In 1945 Second Lieutenant Jack Broughton graduated from West Point with the silver pilot wings of a newly commissioned member of the Army Air Corps. Nearly thirty years later, he retired as a full colonel in the United States Air Force, an entity that didn't even exist when he first learned to fly. Along the way Colonel Broughton saw duty in virtually every fighter aircraft the Air Corps and then Air Force had to offer.
He experienced the birth and coming of age of the U.S. Air Force and its bloodying in combat in Korea and Vietnam. In this, his third book, Broughton offers readers what is virtually a biography of the U. S. Air Force as it was experienced by one of its finest combat leaders.
From his initial duty in postwar Germany as part of the American occupation, to air-to-air combat in Korea, to his command of the Thunderbirds and two combat tours in Vietnam, Broughton describes what it is to meet the enemy in the air--and to fly some of the best-known aircraft in combat. By the bestselling author of Thud Ridge and Going Downtown.
Jack Broughton graduated from West Point in 1945 with his pilot's wings and army second lieutenant bars. He was assigned to Europe, and flew P-47s and P-51s until his return to the United States in 1948. Colonel Broughton retired from the air force in 1968 with forty-three separate awards and decorations, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and one Air Force Cross, which, along with the army's Distinguished Service Cross and the navy's Navy Cross, is second only to the Medal of Honor. His proudest accomplishment was being combat ready in every air force fighter from the P-47 to the F-106. He is the author of Thud Ridge and Going Downtown.Jack Broughton graduated from West Point in 1945 with his pilot's wings and army second lieutenant bars. He was assigned to Europe, and flew P-47s and P-51s until his return to the United States in 1948. Colonel Broughton retired from the air force in 1968 with forty-three separate awards and decorations, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and one Air Force Cross, which, along with the army's Distinguished Service Cross and the navy's Navy Cross, is second only to the Medal of Honor. His proudest accomplishment was being combat ready in every air force fighter from the P-47 to the F-106. He is the author of Thud Ridge and Going Downtown. Colonel Broughton lives in Mission Viejo, California.
