Status
Checked out
Collection
Publication
Little, Brown and Company (2006), Edition: Reprint, 592 pages
Description
Biography & Autobiography. History. Military. Nonfiction. HTML:Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. Flyboys, a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor, tells the story of those men. Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. One of those nine was miraculously rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine. The others were captured by Japanese soldiers on Chichi Jima and held prisoner. Then they disappeared. When the war was over, the American government, along with the Japanese, covered up everything that had happened on Chichi Jima. The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed, the lives of the eight Flyboys were erased, and the parents, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts they left behind were left to wonder. Flyboys reveals for the first time ever the extraordinary story of those men. Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself. What he discovered was a mystery that dated back far before World War II-back 150 years, to America's westward expansion and Japan's first confrontation with the western world. Bradley brings into vivid focus these brave young men who went to war for their country, and through their lives he also tells the larger story of two nations in a hellish war. With no easy moralizing, Bradley presents history in all its savage complexity, including the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians. And, after almost sixty years of mystery, Bradley finally reveals the fate of the eight American Flyboys, all of whom would ultimately face a moment and a decision that few of us can even imagine. Flyboys is a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor. It is about how we die, and how we live-including the tale of the Flyboy who escaped capture, a young Navy pilot named George H. W. Bush who would one day become president of the United States. A masterpiece of historical narrative, Flyboys will change forever our understanding of the Pacific war and the very things we fight for.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member MatthewN
I bought this book but wasn't very eager to begin reading it. I had read several reviews from people who thought James Bradley was a bit unfair in his characterization of US servicemen. Some people called the book treason in light of the things mentioned in regards to atrocities committed by the
I have found that many American history authors write their books from the standpoint of the US having the moral superiority. The US always takes the high road and the enemy, whoever it is, is of a lower moral standard. I don't necessarily disagree with that point of view many times. After all, I am an American and I firmly believe that the US has fought in most wars for just reasons. However, history is about more than just one side. It's about more than just one point of view. It is an aggregate of facts and perceptions taken from both sides. The truth is usually somewhere in between.
In light of that, James Bradley lays it all out there when it comes to the actions of the Japanese and the US military. Bad things happened on both sides. I would say that the Japanese committed far more atrocities on an individual level. Cannibalism and beheadings were not common on the US side. The Japanese military seemed to embrace these acts wholeheartedly. Bradley spends a great deal of time talking about the cannibalism and the beheadings. You come to loathe the Japanese military as an institution and yet you find yourself feeling sorry for some of their soldiers who followed orders or risked losing their own lives.
The US does not escape criticism either. Firebombing major cities across Japan was not exactly civil. Thousands of innocent women and children were killed. I consider that a tragedy, and yet I also factor in the mindset of Japan at the time. The author does a good job of explaining that. There was nothing that could have been done diplomatically to bring the war to an end. When looking at the number of US servicemen that would have died conquering the Japanese islands, what choice was there?
War is not pretty. Once you get beyond Hollywood and the romantic image that people have in regards to combat, you will see something that should give everyone pause before they start beating the drums of war. Innocent people will die. Tragedies will occur. Families will be shattered by the deaths of fathers, brothers, and sons. That suffering will occur on both sides. That is the point I believe James Bradley is trying to make in this book.
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United States. I began reading this book and did not want to stop. It was that good. It was not a feel good read. This book does not glorify war as other historians tend to do. You don't get any picture of war other than pure madness. Bradley gives you the reality of war from the individual's point of view. He makes it personal.I have found that many American history authors write their books from the standpoint of the US having the moral superiority. The US always takes the high road and the enemy, whoever it is, is of a lower moral standard. I don't necessarily disagree with that point of view many times. After all, I am an American and I firmly believe that the US has fought in most wars for just reasons. However, history is about more than just one side. It's about more than just one point of view. It is an aggregate of facts and perceptions taken from both sides. The truth is usually somewhere in between.
In light of that, James Bradley lays it all out there when it comes to the actions of the Japanese and the US military. Bad things happened on both sides. I would say that the Japanese committed far more atrocities on an individual level. Cannibalism and beheadings were not common on the US side. The Japanese military seemed to embrace these acts wholeheartedly. Bradley spends a great deal of time talking about the cannibalism and the beheadings. You come to loathe the Japanese military as an institution and yet you find yourself feeling sorry for some of their soldiers who followed orders or risked losing their own lives.
