The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II

by Don Brown, Capt. Jerry Yellin (Primary Contributor)

*A NATIONAL BESTSELLER!*

The New York Post calls The Last Fighter Pilot a "must-read" book.

From April to August of 1945, Captain Jerry Yellin and a small group of fellow fighter pilots flew dangerous bombing and strafe missions out of Iwo Jima over Japan. Even days after America dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, the pilots continued to fly. Though Japan had suffered unimaginable devastation, the emperor still refused to surrender.

Bestselling author Don Brown ( Treason ) sits down with Yelllin, now ninety-three years old, to tell the incredible true story of the final combat mission of World War II. Nine days after Hiroshima, on the morning of August 14th, Yellin and his wingman 1st Lieutenant Phillip Schlamberg took off from Iwo Jima to bomb Tokyo. By the time Yellin returned to Iwo Jima, the war was officially over—but his young friend Schlamberg would never get to hear the news. The Last Fighter Pilot is a harrowing first-person account of war from one of America's last living World War II veterans.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, World War II, Military History, Aviation

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

DON BROWN, a former U.S. Navy JAG Officer, is the author of Zondervan’s riveting NAVY JUSTICE SERIES. a dynamic storyline chronicling the life and adventures of JAG officer ZACK BREWER. In 2003, Don began writing TREASON, his first novel in the NAVY JUSTICE SERIES. After TREASON was published to rave reviews in 2005, drawing comparisons to the writing style of John Grisham, DON BROWN was named as co-chairman of national I Love To Write Day, an event recognized by the governors of nine states to promote writing throughout the nation, and especially among the nation’s schools. HOSTAGE and DEFIANCE, the second and third novels in the series, were published in 2006 and 2007. BLACK SEA AFFAIR, was released in June of 2008, and with a bonechilling plot and precipient accuracy of international events, has been called the “Novel that Predicted the Russian-Georgian War,” which broke out just two months later, in August of 2008! Don is now penning his fifth novel, entitled THE MALACCAN CONSPIRACY, to be released in June of 2010. Paying no homage to political correctness, DON BROWN’S writing style is described as “gripping,” casting an entertaining and educational spin on a wide-range of current issues, from radicalIslamic infiltration of the military, to the explosive issue of gays in the military, to the modern day issues of presidential politics in the early 21st Century. The Charlotte World Newspaper described TREASON as “A DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH STORY FULL OF ACTION, INTRIGUE, AND THE KIND OF CALCULATED TYRANNY THAT YOU COULD FIND IN THE HEADLINES OF ANY MAJOR DAILY AT ANY MOMENT.” The Romance Reader’s Connection described Don’s novels as “fascinating and fresh.” In November of 2009, four years after it was released, and in the wake of Fort Hood, TREASON rocketed to the top-selling in the nation on the Amazon.com bestseller list for fiction, and remained there for over a week. On Thanksgiving Day of 2009, all four of Don’s novels were ranked in the top 5 on the Amazon bestseller list for fiction! DON BROWN graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1982, and after finishing law school, continued his post-graduate studies through the Naval War College, earning the Navy’s nonresident certificate in International Law. During his five years on active duty in the Navy, Don served in the Pentagon, was published in the Naval Law Review, and was also a recipient of the Navy Achievement Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.'

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 3 out of 5]

"THE LAST FIGHTER PILOT: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II" is centered mainly on the combat service of Army Captain Jerry Yellin of the 78th Fighter Squadron (15th Fighter Group, United States Army Air Force [USAAF]) in the Pacific between March and August 15, 1945 (the end of the war). Yellin was part of a unique group of U.S. Army fighter pilots tasked with protecting B-29 bombers on their extended, oceanic missions against Japan during the final months of the war.

Based on Iwo Jima, Yellin and his fellow pilots flew Very Long Range (VLR) P-51D Mustangs on missions over the Japanese home islands that often lasted up to 8 hours. These were very challenging missions, not simply because of the long distances involved - a situation similar to that faced by their counterparts flying P-51 Mustangs with the 8th Air Force in Europe on deep penetration bomber escort missions over Germany. There was also the vagaries of the weather, which cost the lives of some of Yellin's fellow pilots.

