Jonathan Livingston Seagull

First, I must say I was shocked to read that the author of this book, Richard Bach who is 76, actually crashed his small plane right after I finished reading this book. His condition has been upgraded to serious, but that is about all I can find out at the moment online.
I remember as a kid in the 70's seeing this book on our own bookshelf and in almost every home I ever visited. It was an extremely popular book to be sure. It was originally published in 1970. I knew it had something to do with flying and that it was ubiquitous, but I never gave it another thought until I earned my pilot's license and began my quest to read as many good books on flying as I possibly can...perhaps to make up for my ability to pay for more real flying time. I figure I might as well learn as much as I can from the experts that have written about flying and Bach certainly has the expert credentials: He has pursued flying as a hobby since he was 17, was trained as a fighter pilot and served in the USAF and Air National Guard in various capacities according to Wikepedia and other sources.
This book is very short and is about a Seagull named Jonathan who wants to perfect his flying, but in the process of improving himself he earns the scorn of his fellow birds, but in the end he earns the respect of many gulls and well a bunch of stuff happens...The book is almost a cliche of the 70's and at the time I am sure it was groundbreaking and that my parent's generation really soaked it in, but I must say, the book didn't really speak to me...but I am glad that I now know about it and I certainly know that it does speak to many readers and pilots...many of whom have this book on their top 10 flying books. For me it was just too philosophical, but book review aside as it really isn't important...for right now my thoughts are with Bach and his family and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Fate is the Hunter

Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann. (published in 1961) Not sure what to make of this book exactly. On one hand I was mesmerized by Gann's story telling skills, but on the other I was annoyed by a few things...such as not sharing with us who he really was as a person. I had no idea whether he was married or had kids (I read on Wikepedia that he did)...but this is a flying story right, not a personal memoir? But, in his dozens of self declared close calls with fate, you would think that he would have once mention this motivation for wanting to survive the on board fires, sabatoged engines, aileron "unportings", near misses and once almost crashing into the Taj Mahal. However, surviving for his family was never mentioned or even hinted at. The somewhat sloppy "thesis" of this book is that fate is the ultimate hunter and that we exercise little control over whether or not we live or die and that we only have a certain amount of luck. Gann assumed he had spent all of his quotient of luck and quit his career (for the final time) while working for his 3rd or 4th airline. Another thing that annoyed me was his repeated contempt for the "numbers" or the seniority system for airline pilots. He was totally offended that he became merely a co-pilot after he was hired at his final airline and he clearly felt disrepected by this "demotion".  Ironically, if he had stuck with American Airlines he would have controlled his own fate and his "high" number (267) of which he constantly complained would have relatively low later in his career and he would have had all of the choice picks of routes and schedules as a full captain. But, I guess his fate was to become an author and that is what he did and I guess he actually wrote several successful books, not just "Fate is the Hunter."  My final complaint is that he threads the book with the names of pilots and co-pilots that lost their lives flying for their respective airlines...so every few pages you get a quick report of fresh death...quite gloomy. I thought this was a bit overly dramatic, maybe because I specialize bombers in Europe during WWII. There were single days in Europe during the war where we probably lost as many airplanes in one day as the airlines did over the course of several years.
OK, now that I have totally aired my grievances with the book, I feel free to say that overall it was an enjoyable and at times a really exciting read. I think the biggest contribution of this book is in its influence in "hangar flying". I am not sure if pilots talk the way they do because of this book, which is widely read in aviation circles, or that maybe Gann captured the way pilots talked in the old days and the popularity of his book keeps all of us pilots talking a certain way, using certain words and telling certain stories as if they were our own (although we may vary them a bit).
My favorite parts of the book are when he was first hired by the airlines as a young man. At the beginning of the book he was much more modest and openly spoke of some of his terrible landings, especially in the DC-2. After his first landing, which was especially smooth, his instructor was not at all impressed and merely stated that "a whore is easy to meet". His descriptions of the next two "landings" are really vivid and hilarious. I also especially enjoyed his hard-ass captain that mentored him, Captain Ross. Ross would light matches under his nose while Gann was attempting landings to teach him to concentrate while other things were going on. He demanded precision flying from Gann and reminded him often that in this game "we play for keeps". Ross's training surely probably saved Gann's life in later years and the lives of his passengers. He said he even thought of Ross years later in a particularly dramatic flight when he had to land a smoke filled airplane full of GI's during WWII. In a tough business like flying or when we face many of the hardships or crises in life, I think we all need a "Captain Ross" we can lean on.
During part of WWII Gann flew the C-87 which is the cargo version of the B-24 Liberator bomber. He didn't care for it much: "They were an evil bastard contraption...they betrayed each of us in various ways and there was a tendency to approach one as if it were an angry bull elephant--to which they somehow bore a startling resemblance...It was a ground-loving bitch and with heavy loads rolled, snorted and porpoised interminably before asserting it questionable right to fly." He also wasn't impressed with its ability to carry ice: "the C-87's could not carry enough ice to chill a highball."
One thing I found particularly true for me was his statement that as pilots we are "incapable of ignoring any take-off, we turn (no matter what we are doing) to watch the plane leave the ground." I have seen pilots ignore landings and take-offs and it has always made me suspicious of them.
Overall, despite my complaints, of which I unfairly may have to many, I do highly recommend this book to all pilots, students pilots, would be pilots, aviation enthusiasts and any who likes an exciting read. In fact, I am making a top ten list of books all pilots/student pilots should read and Fate is the Hunter will no doubt be on the list.
Sadly, while Gann decided to cheat his own fate by quitting his career, a worse fate awaited him. In 1973, his eldest son George, was killed on an oil tanker, when a wave swept him overboard (from wikepedia). So, Gann was right in the end, fate really is the hunter and what a bastard it can be. I think we all want to think, especially those of us that fly, that we can control what happens to us and the fact that we can't control everything makes us hostile and angry and thus my mixed emotions about this book.