The US does not escape criticism either. Firebombing major cities across Japan was not exactly civil. Thousands of innocent women and children were killed. I consider that a tragedy, and yet I also factor in the mindset of Japan at the time. The author does a good job of explaining that. There was nothing that could have been done diplomatically to bring the war to an end. When looking at the number of US servicemen that would have died conquering the Japanese islands, what choice was there?
War is not pretty. Once you get beyond Hollywood and the romantic image that people have in regards to combat, you will see something that should give everyone pause before they start beating the drums of war. Innocent people will die. Tragedies will occur. Families will be shattered by the deaths of fathers, brothers, and sons. That suffering will occur on both sides. That is the point I believe James Bradley is trying to make in this book.
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LibraryThing member kaulsu
This is a hard book to read, but worth the pain. So much of history (all?) is slanted to present the best look at the author's chauvinism. This book seems to be pretty even-handed is showing the gruesome barbarity of war as waged by any nation. Not all nations practice all the possible atrocities,
I have heard from the children of Pacific War vets that they can never forgive the Japanese, but this book gives several first-hand accounts of just that forgiveness. It is that grace that in the end makes this book readable.
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all the time, and the notion that one death is better, or more fair, than another becomes questionable by the end of the book.I have heard from the children of Pacific War vets that they can never forgive the Japanese, but this book gives several first-hand accounts of just that forgiveness. It is that grace that in the end makes this book readable.
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LibraryThing member craigwsmithtoo
Flyboys is a true story about the young pilots who flew missions over the Pacific during WWII. The book details information about American pilots who were shot down and captured by the Japanese. It explains the mindset and philosophy of the Japanese soldiers and events before the war. Much of the
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book is graphic and intense. Show Less
LibraryThing member lamour
This is more than a description of what happen to eight fliers (including George Bush, Sr.) who were shot down over Chichi Jima in 1945. It is a history of US foreign policy in the Pacific, an analysis of how Japan became militaristic in the early 20th Century and an examination of the Allies war
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crime trials in Japan. Show Less
LibraryThing member DirtPriest
It's pretty rare when the nice lady at your local bookstore (Sleepy Hollow Books in Midland MI) loans you a book that she wants you to read. Joey asked me to read this and I put it off for a while because I knew that there would be alot about the war atrocities on both sides of the Pacific War. I
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was right. This book tells the long hidden tale of several carrier pilots that were shot down near Chichi Jima and held prisoner on the island. Chichi is the next island after Iwo on the way to Japan. Their few days on the island were not very cool at all. There are similarities with Flags of our Fathers in that the author interviewed many people who knew these airmen when they were alive, but the background depth and set-up is much more extensive. This is to set the stage for explaining the extreme barbarism on both sides of this sad conflict. Bradley goes so far as to describe how the US sent armed warships into Tokyo bay after Japan had closed its borders for over a century to the West, the US invasion of the Phillippines (kill everyone over age ten), and the evolution of the Westernized Japanese military. Oh, and the whole Rape of Nanking thing. Lots of gruesome deeds are described, but as a history buff, sometimes you have to walk through the blood to try and understand why man can be so animalistic to his fellow man. It's actually really outstanding historical writing. Show Less
LibraryThing member laxhslr9599
Overall, a great book that really portrays the mindset of the japanese during the war. It does not make the readers feal particularly pleasant, that being the only drawback. Bradley really strives throughout the course of the novel to get most people to realize the extent of what the Japanese tried
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to do to our U.S. soldiers, and he clearly still holds some resentment. The atrocities that occur in the book are umerciful and inhuman; and I warn any about to read it to be prepared to face the worst, not for the lighthearted or the young. Show Less
LibraryThing member pennsylady
Flyboys tells the story of an air raid that took place during the Battle of Iwo Jima, some 150 miles away, when U.S. warplanes bombed the small communications outpost on Chichi Jima.
" While Iwo Jima had Japanese forces numbering 22,000, Chichi Jima's forces numbered 25,000."
Nine American Navy and
One ( Lieutenant George H. W. Bush) was picked up by the American submarine USS Finback.