The book also serves as a tribute to the sacrifices made by several of Yellin's close friends in the 78th Fighter Squadron who did not survive the war. One of them, in particular, deserves special mention: First Lieutenant Phil Schlamberg of New York City, age 19, who, as Yellin's wingman, was lost on the last combat mission of the war on August 15, 1945.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty interesting and I liked that it wasn't long. I don't know that much about the military and seeing how the pilots started so young and gave their lives for the war was sad but so honorable. I felt so bad for Jerry, watching his friends die, especially Phillip who shouldn't have died because the war was over.
This kept a decent pace and I liked learning about the pilots from someone who lived through it. Good narration for the audiobook.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. a lot of interesting things going on, although a short book. which made it great to read.
I liked it as my dad flew B29's in the Pacific.
It gave me insight on that.
Also the battle of Iwo Jima gave insight as to why the atom bombs were used.
I highly recommend this book.

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible.com 4 hours 40 min. Narrated by Robertson Dean (A)

The true story of the last combat mission World War Two.
Too many of us believe that the air war ended after the the second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.
There is an interesting introduction to the book by 90 year old Capt. Yellin, and a forward written by the niece of his wingman another Jewish pilot from New Jersey was actually the last pilot to lose his life on the last bombing mission over Japan.
The author spends one chapter filling in details on the decades in Japan leading up to WW2.

[Sofia Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

His story is super compelling, especially when you think about all the hardships he’s overcome. It was truly mind-blowing. It’s super detailed, and anyone who loves aviation would be hooked on this amazingly true story!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read many nonfiction books about WWII and I don't think I've ever read any that were specifically about the pilots. I know this is the first book I've read specifically about the "The Last Fighter Pilot" but I'm really glad I read this one.

My father was in WWII but he was a sailor, so I don't know much about the pilots and their experiences. I will say that this book opened my eyes to some atrocities that I've never known until reading this. Jerry Yellin (now Captain Jerry Yellin) was just a couple days past his 18th birthday when he joined the U.S. Army Air Force. I don't mean this disrespectfully, but that seems like just a boy to me. However, he proved himself to be a man (in my eyes) by the things he did during the war. The men and women who served during WWII are definitely heroes.

This is not the kind of book you can "summarize" but I will say that one strong message that came across to me is the importance of confidence. Pilots needed to differentiate between confidence, overly confident, and lack of confidence, because the latter two were far more likely to cause your death. Those who survive often live with the "guilt" of "Why did I live while my friends and so many others died?" Of course, there's never an answer to that question.

God bless our troops!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot in the USAAF who happened to fly the last combat mission over Japan as the final surrender terms were agreed on. He returned to his base on Iwo Jima to learn that the war had ended several hours earlier while he was attacking targets in Japan. We met and talked with Captain Jerry Yellin by phone and Skype several times; he was a very honest and genuine human being and we learned sadly that he has passed away now. His accounts of some of the air combat he experienced were very realistic and some of that intensity is contained in this book. Great read for any WWII buffs especially for the War in the Pacific with Japan as well as interest in War and History.

[Wes Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read two books on this topic prior to this one. It is easier to comprehend but engaging and provides enough detail to keep the reader (even the avid history reader) interested for the duration. It is not a reference or text book but more a story and a tribute that is well worth the time.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The greatest honor of my life was to serve my country.” Jerry Yellin

The most surprising fact I learned is that we landed aircraft on Iwo Jima while the battle still raged and pilots had to fight as infantrymen.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and very sad too. Quick easy read

[Penecks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Last Fighter Pilot is a short narrative focusing on Jerry Yellin's stint in the army air force, mostly escorting bombers over the Japanese home islands during the very end of the war, and focusing on some of his relationships with his flightmates. Overall, I can't recommend this book to any serious history reader. Don Brown starts off all over the place, attempting to bring readers up to speed on the war, but blundering around into completely useless information like the Chinese front, MacArthur and FDR, and bombing over Europe, barely even mentioning how Yellin arrived at his Iwo Jima airbase and the island hopping campaign preceding it.

This lack of exposition would be fine, but Brown fluffs half the book with this roundabout fact hunt. There is some decent information about the P-51 units that led the escort missions, a side of the war that often gets lost in the naval-heavy aviation history of the Pacific theater, but it is so wispy, the actual content of the book could easily be squeezed to maybe 25 pages at most, including the relevant memories given by Yellin.