Robert S Lambert update!!

In the last few days we have accomplished one of our major goals in our research on the Harold Hetzler Crew. Since the beginning, we learned that the only married crew member was Flight Officer Robert S Lambert. Even more intriguing was the fact that he had a son that was born 3 months after the entire crew was shot down over Alverskirchen, Germany on March 23, 1944. For several years I had tried to make contact with this son....the only "survivor" of the crew so to speak. Then like a strike of lightening out of the blue sky,  3 days ago I received an email from Wayne Lambert, who now lives in Oregon!! We had quite a conversation. We both filled in some of the gaps in each other's knowledge. There is almost too much to put in words here, but one amazing memory that Wayne had, or thought he had, was coming to St. Louis with his family for some type of funeral here in St. Louis. I was happy to inform him that this was not imagined. That the remains of the 6 unidentified crew members that went down with the plane were all moved from Germany to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in May of 1950. I was also happy to be able to let him know that actual remains are buried at the cemetery, otherwise they would be in the memorial section. I was also totally blown away that Wayne has letters and photos. Getting to see new letters and photos (such as the one above) from the crew is like winning the lottery in this game and it really helps me bring the crew member and the story of the whole crew to life. I also have so much information and documentation that I will also send to Wayne. I feel very honored and humbled to be able to share with Wayne as much as I possibly can about his Dad's crew and what he experienced during the war.  I made a pledge years ago to do everything I could to learn as much about this crew as I possibly could and then to honor their memory as best as I can. This is truly a labor of love. My wife and I are seriously starting to work on our book about the crew and we are grateful that the Lambert story will go from sketchy and mysterious to well known!
Ever since I was 14 and learned about the Civil War from my history teacher Ken Elkins, I have had the fantasy of going back in time and seeing historical events first hand for myself. After I pass on (a long time from now I hope) and if such a thing is somehow possible, one of my fondest desires is that I might really be able to do this. Now when I think about this  fantasy (which is everyday actually), I am very specific...I want to ride in Jayhawker during their transit of their new B-24 over the Atlantic to their new base in England...I will go from crew member to crew member and really talk them and get to know each one of them and just soak it all in. Now, the dream has changed a bit for the better....now when I talk to Robert Lambert we can have a nice talk about how I found his son.

