Big Friend, Little Friend: Memoirs of a World War II Fighter Pilot

This is the true life story of the boy next door who went to war. Richard Turner was a student in college when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. As a youngster, he had devoured the magazines and books that told of the exploits and adventures of the flying aces of World War I. When he came of age he took flying lessons, so that when war came he was welcomed into the Army Air Corps. The metamorphosis of this young college student into a crack fighter pilot is the subject of this fast moving memoir. The reader flies with Richard Turner into the largest sustained aerial conflict ever witnessed in history; past barrage balloons, unmanned missiles and enemy fighters, on hair-raising missions ranging from the escort of heavy bombers (Big Friends), to accompanying the Supreme Allied Commander on his historic personal reconnaissance of the front lines, the first that a ground general had personally reconnoitered battle terrain in the presence of the enemy. Lt. Col. Turner's memoirs also relate the rise to prominence of the Pioneer Mustang Group (Little Friends) as it aided the Eighth Air Force's heavy bombardment missions. And finally, his very personal book shows how a young generation endeavored to grasp and emulate the traditions of determination and courage of the preceding generation, fulfilling its duty in the proud privilege of serving.