Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds tells the tale of a true American hero, written using his journals.
The story begins with Olds' years at West Point, when he was an All-American football player who was later inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame. Olds graduated from West Point in the midst of World War II, and was a squadron commander before the age of 22. He was also one of the top fighter pilots for the allied forces, a double ace who racked up 12 aerial victories.
In Vietnam, Olds' legend only grew. Becoming a triple ace, he scored four more kills in Southeast Asia. He also trained officers and fighter pilots both in the air and through morale boosting games that allowed them to instruct him on the proper procedures for a pilot.
The book offers a first person perspective of how the military works, touching on military policy along the way. Through Fighter Pilot, readers get an in-depth look at flying P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs. It speaks to his struggles leading an air wing flying F4 Phantoms and his rise to Commandant of the Air Force Academy.
'Fighter Pilot' also touches on Olds' marriage to Ella Raines, a Hollywood starlet who put up with his admittedly flawed personality, love to drink and rough-around-the-edges exterior. Olds often felt that he had to choose between his career or his family responsibilities, a game that his family sometimes lost. Part of Olds' endearing nature is that he is honest about his flaws. Fighter Pilot gives detailed accounts of challenges he faced on and off the ground told in his own language.
This memoir was compiled by Olds' daughter Christina Olds and writer Ed Rasimus. Christina Olds is a member of the Air Force Association, and graduated from Vassar with a degree in English and creative writing. Fighter Pilot is her first book. Rasimus was a fighter pilot himself, serving in the Air Force before retiring and becoming an author. He has published two other books covering the Vietnam era, When Thunder Rolled and Palace Cobra.
"This was a great book. It describes the life of Robin Olds. Robin joined the army air force during WWII and flew in the european theater. He was a double ace during that war. He was married afterwards to a movie star who had enough pull to keep him out of the Korean war. Initially he didn't know it was her, but he found out later in life. He did find his way to the Vietnam war, where he again got ace status. Due to the Air Forces' new regulations, he cut himself short of scoring many more shoot downs... if he scored any more he would get sent home. That sounds like the backwards government I know. There is language in the book, so caution."
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Kevin (4 out of 5 stars)