The Spirit of St. Louis

I have read a lot of books on aviation, but by far this is the absolute best and the most essential for anyone that flies, wants to fly or is just interested in aviation or adventure. In fact, I think everyone that is thinking about becoming a pilot should read this book first and then re-read it after they have their license. That is what I did, in a way. I first read this book when I was 19, in August of 1988. At the time I was a student pilot (my 2nd of 5 attempts to get my license!) I rarely read books more than once, but 24 years later I read this one again. This time I read it, I am no longer a student pilot, but a "real pilot" having finished my license last October.
For pilots, it is important to note, that before Lindbergh was famous, he was a flight instructor here in St. Louis. Reading the book, is like having Lindbergh as your flight instructor and in that regard, there is no finer instructor or anyone better than him. Lindbergh's greatness lies in his modesty, honesty and total lack of ego as far as flying goes. He fully admits and explains the many mistakes he made as an inexperienced pilot and even as seasoned pilot. Even as a very experienced pilot, with thousands of hours of experience and army training, he admits that he was worried about his landing in Paris in the Spirit because he hadn't landed it at night before and was afraid he would stall it, but of course he didn't, but so many pilots are only into boasting and busting the chops of anyone that dares ask a "stupid question" or makes a mistake. Of course, the boasting and attacking come from insecurity, which I honestly think all pilots have their whole careers to a certain extent. Admitting our weaknesses and mistakes and working to improve will actually keep us alive and safe...I think ego kills pilots and their passengers in some instances, so in my opinion it is not only annoying, but actually dangerous.
I made 140 entries on my notes while reading this book of things I want to remember, found interesting or thought would help write this review. But, this is one of those times when the book was so great, the knowledge so much and the interesting tidbits so many, that I will have to make a more general than specific review of this book.
It is a beautifully written book. My particular copy is the first printing of the paperback from 1953. The book was written, in part, to help Lindbergh restore some of his reputation after his involvement in the anti-war movement of the late 30's and early 40's as well as some of this not so politically correct statements about race. The book did win the Pulitzer Prize and later his reputation was further helped by having Jimmy Stewart play him the movie adaptation of the book.
Lindbergh was not a perfect person and definitely had a darker side, such as his other families with children in Germany that weren't well known until recently. But, we are dealing with a pilot and a flawed human being like we all are and suddenly becoming the most famous man in the world in 1927 after completing the first flight non-stop from New York to Paris would be a lot to take on for anyone. Also, I always suspect that the loss of his first child in the kidnapping case, changed who he was and not for the better and that is understandable.
In my opinion, you can certainly make the argument that Lindbergh was the greatest pilot of all time. In any case, I am confident that he is at least the equal of my other two candidates: Erich Hartmann and Neil Armstrong. These three share humility as well as greatness.

Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island

Another stop on our vacation to Alabama was Dauphin Island. While on the Island we toured Fort Gaines. This is one of the many forts that are located on the barrier islands along the gulf of mexico. This one was built in 1821 and is most well known for the battle of Mobile Bay and the famous order of Union Admiral David Farragut : Damn the torpedoes-full speed ahead!
As you can see from my photo, the views from the fort alone are worth the price of admission.

