What do you think?
Rate this book
God Is My Copilot
A personal narrative of a man who has had one of the outstanding careers in American aviation.
206 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1964
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 26, 2024
This book is what it is. It is a propaganda piece designed to drum up support for the war. Wars need young men and young men need to be convinced it is a good idea to join the military and leave their girls and future behind, or at least put it all on hold. That is why I gave the book three stars. This book and the film version that followed advanced Roosevelts war efforts.
Why I gave it three stars instead of one star is because the stories are wonderful. Men will do amazing things for medals, girls, each other, and an idea. Multiple times throughout the book the author admits the concepts of "democracy" and "republic" are little more than conceptual ideas that do not mean much to the guys fighting. What does mean a lot to them is glory and girls. Glory and girls can get men to do all kinds of things that otherwise would never make sense and Govt is excellent at manipulating reality get men to seek glory and girls, while really advancing interests of the State that are actually against their best interests and will likely leave them forever scarred, if they survive at all.
This book does capture the culture and atmosphere of the United States in 1943. The country was segregated and separated and whites and blacks seldom crossed into each others spheres. The race elements of the book would never get published today as the author refers to all non whites with the same terms you would expect, starting with the very first paragraph of the book, which totally caught me by surprise. Hard to believe the fellows fighting Roosevelt's war were such heroes and they would be hated if they spoke and performed like they did for Roosevelt's war machine.
Why I gave it three stars instead of one star is because the stories are wonderful. Men will do amazing things for medals, girls, each other, and an idea. Multiple times throughout the book the author admits the concepts of "democracy" and "republic" are little more than conceptual ideas that do not mean much to the guys fighting. What does mean a lot to them is glory and girls. Glory and girls can get men to do all kinds of things that otherwise would never make sense and Govt is excellent at manipulating reality get men to seek glory and girls, while really advancing interests of the State that are actually against their best interests and will likely leave them forever scarred, if they survive at all.
This book does capture the culture and atmosphere of the United States in 1943. The country was segregated and separated and whites and blacks seldom crossed into each others spheres. The race elements of the book would never get published today as the author refers to all non whites with the same terms you would expect, starting with the very first paragraph of the book, which totally caught me by surprise. Hard to believe the fellows fighting Roosevelt's war were such heroes and they would be hated if they spoke and performed like they did for Roosevelt's war machine.
Displaying 1 of 1 review