"The others were captured by the Japanese and held as prisoners.
Then they disappeared."
...torture, execution and in some cases cannibalism.
Initially, when the war was over, the brutality of Chichi Jima was whitewashed.
"The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed."
Families received a censored version of events as many of the Japanese captors were being executed for their war crimes.
Bradley explains "the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians."
Bradley takes us on a intimate tour of the lives of the flyboys ( pre-military)
"Many of the new breed of pilot were teenagers when the war broke out, and piloted fighters and dive bombers against the Japanese in the last two years of the war."
"Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself."
(BN overview)
I didn't begin to set forth or elaborate all of the ancillary history that Bradley presented.
You'll discover that when you read....
The 5 disc audio was presented by the author
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The deceased Flyboys of our story were :
Jimmy Dye from Mount Ephraim, New Jersey
Floyd Hall from Sedalia, Missouri
Marve Mershon from Los Angeles, California
Warren Earl Vaughn from Childress, Texas
Dick Woellhof from Clay Center, Kansas
Grady York from Jacksonville, Florida
Glenn Frazier from Athol, Kansas
Warren Hindenlang of Foxboro, Massachusetts
" While Iwo Jima had Japanese forces numbering 22,000, Chichi Jima's forces numbered 25,000."
Nine American Navy and
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Marine fliers were shot down off the Japanese-held island of Chichi Jima.One ( Lieutenant George H. W. Bush) was picked up by the American submarine USS Finback.
"The others were captured by the Japanese and held as prisoners.
Then they disappeared."
...torture, execution and in some cases cannibalism.
Initially, when the war was over, the brutality of Chichi Jima was whitewashed.
"The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed."
Families received a censored version of events as many of the Japanese captors were being executed for their war crimes.
Bradley explains "the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians."
Bradley takes us on a intimate tour of the lives of the flyboys ( pre-military)
"Many of the new breed of pilot were teenagers when the war broke out, and piloted fighters and dive bombers against the Japanese in the last two years of the war."
"Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself."
(BN overview)
I didn't begin to set forth or elaborate all of the ancillary history that Bradley presented.
You'll discover that when you read....
The 5 disc audio was presented by the author
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The deceased Flyboys of our story were :
Jimmy Dye from Mount Ephraim, New Jersey
Floyd Hall from Sedalia, Missouri
Marve Mershon from Los Angeles, California
Warren Earl Vaughn from Childress, Texas
Dick Woellhof from Clay Center, Kansas
Grady York from Jacksonville, Florida
Glenn Frazier from Athol, Kansas
Warren Hindenlang of Foxboro, Massachusetts
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LibraryThing member Bill_Masom
At first I didn't like this as much as "Flags of our Fathers". I was a little confused as I read it, as the introduction lead me to belive it was going to a different kind of book.
It is excellently researched and written. I can find no fault there. If there is any fault in the book, it is that I
I liked it, but in the same way I liked the movie "Schindler's List". It is not a feel good read.
This is the kind of book that the questions it raises will cause you to chew on it for years. I recommend it, but to a mature audience. I personally wouldn't let my 14 year old son read it, yet. Later, when I feel he can handle some of the subject matter better. And perhaps by then, I will have better handle on it myself.
It is excellently researched and written. I can find no fault there. If there is any fault in the book, it is that I
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found it to be a bit preachy. I really don't like to be preached at. But he pulled it out in the end. It is a very thoughtfull book. I shall be pondering it for years.I liked it, but in the same way I liked the movie "Schindler's List". It is not a feel good read.
This is the kind of book that the questions it raises will cause you to chew on it for years. I recommend it, but to a mature audience. I personally wouldn't let my 14 year old son read it, yet. Later, when I feel he can handle some of the subject matter better. And perhaps by then, I will have better handle on it myself.
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LibraryThing member apelph
I really enjoyed this book, but be warned that it is not a feel-good story, as you might think from the title. The basic story of the 5 downed US pilots is just a vehicle for a very well written look at the atrocities of war and how they came to be. It illustrates very well the moral ambiguity of
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war, and how ethnic, political, social, and military development of a society can propel individuals who may be either good or evil at baseline to perform horrible acts. I agree with another reviewer that it should be read by mature readers only - I wouldn't want my son to read it until he was in (or already out of) college. I think a person needs to be well secure in the belief that humans are basically good before they read something like this that will severely challenge that belief. Show Less
LibraryThing member peggyar
An engrossing and sometimes gross story about the Pacific battle against Japan during W.W.II. Gives a lot of insight into the mindset of the Japanese and what led up to the war and the disastrous consequences for all.