USS Alabama

I totally recommend visiting the USS Alabama (Battleship Memorial Park) in Mobile, Alabama. We visited the gulf last week and this was definitely one of the highlights. The first thing that strikes you is the size of the battleship. The tours on the ship are self guided and as soon as we went below decks there was a distinct smell, a bit like the smell of aircraft, but unique...I am guessing unique to WWII Navy ships and maybe even ships today; a bit musty, electrical and historical all together. I know this is one of my Grandpa Murphy's favorite places probably because he served in the Navy during WWII on the USS Sampson ( Destroyer DD-394) and the USS Milledgeville (Frigate PF-94). I thought that he would surely recognize the smell of the ship and I thought of him when I saw the motion picture locker since one of his duties in the Navy was showing films on board in addition to radio operations and various repairs of electronic equipment. All of this reminds me I should call him, he just turned 86 on Monday...
Anyway, in addition to the Alabama they have a hangar of historic aircraft that I found interesting and they have a B-52 and B-25 on the grounds....and I almost forgot...they have a submarine too the USS Drum, but as you can see from the picture Teddy was a bit in the red zone on this morning due to the heat and a seizure that afternoon we didn't know was coming. But, we managed the park and would love to go back.In fact, the only reason we went to Alabama this year was because Teddy liked to say Alabama and decided that it was his favorite state...so since he was motivated to visit, we used this to take the longest vacation since he was born and it all worked out pretty well. Teddy insisted that we both buy USS Alabama ball caps and we both wear them all the time now!

Country Bob's Cafe in St. James

I can totally recommend Country Bob's Cafe in St. James, Missouri for anyone looking for a classic, Midwest dining experience. The special on Fridays is catfish and as you can see for $7.99 the portions were large! For a buck more you get two filets...for 2 bucks more--unlimited!!! Teddy was happy with the chicken strips and he ate my hush puppies. I also recommend pie for dessert. They are homemade, none of that canned stuff that Frankie Dunn hates and yes, if he does make another trip to Missouri, they do have his favorite here - Lemon Meringue! I had the Coconut Cream (Just like on Gilligan's Island), in sticking with the Gilligan theme Sue had the Banana Cream and Ted enjoyed a huge piece of Chocolate pie. Teddy was also happy that they had fans. The prices were reasonable, the service was fast, friendly and our waitress seemed to come right out the Boar's Nest. So, next time you are crossing Missouri on I-44 (old 66) go north about 1 mile at the St. James exit to Country Bob's...not Bob's Country Bunker...that's another place. You won't be disappointed! We often drive thru St. James, so I am looking forward to trying their other dishes.

North to the Orient

I just finished reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh's North to the Orient just a few minutes ago. Because it is summer, I have relatively more time to read and to write reviews. Also, I am taking advantage of the fact that Teddy is watching one of his favorites at the moment: Abbott and Costello's Hold That Ghost. Due to financial constraints I am not flying as much as I had hoped to in recent weeks, but I am using this time to read as many classic and essential books on flying as I can and of course one of the titles that I have seen in used bookstores and heard about over the years is North to the Orient.
Anne met Charles not long after he made his famous trans-Atlantic flight and they were married a few years later. She became a pilot herself, she was the first woman to obtain a glider pilot's license (1930) and also earned her private pilot's license in 1931. On her many voyages with her famous husband, she served as co-pilot, navigator and radio operator...and navigation and radio operations are much easier now than they were then.
This book chronicles the trip the Lindbergh's made in 1931 from New York to China using a great circle route which would lead them north to the orient, not west as one would generally think would be the shorter route. Their route led them north into Canada, Point Barrow Alaska, Russia (then the Soviet Union), Japan and finally China.
For me while reading this book, I kept thinking about their baby Charles Jr., who was kidnapped not long after this trip and murdered. I think I read that she actually wrote this first book (she wrote many), which was published in 1935 as a way to deal with her son's death. It is really sad when she makes a few references to the baby in the book (he was already born, but of course didn't go on this trip).  I have to think that the death of their first son affected them and changed who they were from that time forward. I can imagine that losing a child is just not something from which parents recover...they go on, but they don't recover completely.
A beautifully written book, it captured the essence of the Lindbergh's in their early years of marriage before their son's death, before they were involved in isolationist views before WWII and before the many other challenges their marriage weathered. She casually mentions her "husband" several times in the book...just casually, without the acknowledgement that he was the most famous person in the world at the time.
For pilots such as myself and those interested in the aviation aspects of the book, it was my first exposure to seaplanes, I learned a lot about the the Sirius (the pontooned monoplane that the Lindbergh's used on many adventures and is now on display at the Smithsonian), I learned a lot about the old days of radio on aircraft and that even Lindbergh could have a hell of time fighting his way through fog...not a weather phenomenon to be taken lightly by any pilot.
The last paragraphs of the book describe the magic of flight about as well and poetically as any I have ever heard or read before. Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived a long life dying in 2001 at the age of 94. Her husband died several years before in 1974. This book has inspired me to read The Spirit of St. Louis again...which I first read in May of 1988...24 years ago!

