first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) School in 1959, Van Slayden advanced the most powerful Air Force in history.

Patrecia Slayden Hollis collaborated with her father on this book. She was Editor of the Army and Marine Corps journal, Field Artillery, for 20 years at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, interviewing for publication 80-plus combat veterans, including division and corps commanders returning from the Middle East. She received the Dallas Press Club's 2006 Katie Award and Statue for Best Interview with Marine Lieutenant General John F. Sattler, "The Second Battle of Fallujah-Urban Operations in a New Kind of War."