LibraryThing member djaquay
At first, I admit I was afraid this was going to turn into an America-bash-fest, but ultimately I think Bradley did a great job with a somewhat touchy subject: talking about the horrific things that happened on both sides of the Pacific before and during WWII.
LibraryThing member ckoller
Terrific story about Flyboys of the pacific theater in WWII. It was a great sotry which incorporated a great amount of resources and information about other aspects of the war. I really loved this book.
LibraryThing member irishliberator
this is a book that has the downfall of great nation
LibraryThing member meegeekai
Word of caution; don't read this if you are on your way to Japan for business!! I did, big mistake. This is a fantastic book and a impressive layout of how devasting the bombing of Japan was. By the time the narrative gets to that point, your sympathy for the Japanese military is pretty much done.
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I like the way the author wrapped the story of the action at Chichi Jima with a presentation of the Pacific theater air war. Show Less
LibraryThing member PeterFWarren
Recently read this book and overall I liked it. It revealed the brutality that Japanese soldiers showed to our flyers when they were captured. Our men were decapitated and cannabilized by their capturers. Well written by Bradley and it contained some recently released information that had been kept
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from the public for years. Show Less
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
This is a most amazing, heart-breaking and heartfelt telling of what happened to some of our heroic airmen in the Pacific theater during World War II. I was interested in learning about this part of our U.S. military history because, as a child of Holocaust survivors, I mostly learned about WWII
The more I read about man's inhumanity to man in this narrative, the more in disbelief I remained, yet the more I realized that the evil inclination is just as present in man as the good inclination. This is also part of the Jewish teaching I was given when growing up.
I was horrified by this book. Yet, I really appreciate the author's even-handedness in presenting both sides of the conflict by the end of the book. It is now with relief that I can wish my son a pleasant trip to Japan this year and look forward to his stories about that country on his return home.
A line from the end of this book read, "Nations tend to see the other side's war atrocities as systemic and indicative of their culture and their own atrocities as justified or the acts of stressed combatants." This statement is pretty telling about war. I hope that the future brings us all towards better understanding of each other's cultures.
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from the point of view of Nazi Europe. This book took me in depth to another, even more horrendous, part of this lengthy world conflict. The more I read about man's inhumanity to man in this narrative, the more in disbelief I remained, yet the more I realized that the evil inclination is just as present in man as the good inclination. This is also part of the Jewish teaching I was given when growing up.
I was horrified by this book. Yet, I really appreciate the author's even-handedness in presenting both sides of the conflict by the end of the book. It is now with relief that I can wish my son a pleasant trip to Japan this year and look forward to his stories about that country on his return home.
A line from the end of this book read, "Nations tend to see the other side's war atrocities as systemic and indicative of their culture and their own atrocities as justified or the acts of stressed combatants." This statement is pretty telling about war. I hope that the future brings us all towards better understanding of each other's cultures.
Show Less
LibraryThing member dharper1
Good book, great insight to some of the key events of the Pacific theater during WW2.
LibraryThing member Chris_El
Post-Modern. First off this is kind of garbled. You start out learning there is some secret trial during WWII. Just when that starts to get interesting all the sudden we are subjected to a chapter of how American's have a history of committing atrocities and wiping out the Indians starting from the
Then we get a history lesson on Japan and then a chapter on Japanese atrocities. Japan committed terrible terrible atrocities on the Chinese. It talks about how new officers were required to cut off the head of a unarmed civilian tied up to prove they could handle being an officer in a war zone. It talks about for bayonet practice they would circle a Chinese man or woman's heart and then stab them everywhere but in the circle to get as much practice in killing someone before the person actually died. But his point here is that the American's were just as bad because of the way we treated the Indians. So there is really no one that was better than anyone else the Pacific WWII conflict according to this author.