Slingers in House Springs, MO

 Slingers in downtown House Springs, MO is a classic Midwest diner that serves a solid breakfast. We have the tradition now of eating here the first weekend morning after school is out for the year. The only downside of Slingers is the smoke, but the rest of the place and the food make it worth the old school smokey atmosphere. I had the bacon, eggs and hash browns, which I highly recommend.

 Teddy had a serving of bacon and a stack of delicious pancakes. He was also happy that diner has plenty of ceiling fans!

Teddy loves sitting at the counter and Slingers has a long counter with plenty of stools. We are hoping to hit Slingers one more time before summer break is over! One more thing: as the name implies, yes you can order a slinger here or in fact several slingers if you are really hungry!

Bob's Drive In in Imperial, MO

Bob's Drive In in Imperial, MO is one of our favorite places to enjoy classic American dining. This is a classic drive in with classic American food. We often bring our exchange students from Germany here to see  and experience American Midwest culture and food. The restaurant was opened in 1959 and recently was renovated. The restaurant is only a few miles from our home. Teddy always has the chicken strips and then a vanilla shake for dessert. Sue and I usually have a cheeseburger (in my case a double cheese) and a side of fried Okra. If you are traveling I-55 get off on the Richardson/Vogel exit and drive 5 more minutes further off the highway and you can enjoy an American classic experience and get away from the normal interstate exit restaurants. Yesterday morning Teddy was pretty excited--two of his favorite things: Mowing the lawn then going to Bob's for lunch. We always eat outside on the tables and Teddy especially likes the ceiling fans they have under the little shelter. Also, I recommend the corn dogs and the ice cream is every bit as good as Ted Drewes without the hassle of the large crowds. Many of my students work or have worked here and I often see people I know when dining here.