Sadly given the complete lack of any substance, this book feels like a car salesman's decor item rather than any historical work.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Nonfiction WWII. It was the story of a young man who was flying a mission the moment the war ended giving him the distinction of being the Last Fighter Pilot. Not all who flew with him that day made it back to base. War is heartache.

This was the story from the perspective of a fighter pilot and his service during the war. It covered the bombings in the Pacific and the people involved. While it talked about grim tragedy, it wasn't graphic. It was tame compared to some of the Historical Fiction I've read.

I liked this. I appreciated his service, the service of those before him and those who have come after. So 3 stars.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

“History sometimes serves fascinating slices of irony. With the news emerging in 1945 of the Nazi atrocities against Jews half a world away, how ironic that the war’s final mission would be flown by a couple of Jewish pilots from New York and New Jersey, and that the final combat life in the defense of freedom would be laid down by a teenage Jewish fighter pilot who had not yet learned to even drive a car.”

For this reviewer, that direct quotation from co-author Jerry Yellin’s forward to Don Brown’s war biography, “The Last Fighter Pilot,” was the glue that holds this entire combat journal together. As Yellin points out in that same forward, this "is not only (Yellin’s) story during the final six months of the air war against Japan from Iwo Jima, but is also the story of many brave fighter pilots with whom (Yellin) served.”

As author Brown notes in his preface, this May 2017 release covers “the final chapter of the greatest war the world has ever known . . . culminating in the final combat mission flown by the man who would become the last living fighter pilot of World War II.”

For the casual Pacific war history student, there are a few surprises contained within these pages. For example, did you know that on December 7, 1941, Wheeler Army Airfield was the first target of Japanese dive bombers? According to author Brown, “The Japanese struck the airfield before moving on to the Navy ships at Pearl Harbor, hoping to prevent the American warplanes at Wheeler from engaging them.” Who knew? Certainly not Hollywood. Have you ever seen that first-strike-at-Wheeler scene depicted in any war film?

And another surprise. Even though Japan destroyed seventy-six of the 146 operational aircraft parked at Wheeler and “continued to bomb the airfield throughout their assault on Pearl Harbor . . . yet, somehow, twelve pilots . . . succeeded in getting their (aircraft) in the air.” Who knew? Certainly not Hollywood. If I recall that scene in 2001’s Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster “Pearl Harbor” correctly, Ben Affleck, (as Captain Rafe McCawley), and Josh Hartnett, (as Captain Danny Walker), were the only two, (not twelve), American pilots who succeeded in getting their P-40’s airborne to engage the enemy. I guess a dozen pilots engaged in a dog fight over Pearl Harbor would be too messy.

And yet a third surprise. Note this scene played out for real on March 26, 1945 at the Twenty-First Fighter Group’s Iwo Jima headquarters. “The American pilots, for their part, weren’t infantrymen, and they preferred fighting in the skies rather than on the ground. But they were determined to fight back as the Japanese made their last stand on Iwo Jima. All around the camp, the lightly armed airmen grouped together in tents to resist the Japanese (last-ditch, suicide charge.) Most were carrying .45-caliber pistols; they faced (an enemy) field army (carrying) rifles, bayonets, hand-grenades and other explosives.” Who knew? Certainly not Hollywood. When have you seen on film American pilots armed with pistols, on the ground, fighting to hold off “a surprise Banzai (ambush) from the Japanese?”

And maybe not a surprise, but an item rarely talked about in American history books. Brown and Yellin document here “sporadic anti-Semitism (Yellin faced) growing up” in Hillside, New Jersey. The authors note that “anti-Semitism (was) on the rise in America” in the summer of 1936. A twelve-year-old Yellin once “discovered the garage of his home painted with the words ‘Jew’ and ‘Nazi’ and his house covered with swastikas.” Not long after that vandalism occurred, Jerry’s friends “turned on him and called him a ‘cowardly Jew like the rest of them.’”

