In My Sights Completed: The Memoir of a P-40 Ace

by Col. James B. Morehead (Ret.)

As a young man with uncertain prospects, Jim Morehead was not unlike thousands of other young men who came of age during the Depression. A product of hardscrabble farming in Oklahoma, he enlisted for World War II service in August 1940. On the 6th of February, 1942, following deployment to the South Pacific, Morehead earned the first of two Distinguished Service Crosses for his actions in his initial combat mission. He describes his wartime service in flying the P-40 Warhawk single engine monoplane against the vaunted Japanese Zero, thought by many to be the finest attack plane of the war. Not content with becoming an Ace in the Pacific theater, he volunteered for active service in Europe against the Nazi hordes, and served there flying the P-38 fighter, protecting our bomber fleets from attack by the justly feared Luftwaffe.

Paperback

First published November 4, 1997

Reviews

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat simple memoir with a strong focus on combat experience. The author gives a decent background of his life growing up on a farm in the depression and how tough that was. But after he joins the military he does not spend much time talking about his personal life.

He spends a good deal of time talking about his experience early in the war against Japan against the Zero which was a better plane than our fighter planes giving the Japanese a big advantage. He had a lot of his squadron mates die in the Pacific. He also talks about his experience with the people of New Zealand and Australia.

After many adventures he was transferred back to the States where he did some instructor time, got married, and then assigned to the European theater in Italy flying bomber escort in P-38s.

He does talk about his next assignments after the war and working with Jet aircraft. He spent some time in Korea and some time training Taiwanese Air Force pilots. However, he doesn't go in depth on his time there or really have much deep analysis on the people other than a few stories he shares.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mediocre memoir of a genuine war hero. Disjointed, poorly edited and, weirdly, too detailed and not informative enough at the same time. Still, a nice memento for his family. And autographed at the Reno air show so I guess we have to keep it.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this because James Morehead lived in Petaluma where I currently reside. I would give it an extra half star for the hometown connection if I could. This was an enjoyable read because much of the book deals with a forgotten aspect of WWII, namely the largely futile efforts to slow the Japanese advances in the South Pacific. Morehead mixes in plenty of anecdotes in with the combat descriptions. He comes off as a hot head, a womanizer and a bit full of himself in my opinion, but it is clear that he was an excellent pilot and deserving of the title of ace.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

A so-so war memoir by a pompous and pretentious pilot.