The Wrong Stuff by Truman Smith

I began this book once again reluctantly...I had made a nice "friend"  or something of a companion when reading my last book in Siegfried Knappe....my "book friends" are important to me...generally they are going through some type of epic struggle, generally in war...something very different than my epic struggle: raising my son as best I can, helping him navigate the world and keep him healthy. The struggles of others are a great diversion for me from my own worries and in that sense, history is a great comfort to me. I have tried to read about other special parents and what they deal with, but it strikes to close to home generally and only compounds my worries. So, luckily, I found a new diversion in the Wrong Stuff, learned more about the bombers in WWII, which will eventually help me and give me more depth when I write my book about the Hetzler Crew. Also, I did find a new book friend in Truman Smith or "Smitty" as some people in the book called him and now so do I! Smitty arrived in the ETO just a few weeks after the Hetzler Crew were shot down and killed. He was one of the few Co-Pilots that have written books and he became the PIC or head pilot on his last few missions...and amazingly he was only 20 years old!!!
At first, I wasn't so fond of the book. The overview and simplification of history I found annoying at the beginning, but I stuck with it and this turned out to be one of my favorite books. Smitty ended up flying 35 missions!! There weren't supposed to be many German fighters by this time in the war, but Smitty would definitely tell you that there were!!! Not just a few, but dozens and sometimes hundreds! The flak was always present. Smitty truly felt a lot of heat and it was a miracle that he lived through the war. I had so many favorite parts of this book, that I won't be able to cover them all, but a few do come to mind. The overriding back story in the whole book is Smitty's quest to lose his virginity...he comes close a few times and losing the "sure things" and bumbling some great opportunities with women in London due to his age and inexperience. Also, he points out how strange it was to feel so old as a combat veteran, but so young in regards to women! At one point, he finally meets an 18 proper English woman riding her horse and all  is going well and it looks like this will be IT, but...he woke up...turned out all to be a dream and even stranger, the young woman was "Queen Elizabeth"!! His brutal honesty about his lack of success with women gives the whole book added credibility and the story he tells of his combat experiences while unbelievable are no doubt completely true.
Another amazing part of the book to me was when he goes to another base to visit a pilot with whom he had graduated flight school--Paul Stout...his vivid description of the base reminded me of the Hetzler Crew's 458th bomber group's base, so I looked Stout up and sure enough, Smitty had visited Harold's base!! Sadly, Stout finished his tour of combat, but was killed later in a training exercise.
Smitty worked in TV and radio after the war and even eventually married a German woman. I did a quick search to see if Smitty were still alive and if so, what he is doing currently, but I haven't found anything yet.

Chris' Pancake House

Last week I had the privilege of having breakfast again at Chris' Pancake House. This blog entry also inaugurates a new sub-category on my history blog: Historic and/or classic dining! Chris' is located on "The Hill" in St. Louis, MO. "The Hill" is an Italian neighborhood that is best known for its many restaurants that serve dinner. I had been introduced to Chris' for the first time when I was invited to breakfast by my friend Skip Berger to talk about some research I was doing on a WWI soldier. The next summer, Suzanne and I brought my mom and step father here for breakfast. My stepfather, Dan, especially enjoyed the marble rye toast. The waiter let Dan know that it was delivered by a local bakery, Vitale's and that it was just two blocks away. We then visited the bakery, where Dan bought 2 loaves and brought them home to Springfield (MO) to enjoy! This last week was our best visit yet. Suzanne and I had a stressful morning at Children's Hospital talking to the neurologist about Teddy's possible brain surgery this summer. We took a much needed break afterwards to Chris'! I had the bacon and eggs...which I highly recommend! I rate the bacon a 10, the eggs 10, Hash browns a 9 and the cakes a solid 8.  The atmosphere out in the atrium was especially nice with the sun shining in, but it is always a little chilly, so I recommend bringing a jacket on warm days since the a/c will be nice and cool. There was a nice mix of people eating there and the wait staff was very friendly. According to a little online research, Chris' opened in 1987. I definitely recommend Chris'!