Finally, a couple of apparent typos worth considering. On page 110, Brown describes an April 7, 1945 escort mission to Japan from Iwo Jima. Picture this. Jerry Yellin and the rest of the Mustang pilots are sitting on the airfield waiting for the bombers to arrive overhead. “The B-29s were approaching, the pilots knew, somewhere in the southern skies. And soon they appeared, an incredible sight of over a hundred single-engine fighter planes, painted in their aviation battle gray.” Now that begs the question. Since when are B-29 bombers classified as “fighter planes” and what happened to the other three engines?

And then there’s the map on page 114 clearly showing “Suruga Bay and the Sagami Gulf (as) two great inland bays near the landmark Mount Fuji.” However, whenever Jerry Yellin’s flight path is mentioned in the text on pages 112 and following, it always refers to Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay. So, which is it? Sagami Gulf or Sagami Bay? A bit nit-picky, I know.

This reviewer’s biggest surprise? Jerry Yellin. Yes. The hero of this book. Where is he? He rarely shows up in these pages! The last (American) fighter pilot is mostly missing from “The Last Fighter Pilot.” It’s basically a replay of the last six months of the Pacific air war. A straight historical re-telling. Minus any personal input from the main character. Apparently, no author interviews with the main character. No first-hand account. Something you could find in any high school American history book.

Two things. First, the previously mentioned ground battle between pistol-packing P-51 pilots and the Japanese “ghost” infantry on Iwo Jima along with the search-and-failed-rescue of Yellin’s wing man, Dick Schroeppel would make a terrific, full-length feature film. We could call it “The Last Missing Fighter Pilot.”

[Jim Jaqcobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief, too many diversions about issues unrelated to the Captain. Disappointed in author's writing capability. I felt he was writing for high school students-the forties, my generation.

After all the publicity and hype "The Last Fighter Pilot" was a disappointment.

Jim, Wilmette

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story loved it

[Eric Althoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry Yellin, now 93, holds the dubious distinction of being witness to the final American combat death of World War II. Returning from a bombing run over Japan on Aug. 15, 1945, Capt. Yellin watched a plane piloted by his friend and colleague, 1st Lieutenant Phil Schlamberg, disappear into a cloudbank, never to be seen again.

Even more horrifyingly, Capt. Yellin would land back at the American airbase on Iwo Jima to discover that the war had been over for three hours, but word had never reached the American fighters as they dropped their ordnance over an already-surrendered Japan.

“The Last Fighter Pilot,” a brisk read of less than 200 pages, sees author Don Brown recounting the months of missions and incremental progress made by the American forces leading up to Yellin’s final bombing run over enemy territory. While the horrors and excitement of war, of waking up daily to not know if you would sleep that evening in a bunk or eternally as a KIA, are covered here, what Brown does so well is showcase how even the minutiae of base life in between missions can grate on men and morale. And yet even under such trying circumstances, Brown recounts Yellin’s absurd moments of normalcy, such as a Seder held on Iwo Jima with other Jewish members of his unit.

In an interview I conducted with Yellin for The Washington Times [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...] he told me that anti-Semitism was as prevalent then as it is now: “[The Jewish soldiers] had to be three times as good. The Tuskegee Airmen had to be three times as good.” Furthermore, Yellin told me he suffered for decades under the yoke of PTSD and contemplated suicide several times—only pulling himself back from the edge knowing he had children to care for.

It was learning transcendental meditation in the 1970s that finally helped him quiet some of the demons—including survivors guilt—and seeing his own son marry a Japanese woman that would quell the hatred of the former enemy. Yellin has returned to Iwo Jima several times and even shaken hands with Japanese veterans.

Now in his final days, Yellin, a fellow Jersey boy, told me he hopes that people will learn from his story about the incalculable costs of war. He says he is fearful those lessons may not ever be learned and that humanity’s history continues to be cyclical and violent.

But if we cannot change the character of our species, we can, individually, learn from those who have changed their own hearts, such as Capt. Yellin, who has let go of his hatred and the demons that haunted him thanks to surviving when so many of his friends did not. “The Last Fighter Pilot” is illuminating in its coverage of what the experience was like of being the final warrior called to action in the greatest conflict in human history.

