Thunderbolt: The P-47

by Robert S. Johnson, Martin Caidin (With)

1999: by Robert S. Johnson-World War ll. 8th printing of 1958 copyright. Confirmed kills of 28 flying the P-47 Thunderbolt. Paperback cover is bright and shiny; binding is tight; text is clean; page edges are sharp.

284 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Samuel Johnson was a fighter pilot with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. He is credited with scoring 27 victories during the conflict flying a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

Johnson was the first USAAF fighter pilot in the European theater to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I score of 26 victories.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross (x8) and the Purple Heart.

Reviews

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a WWII fighter pilot from his childhood discovery of flying up to his days in the war. I found the first half of the book fascinating because we have lived in Lawton, OK and identified with many of the places he went. It made the book a little more relatable to me. It was interesting how much training they had to go through to get to fly and how it was conducted. The air battles aren't all that familiar to me and this explained how the fighters went about their work.
An interesting true life history lesson.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I last read this when I was 12 or 13, and loved it. I need to read it again now that I'm longer in the tooth, and can take in more of the historical aspect.