Soldat

Soldat by Siegfried Knappe
As my readers know I read and review a lot of books on WWII and this book is a rare treat in that it is told from German point of view. Siegfried Knappe really saw a lot....from the Arbeitsdienst (Labor Service) after graduating with his Abitur (diploma) from a Gymnasium (A German high school tracked to prepare students for university) to joining the army as an enlisted man in 1936, to Kriegsschule Potsdam (officer training academy in Potsdam) where Erwin Rommel was his group leader, to being involved in several campaigns during WWII such as the Sudetenland, invasion and occupation of France, invasion of Russia, defending Italy and finally he was right there at the end during the Battle of Berlin. Knappe was lucky to have been wounded several times...I say lucky because it allowed him to recuperate far away from the terrible situations in Russia, but none of the wounds were debilitating, so his wounds probably saved his life. Knappe was a first rate leader and soldier with a strong intellect. He graduated near the top of his class at Kriegsschule and later went through general staff training (the 2nd to last class ever to do so in Nazi Germany).
I always begin a new book with a bit of reluctance...I get used to a book, I savor a good book...the characters or the author become a fellow traveler in my life for awhile if not like a friend. So, when I finish a book, I start a new one with a bit of trepidation, not sure about my new friend and if I want to go on the journey they want me to go on or if I want them to be part of my life. I also read slowly, a few pages generally each night before I go to bed to clear my head of the day's stress and to give myself something to think about as I try to fall asleep rather than my own worries. So, this relationship...my book companion so to speak....is an important relationship to me. As I first started this book, I wasn't sure about Knappe...but literally on the first page he mentioned the German town of Eilenburg. Really? Eilenburg? It is a little out of the way place in the former East Germany...but I have spent time there...I know people there...we have an exchange with the town's high school (for 11 years now). Unbelievable...I felt right at home then with my new friend right away and I am still sorry that I finished this book. When he met the love of this life during the war and married her, it was in his hometown of Leipzig at the Thomas Church...I have been in that church!! I have sat in the pews and prayed for my son's Teddy's health as I do in every church I visit. Of course, he mentions other places where I have been as well, but more logical places such as Berlin or Nürnberg.
It was my view that Knappe was a first rate officer and leader and surely would have been a general had the war taken another turn. The book starts at the end of the war near the Führer Bunker. Knappe is often coordinating final details of the battle with Hitler's staff as the Russians are closing in. He sees Hitler and is shocked by his lethargic and pitiful appearance. Not at all the same Hitler he'd met years before and not the same Hitler that Knappe now had the "urge to kill" in order to "stop all of the suffering". He could have fled on his own and tried to make his way to the Americans, but he followed orders and did his duty to the end and paid the price by spending 4 years in a Soviet prison camp. His logic was sound though...he thought it would show a distinct lack of leadership to abandon the men under him as long as they were still fighting.
I used to be skeptical of Germans who claimed they didn't know about Auschwitz and other atrocities in the Nazi's committed...now I am not so sure. Knappe reminds us repeatedly that Nazi Germany did not have a free press and that he only had a vague notion of what might have been going on...it is not like they were advertising or telling the world what they were doing to the Jews and others....not the outright killing of them anyway...they hid it so well in fact that many Jews themselves were skeptical that there were death camps and Elie Wiesel's Night comes to mind when the man who escaped the death camp tries to tell the people in his village what is going on, but is dismissed as crazy more or less. Also, I held this view before our war on terrorism. I find that I can't answer for my own country's deeds in places like Guantanamo or our secret CIA prisons...I can hope we are not committing atrocities...but I don't really know and there is no way I can know that all of the people in them are guilty and that they aren't being tortured...I only know what has been allowed to be released to the press or leaked out. So, my previous harsh judgments of how the German population should have known and did something about it has been tempered a bit and I am not nearly as arrogant about it as I once was. Knappe admits that they knew that some jews were rounded up and sent to camps just for being jewish and that probably some were killed there, but the 6 million dead figure was hard for him to accept at first, but he nevertheless said he "sadly" and slowly accepted that the Nazis indeed had committed crimes against humanity . He says that he could now only feel shame for what had started as a "noble venture to right the injustices of the Versailles Treaty and regain what we thought of as rightfully ours had led to the inhuman horrors of extermination camps."
By the time the war ended he was a family man with two sons and very much wanted to survive to see them again. Luckily he was reunited with his family after being released by the Soviets after they determined he was not a war criminal.
I could obviously write a whole book about the book...but I will stop now and just recommend that you read the book yourself...you won't be dissapointed.