[Tim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and enjoyable relatively brief listen at 4 hours and 40 minutes, _The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II_ does just that, tells the story of the last combat mission of the war as experienced by Captain Jerry Yellin of the 78th Fighter Squadron, 7th Fighter Command, as he flew his P-51 on a mission over Tokyo on August 15, 1945, a mission during which Japan actually surrendered but he didn’t understand this till he landed back at base in Iwo Jima. It is also the story of his wingman, First Lieutenant Philip Schlamberg, who did not return from the mission and is the last combat fatality of the war (interestingly, his grandniece is famous, actress Scarlett Johansson).

Though the mission is well-covered, it is only a relatively small part of the book, as the book covers the story of Yellin and his squadron from April 1945 up to the end of the war, arriving on Iwo Jima to use as base to either escort B-29s or on other missions without the bombers, arriving when Iwo Jima was still very much being contested and becoming involved in the fighting both on the air and on the ground. The book gives good coverage of the missions flown against Iwo Jima, ground fighting on Iwo Jima, missions against another Japanese island, and against the Japanese mainland in the final months of the war, has some exciting almost cinematic scenes (particularly fighting on the ground on Iwo Jima, during a mission to protect a downed P-51 pilot, in the skies over Japan fighting Japanese fighter planes, and a scary flight through a storm on the way to attack Japan), and gives quite a bit of coverage of the end game in the Pacific, including the actual bombing of Hiroshima and the gap between the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, and Japan’s surrender on August 15, including American missions following Hiroshima and Nagasaki, debates in the U.S. military leadership, the Japanese coup over surrendering, and the thoughts and feelings of the pilots to the bombing of Hiroshima. There is also some coverage of the life of both Yellin and Schlamberg before the war, a good bit about their training, and an epilogue where Yellin decades later revisits Iwo Jima as an elderly veteran.

Good pacing, clear writing, very informative, and I learned things about the war I had not known. I liked the coverage of how pilots dealt with flying through bad weather and how that could be as dangerous or more so than Japanese defenders. If P-51s or B-29s interest you, you learn a good bit about them.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

First - a quick note. This book clocks in at 203 pages of writing (before acknowledgement, index, etc.), and the book is a 7.5" x 6" format.

The good part of this book - there is a great story here. Jerry Yellin was on perhaps the last combat mission against Japan. His unit missed the recall transmission, attacked Japan after the armistice, and one of his friends and flight members, Philip Schlamberg, arguably became the last combat casualty of WW2. The book discusses Yellin's time as a P-51 pilot based on Iwo Jima. The role of P-51s sometimes feels like a footnote to the massive B-29 campaign against Japan, and this book provides some insights based on Yellin's perspective. Yellin opened up to Brown and talked him through many of the emotions he felt and dealt with.

The bad part of this book - sloppy execution. It's a very readable account, though better editing could have added clarity in parts. Errors will often pop up in any book, but this one is chock full of them. A number of them are fairly innocuous - the AM-6 Zero? Avenger classified as a dive bomber? Navy Dauntless labeled with USAAF nomenclature as an A-24? - any one of them not a big issue, but the large volume of them raises some questions - why didn't they have anyone with some background review the text? What other errors (more significant) are lurking?

There also is a lot of hyperbole, such as this remarkable statement - "Thus, controlling Iwo Jima became key to the US war effort in the Pacific." Yes, escort fighters were a welcome addition to the bombing campaign against Japan, but Brown overstates their importance. Brown also states Iwo Jima was seized to provide airfields for escort fighters - this was one reason, but one of many and not the primary one.

These are just some of the examples. The part focused on P-51s based in Iwo Jima and Yellin's experiences are interesting and worthwhile - it's a shame that more effort wasn't placed into making this the better book it could have been.

[Scott Klemm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Brown’s The Last Fighter Pilot is an engaging and interesting account of the last days of World War II. It begins with the fight for Iwo Jima, and ends with the dropping of the atomic bombs and the final surrender of Japan a few days later. I thought I was well versed in the events of World War II, but I learned some new things. For example, until picking up Don Brown’s book, I had never heard of the act of Japanese cannibalism known as the “Chichi Jima Incident.”

