The Wild Blue Yonder: My Life as a Bomber Pilot 1943-1953

The Wild Blue Yonder is a memoir of the author’s training experiences as a bomber pilot during two tours of duty. The stories range from comic to frightening, from goof-ups and weddings to narrow escapes, crash landings, and death. Details are provided of flying everything from an open-cockpit trainer to the 6-engine B-36. The first period covered is from enlistment in the Air Corps in 1953 as an aviation cadet, to graduation as a second lieutenant. The next phase details the young officer’s training as an airplane commander of a B-24, followed by training in the B-32 for a special mission to firebomb Tokyo, a mission that was rendered unnecessary by the atomic bomb. After an interim of returning to college and civilian employment, the memoir continues with the author’s recall to active duty during the Korean conflict and training in the high-altitude B-36 to bomb Russia if it became necessary during the Cold War.