Being there . . . . to vicariously relive the autobiographical combat experiences of TWO, not one,TWO, combat pilots who survived the Pacific War, especially after early 1944 when the scales ofbloodshed and victories tipped fully against Japan. Watch and live through the air battles overthe Pacific Ocean seas, even if you hadn’t acted or performed on behalf the USAAF in anyfighting part of America’s response to the severe blow to her naval power at 7:45am on themorning of 7 December 1941. When entering each of the two aviators’ active duty lives, oneflying either a SBD Dauntless dive-bomber, F6F Hellcat, and F4U Corsair pilot, the other a nightfighter piloting the newly arrived, almost-mythic, P-61 Black Widow, note the somber, nononsense smiles on their faces. They, too, along with countless other Allied troops edgingtoward the outskirts of the increasingly frantic Japanese Empire stampeding to defend the fiveprincipal Home Islands against the inevitable American invasion, are unaware of the terribleatomic weapon yet to be used against them, a weapon that surely will end the war for theUnited States. Sadly, after the first months of 1944, and some spectacular wins, we thought thetaking of Tokyo would be easy and simple. However, the island to island hopping with all itshard killing resulted in our own inordinately high American dead and wounded casualtiesproving everyone wrong. Two and a half million Japanese troops were killed between theSpring of 1942 and 2 September 1945 when the Allies and Japan signed the surrenderagreement aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Sure, America won the Pacific War, but lost300,000 dead in the process.WHEN ORDINARY G.I. JOES, AVIATORS, SAILORS, OR OTHER ENLISTED PERSONNEL WERENEEDED TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED AS FUTURE WAR HEROES AFTER 11:00AM ON 7DECEMBER 1941 WHILE THE LAST GRINNING JAPANESE “KATE” TORPEDO BOMBER AIRCREWSDEPARTED PEARL HARBOR, NOW THAT THE CHIPS WERE DOWN, TO ASSIST IN THE FUTURE AIRBATTLES OVER DEATH-DEMANDING INFERNOS CAUSED BY INTENSE FIERY ISLAND BY ISLANDFIGHTING – – i. e., PILOTS NEEDED TO TURN THE TIDE, TO FLY LOW STRAFING, PUNISHING,SHELLING, OR BOMBING PROTECTING OUR USMC MARINES AS THEY CRAWLED FORWARDUNDER INTENSE HEAVY MACHINEGUN FIRE OR DODGING THROWN GRENADES. OUR NAVYHAD HEROES GALORE, i.e, THE “GOBS” ABOARD THE “BIG E”, THE USS ENTERPRISE, THE WAR’SMOST DECORATED SHIP; THE MARINES, AFTER SIX MONTHS OF SAVAGE JUNGLE WARFARE,LOSING 1,500 MEN, NOW OWNED GUADALCANAL; THE AIR CORPS HAD MAJOR RICHARD IRABONG WHO FOUND MORE SERIOUS TARGETS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC AFTER CAUSING ASENSATION, AND HUGE MILITARY EMBARRASSMENT, BY FLYING LOOP-THE-LOOPS AROUNDTHE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE; JOE FOSS WHO SHOT DOWN 26 JAPANESE PLANES OVERGUADALCANAL (1943), FIVE IN ONE MORNING; JIMMY DOOLITTLE (1942); AND PAPPYBOYINGTON (1943). THERE WERE SO, SO MANY OTHERS, AMERICANS WHO HAPPIDLY STIRREDTHE WORLD WITH THEIR EXPLOITS OF COURAGE – – THEIR COMMON THREAD BEING ANAPPARENT DISDAIN FOR DANGER AND A TASTE FOR DEADLY ACTION. NOW, TWO NEW BOOKS,LESS THAN 70 DAYS OLD, HAVE ARRIVED OF TWO ADDITIONAL YOUNG, BRAVE AMERICANBOYS, NEITHER AS INSPIRING OR FAMOUS, BUT CERTAINLY EQUALLY BRAVE ANDCOURAGEROUS, NAVAL AVIATOR JAMES A. NIST AND NIGHT FIGHTER PILOT, JOE PAUL
HENDRICKSON . . .