The war is presented through the eyes of Jerry Yellin who flew the final combat mission over Japan. His friend and wingman, Philip Schlamberg, was the last American casualty in the war. Although the title page lists the authors as “Don Brown with Captain Jerry Yellin,” I found little evidence of Yellin’s participation in writing this book beyond his 6-page forward. The book contains only four footnotes of which two are from Jerry Yellin’s autobiography entitled Of War and Weddings. Also, I would have expected a few photos of Yellin throughout the pages, but the only pictures of him are on the book’s dust jacket. (I presume it’s him since there are no captions.) With exception of one picture of Phil Schlamberg, the others are mostly maps. The one entitled “Controlling Iwo Jima became the key to U.S. war effort in the Pacific” (p. 27) was rather poor. Tiny black letters on a dark gray background made it hard to read.


I’m a bit torn on how to rate the book. I did find it interesting, but I think a better job could have been done in its presentation. For one thing, I like to see documentation. Also, I would have liked more illustrations than the few maps and two diagrams of flight patterns. Anyhow, I decided to err on the side of generosity and give the book a four-star out of five rating.

[Owen]

My book was The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War 2. This book is a really good and I recommend it. It is about Jerry Yellin that enlisted in the Army Air Corps two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The battle he was in was the battle of Chichi Jima. When he landed on the island it smelt so bad. There were dead bodies stacked up on each other by the runway. He had to dig a foxhole so he could sleep. There was gunfire and explosions and it was hard to sleep. The whole island was basically one big volcano. The Japanese had tunnels underneath the surface of the island to get around safely.

Jerry was flying his plane trying to send attacks to the ground. When he was flying over the ocean he got shot down and used the ejector seat and landed in the ocean. He swam back to the beach and U.S. troops found him. He got on a boat to get another plane. Once he got the plane he started dropping bombs on the island to defend his fellow soldiers on the ground. The soldiers on the ground were using gases to get the Japanese out. The U.S. got a lot of prisoners. They soon got reinforcements with big machine guns and they started to beat the Japanese. Back in the air Jerry was shooting down Japanese planes. In the end one of his friends was shot down and they never found his body and he was the last death in WW2.

This book was great. It had so much action and it was exciting. My favorite part was when he first landed on the island and it stunk because he wasn’t used to it. I recommend this book because it was a really good one. It was a really good true story. It felt like I was in the action because of its detail. It was a really good book.

[Charles Ramler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last Fighter Pilot was an excellent book, but also bit of a disappointment for me personally. It felt as if too much of the book is an overview of the historical context and a general introduction to the Pacific theater, rather than the great story of a wartime heroes journey.

While this isn't inherently a bad thing, it just takes away from the story of Jerry Yellin. So many pages of the book are devoted to basic history that what we are left with falls flat, under delivers, and distracts from the main purpose of the book.

For example: The foreword by Jerry is one of the best parts of the book, in which we get to see behind the curtain into the pysche of a true warrior who fought nobly for his country AND the men next to him. It is 6 pages long. Chapter 19 "The Blazing Winds of August" gives us 7 pages of an account of dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Why does this need to be in the book? The book has such a strong story about loss, survivors guilt, and many other aspects of being a soldier that is so worthy of sharing. It just seems that many things were added as filler, which can lead to reader fatigue and an unnecessary long book.

Another minor critique I had was I was under the impression that we would learn more about Jerry's post-war experience, and his battles with alcoholism and PTSD. That is not explored at all, but I could be confusing this with another book.

In conclusion, this is a great read! If your knowledge about the Pacific theater is lacking this is an excellent way to learn about it while also learning about Jerry Yellin and the pilots he flew with. If you are just looking for the latter, this could have been executed better, but it's still worth it if you're interested in the story.

[Tim Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is my favorite style of military history--telling the story from the point of view of an individual warrior and his experience of combat.

The Last Fighter Pilot tells such a story--of Jerry Yellin, who led his squadron during the last WWII fighter mission over Japan. It is a good, short read and captures Yellin's background, experience and difficulties of the war well. The author's description of Yellin's first night on Iwo Jima was particularly good.

The book suffers from two flaws. The first is the title; a misleading message about the subject of the book. There have been thousands of fighter pilots since Yellin and many have faced combat more intense and difficult than he did. He wasn't the last fighter pilot. He was one of the flight leads on the last fighter mission of WWII.

The second is the author's, shall we say, forced, stilted and sometimes over-adoring prose. The story tells itself and an informed reader doesn't need the author's help in drawing conclusions. One example:

"Fearless in facing death was a must. Jerry, for his part, had both the talent and the motivation. He'd become a fighter pilot to kill Japanese solders, to exact vengeance on them for attacking his country and killing his countrymen, and to defend freedom. And that's exactly what he was going to do."