Then we learn that because the Jimmy Doolittle raid when the Americans bombed the Japanese mainland for the first time during WWII we hit a hospital that made us actually worse than the Japanese because they only attacked military targets in the Pearl Harbor sneak attack.
Then there are lots of random stories including one on George H.W. Bush's experiences in WWII. And he finally comes back to his original story but it ends up being lost and overshadowed in everything else he writes.
Don't worry, he also gets in his withing distaste for Teddy Roosevelt worked in here too.
Poorly written. Avoid.
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very beginning of Western civilization coming to the New World. Then we get a history lesson on Japan and then a chapter on Japanese atrocities. Japan committed terrible terrible atrocities on the Chinese. It talks about how new officers were required to cut off the head of a unarmed civilian tied up to prove they could handle being an officer in a war zone. It talks about for bayonet practice they would circle a Chinese man or woman's heart and then stab them everywhere but in the circle to get as much practice in killing someone before the person actually died. But his point here is that the American's were just as bad because of the way we treated the Indians. So there is really no one that was better than anyone else the Pacific WWII conflict according to this author.
Then we learn that because the Jimmy Doolittle raid when the Americans bombed the Japanese mainland for the first time during WWII we hit a hospital that made us actually worse than the Japanese because they only attacked military targets in the Pearl Harbor sneak attack.
Then there are lots of random stories including one on George H.W. Bush's experiences in WWII. And he finally comes back to his original story but it ends up being lost and overshadowed in everything else he writes.
Don't worry, he also gets in his withing distaste for Teddy Roosevelt worked in here too.
Poorly written. Avoid.
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LibraryThing member marshapetry
Really good book, and James Bradley does a good narration job (audiobook). This book tells the story of the WWII aviators in general but, in particular, the story of eight (8? was it 7?) men who flew raids over Tokyo and other areas of Japan. It's not a pleasant tale and the guys that Bradley
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focuses on don't come back to tell their own tale; rather, this tale is told from declassified info and interviews of the other military that knew the aviators. The Japanese were brutal to captives and they were brutal to the eight men discussed. Don't read this book if you are queasy about torture tactics and/or cannibalism - sadly, the aviators in this story met their fate with an inclusion of both. I don't know how those guys stood up to some of the torture they did - it's soooo hard to read about,and I'm sure it was 1000 times worse to experience it..., Show Less
LibraryThing member 5hrdrive
Reverent account of the fates of several Navy and Marine Corps airmen who fell into enemy hands on the island of Chichi-Jima during the last months of World War Two. The book attempts at times to tell the whole story of the Pacific air war - that's too big a tale for this short book, but it
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succeeds when relating the personal stories of a few American POW's and their captors. Show Less
LibraryThing member Willard_Paul
This is the story of the brutal, sadistic, and demonic treatment of our airmen who had the misfortune to end up on Chichi Jima and their courageous fortitude under pressure. It is a well-told story.
LibraryThing member VhartPowers
I couldn't trust the author to tell the history of his subject. The information he gave in the beginning of the book was half the story of each of his rant. It came across that he was trying to make America the big bad boogy-man. I'm not interested in his opinion when I'm expecting a book on
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history. Show Less
LibraryThing member JRCornell
The story of Japanese and American fighter pilots and their battle over the Pacific during the Second World War. Focusing primarily on nine American pilots who were gunned down and captured by the Japanese on the isolated island of Chichi Jim, Bradley reveals the unsettling fate of these captured
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men, a story kept secret for sixty years. SOFT Show Less
LibraryThing member SDWets
Given to me by my mom from the CCHS collection. Read during the fall of 2021 right after taking over as OpsO for LSB. Read in the field during a Bn FEX. Great book that provides unbiased and detailed account of WWII and going back even further into the history of western/US relationships with
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Japan. Also interesting to read from an EABO perspective and how Japan drastically failed at it at the beginning of WWII and what it led their troops to do. Definitely recommend to other WWII and military history fans. Not a huge fan of the title, but it does a great job of explaining how crucial "flyboys" were to the US success in WWII. Show Less
LibraryThing member armyofbobs
These guys played with different stakes than many of us today.
Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Non-Fiction — 2004)
Indies Choice Book Award (Honor Book — Adult Nonfiction — 2004)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003 (1st edition)
ISBN
031610728X / 9780316107280