North Star Over My Shoulder

In direct contrast to Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck, North Star Over My Shoulder by Bob Buck (apparently no relation) is a very credible account of his life and professional career in aviation. In the first line of Flight of Passage, Rinker claims in a roundabout way that he and his brother hold a record as the "youngest aviators ever to fly America coast to coast". However, this just is not a fact, the actual holder of that record is Bob Buck who performed the feat in 1930. As he himself said in an interview in 2005: "I was the youngest to fly coast to coast and that record still stands. I had my license at 16 and after that, they raised the minimum age to 17. With that change no one could break my record." Now, that I feel like I have given credit, where credit is due, I have to say that this is another book that I consider essential reading for all pilots and aviation enthusiasts. His career spanned the early days of barnstorming types of flying, the early days of airline flying--such as in the DC-2...which really was one with the elements...even in the interior and finally he retired as a Captain on a 747. I especially liked three parts of the book: First, I liked his description of a cockpit, in particular the smell: "The smell of the cockpit hits you first--an aroma collected through hours of flight...there was an odor of metal, of spilled fluids...a little whiff of food that had slopped on the floor during a turbulent moment and had time to spoil. A scent too of sweat permeated the pilot's seat cushions and the black control wheel. It isn't particularly unpleasant, just part of the trade; blindfold any pilot and lead him into a cockpit, even a new one, and the first whiff will tell him where he is. Next, Buck, who did his first flight in a homemade glider, went back to gliding after his retirement. He talks eloquently about gliding: "You are alone, with all the world of nature spread out below, and blue sky and white clouds above." It really inspires me to move forward on my next flying goal: my glider rating! Finally, his description of what it was like to be an airline pilot in the early days and the glamour days of the first jets was really interesting and clearly as many men would, he spoke with a lot of respect and admiration for the stewardesses. Another thing I thought was interesting was the early navigational aids...such as the night airways that had light beacons dispersed at 10 mile intervals and then the early radio navigation...flying the beam. Finally, thus the title of the book, I think about celestial navigation and learning a little bit about it....not for practical reasons perhaps in the days of multiple GPS's etc, but just because it is cool to learn something unique and stretches back through the centuries...a bond with early navigators. This book was truly an education and essential reading for aviation buffs, historians and pilots. Sadly, Bob is no longer with us, he died in 2007 at the age of 93...but he surely lived a full life.

Wind, Sand and Stars

Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry is without a
doubt essential reading for any of us pilots or aviation enthusiasts that are philosophical and deep thinkers about flying and the air. At first I was bored with the book...the stream of consciousness style was a bit much for me after all of the biographies I've been reading of WWII pilots. But luckily, I somehow stuck with the book and was richly rewarded for my effort. I especially appreciated how he loves his airplanes...I thought I was the only pilot ever that would lightly touch the wings of my airplane when I thought nobody else was looking before a flight...of course he puts it better than I do: "I walked around my ship, stroking her wings with the back of my hand in a caress that I believe was love." And then describing the cockpit: "magical instruments set like jewels in their panel and glimmering like a constellation in the dark of the night." How often I have sat in one of my planes on a bad weather day, just looking at the instruments. But, when I actually am flying, Exupéry sometimes is with me...but only when the winds kick up and make me nervous, then I remember his vivid, life and death, description of fighting a horrendous wind storm in the Andes, then I take a deep breath, relax and concentrate ...my co-pilot in my mind.
Flying is really about friendship and Exupéry writes of the joy of being reunited with friends, especially those friends with whom we have experienced a trial or ordeal. I certainly have made a lot of new friends and connections with people that share my passion for flying and that has been one of the nicest surprises on this journey of getting my pilot's license.
Flying is also love and desire, but not just the love of the airplane....sometimes it is a desire that eludes such as a woman that scorches and wounds a man "by the indifference of that stroll she takes through their dream", but not all women elude and my absolute favorite small piece of literary technique is on p. 123 when his wife suddenly comes to life and breaks in with one line of dialogue. Sadly Exupéry was killed in WWII in 1944 and I wonder about his wife anytime I think of his death, especially after he lived through the ordeal of a crash landing years earlier in the Sahara desert; a similar experience to the Lady be Good crew, but luckily and only by luck, he survived. So really in the end it is more a book about love than flying, but flying to him was also love.