Five Down and Glory:: A History of the American Air Ace

by Gene Gurney

The definitive history of the aces of the American air forces from World War I to the Korean Conflict. Included also is a complete compilation of ace fighter pilot's victory tallies, for every war, every theater, and every service in which aviation was a fighting part.

“IN reading Captain Gene Gurney’s Five Down and Glory, you will find that none of our surviving aces were reckless daredevils. None of them was motivated alone by a burning, all-consuming hatred for the people they were fighting. None of them achieved Acedom through selfish egotistical drive for personal glory. None of them was introverted.

They were all warmly human individuals with close ties among their Squadron mates. None of them became Aces because they were concerned only with fighting against an ideology—nor for an ideology. They fought for other people and for their own survival.”-Foreword by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Colonel Gene Gurney was a U.S. Air Force officer and a prolific author on many different subjects. Although much of his work was concerned with aviation history, he wrote books on several other topics as well.

Reviews

[Jack Hwang · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some editorial and historical errors. For example the author mentioned that Chennault was in command of Chinese Air Force in 1937. It's farthest from the truth. Chennault was merely a consultant for Chinese Air Force with a three months contract when he arrived China. Anyway, it still a good book about American aces.