The Jolly Rogers

Ref: 2725

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{detailed description}This is the true story of one of the Navy's foremost fighter squadrons, VF-17, and its charismatic commander, fighter ace Tom Blackburn, in action against the Japanese in the Solomon and Bismarck islands during World War II.
Most of us have heard of Greg "Pappy" Boyington and his Black Sheep fighter pilots. But it is not well known that Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17—called the Jolly Rogers and sporting the skull and crossbones on their engine cowlings—exceeded the combat record of Boyington's men, shooting down 154 enemy planes in the seventy-six days they were in combat in the South Pacific. Their job was to protect American aircraft carriers and bombers in the crucial struggle for the Solomons. VF-17 pilots fought and drank as hard as any in the Pacific, and thirteen of Blackburn's men, himself included, became aces, each destroying more than five enemy aircraft.
Blackburn, only thirty-one years of age when he took over Squadron VF-17, was a warm and affable character to his men, but a demanding perfectionist. Flying the F4U Corsair, one of the first fighter planes to challenge the performance of the Japanese Zero, Blackburn taught his pilots the fine points of both carrier operations and aerial combat. After several devastating experiences, the Japanese would simply avoid contact with Blackburn's fighters unless there were bombers to stop. So the bombers flew with VF-17 to draw out the Zeros, and eventually Blackburn and his men cleared the skies over the Solomons. Here is the story of a modest but true American hero. To quote from the introduction by Vice Admiral James Stockdale, USN (Ret): "If ever a man was tailor-made to be an across-the-board role model and leader of men flying and fighting from ships at sea, it was Tommy Blackburn."
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Tom Blackburn
Published by Orion books (USA) 1989 1st edition. 270pp illustrated, index, appendix, bibliography. 16x23
{condition}spine slightly bumped, otherwise mint.
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