Reviewed and highly recommended by Don DeNevi“DIVE BOMBER DOWN – – James A. Nist, Naval Aviator in the Pacific War”, by Bryan J. Dickerson.McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers: 2024, 248 pages, 7” x 10”, fully photo illustrated,$39.95. Visit, www.mcfarlandpub.com;“FIGHTING THE NIGHT – – Iwo Jima, World War II, and A Flyer’s Life”, by Paul Hendrickson (JOEPAUL’S SON). Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher,A Borzoi Book: 2024, 305 pagers, 6 ¾”x 9 ½”, with 30
photographs, $32.
Such a sad story of an All-American Boy, the type everyone admired and liked. Wholesome, ascholar and athlete, a resolute patriot of the highest order, like his parents and grandparents,he was a perfect model for all the younger boys in America. He lived only 24 years, giving his lifein his final mission as a naval aviator while conducting a dive-bombing attack on an airfield onthe Japanese island of Kikai in the Amami Shunto group of islands off southeast Japan in theOkinawa area. Near perfect antiaircraft fire, some of which hit him in the face, brought Jimmydown. What follows in this gem of a combined biography-autobiography of his years ofextraordinary life begins with his elementary and secondary school years before enteringRutgers University, enrolling in the Civilian Pilot Training Program during his junior year. Beingsuccessful in his classroom training was a breeze for such an exemplary student, allowing him tobegin flight training in early March of 1941 at Hadley Field in New Brunswick. World War II wasless than 10 months away. Unknowingly, he was preparing to join the Navy as an aviationcadet, earning his wings and an officer’s commission in the Naval Reserve.James became proficient in three of the Navy’s high performance combat aircraft: the SBDDauntless dive-bomber, the F6F Hellcat fighter and the F4U Corsair fighter. In 1945, hedeployed to the Pacific aboard the carrier USS Bunker Hill and flew combat over Japan, Iwo Jimaand Okinawa. Nist’s letters and personal papers as well as official Navy documents allowedhistorian Bryan J. Dickerson to tell the story of his great-uncle’s life and service during WWII.In Paul Hendrickson’s “Fighting the Night”, a son tells the story of his father’s experiences asa combat pilot AFTER our Marines took the Iwo Jima Island. In short, Paul narrates with unusualintimacy about why and how dad arrived on Iwo and what he did there. For the final five and ahalf months of World War II, Joe Paul flew some 75 missions, almost all in midnight conditions.Dad, Joe Paul, the son of a dirt-poor sharecropper, had just graduated from high school in 1937when he enlisted in mechanic school in the peace-time Army Air Corps. He was certainly able toqualify for flight school. When World War II broke out, he and his newly married bridecrisscrossed America, driving from airfield to airfield, base to base, ranging from Orlando andKissimmee to Fresno and Bakersfield. HE ALWAYS VOLUNTEERED FOR NIGHT FIGHTERS AND TOPILOT THE NEWLY ARRIVED BLABK WIDOW. This last point is critical to the biographical-autobiography since so little literature had ever appeared in print, until lately, on the P-61 and
P-61B Black Widow.
Son, Paul Hendrickson, carefully allows us to follow his parents journey, together and apart,stateside and overseas. He creates a sharp, vivid portrait of both dad and mom, wonderfulAmericans, and, especially father, who he now realizes how much of a heroic figure he reallywas, not only in the war against the Japanese, but also as a dad. The book jacket calls it right:“Fighting the Night” is an intense and powerful, NAY, energetic, story of raw, unadulteratedpatriotism, aerial combat deaths, and love of family, loss, and forgiveness. Above all, it is atribute to those who were unexpectedly plunged into service in the best years of their lives, andthe sacrifices they and their loved ones made – then and after.”“I wasn’t afraid”, said Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, leader of the notorious Black SheepSquadron, who personally shot down 28 Japanese planes until he himself was shot down andtaken captive, then survived to come home. “When you’re scared to death and you go aheadand do what you’re supposed to do anyway – – now, that’s an act of bravery.”Dexter Filkins, author of “The Forever War”, writes, “‘Fighting the Night’ is a heroic act in itself
of reporting, which doubles as a son’s fitting tribute to his dad.”