A story well-told doesn't need such commentary from the author. The story is the commentary.

In the end, though, it is a good, personal look at aerial combat, the triumphs and losses that every warrior experiences and worth the time if a reader can see past the faults.

[RoseMary author · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone with the slightest interest in the Pacific battles of WWII should read this book. Anyone who wants to support our WWII veterans should read this book.

The Last Fighter Pilot is already a National Bestseller and the NY Post is declaring it a must-read book. I'm totally with them on that call.

The Last Fighter Pilot is the thrilling story covering a part of Captain Jerry Yellin's time in the war from March - August 1945--V-J Day. Having already felt the depth of Captain Yellin's experiences by reading Of War & Weddings, I expected that emotional connection to play a large role in his collaboration with author Don Brown.

It did.

I read this book on a road trip to Washington, DC to witness a Veteran V-J day tribute. It was hard not to read the entire book out loud to my husband. It’s an adventure story that the reader has to continue to remember is a TRUE story, not fiction.

There are many historical facts that I didn’t know—some wickedly awful like that there were Japanese who killed POWs and ate them—sharing that cannibalism with other units like others might share steaks. That was horrifying.

Another fact was the sheer number of B-29s (300) and Mustangs (over 100) that attacked Japan on April 7, 1945. I can’t imagine what the onslaught of that sort of power looked like to those below.

Page after page reveals heroic acts and brave deaths. I was elated with the wins and found myself close to tears at the losses.

Don’t hesitate—pick up this book and delve in. You won’t be disappointed.

[Joe Rohaly · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does it feel to be the very last pilot to fight an air battle in a great war? The Last Fighter Pilot told me exactly what is was like since this book is about his experience as a pilot flying out of Iwo Jima during the war against Japan. Until this book all I knew about Iwo Jima was that it took several thousand Marine lives to chase the Japanese off the island and when they raised the American flag one photographer got lucky and took a picture that memorialized the place. Other than that I was never aware that Iwo Jima the island became a vital stepping stone in the defeat of the Japanese in WWII.
I became aware of this book while watching an interview with Captain Jerry Yellin on TV. My God I thought the guy is ninety-three, he still fits in his Army Air Corp uniform and he is a sharp as a tack, I want to hear his story. I ordered his book through my library, and waited three months for it to arrive, there were twenty-four holds on it before me. I picked up the book on Saturday afternoon, and finished reading it on Monday evening. I love war stories, with airplanes, and this was a great one.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book. It's good, the title is somewhat deceptive in that the last combat mission is mentioned in only the beginning and the end of the book.

The book does detail the life of Jerry Yellin and how he became a pilot and his upbringing along with several missions he flew during WWII. The book also mentions George H.W. Bush and his being shot down and ditching at sea and was rescued (this same story has been mentioned in other WWII books about the Pacific War too).

The book is good though lacks some of the edge of your seat, adrenaline rush common with other books about this same subject matter.

The book does a great job of detailing just how random the loss of life in combat can be and that each pilot that flew missions in the Pacific knew that they may not return to their base or ship given that sometimes half of their squadron mates would not return from a mission and would never be seen or heard from again and their deaths could not always be attributed to being shot down.

I do recommend the book just not as highly as other WWII books I have read.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read about the final months of World War II in the Pacific Theater. Well written and focused on the life/actions of Captain Yellin. Joining the Army (actually the Army Air Forces) after Pearl Harbor, CPT Yellin trained as a fighter pilot and then deployed in early 1945 to support operations on Iwo Jima. His experiences there will almost certainly never be experienced by a USAF pilot in the future - very different times. Once that mission was complete, his squadron then begin missions to attack the Japanese homeland. Again, very interesting to read about their tactics and experiences... mainly the huge loss of life amongst the pilots. The end of the book was very interesting as it gave one a first person account of the waiting period between the dropping of the atomic bombs and the Japanese surrender. It was certainly a challenging time for those in the tactical/operational fight. Upon hearing of the Japanese surrender, CPT Yellin was on that last combat mission of WWII and unfortunately suffered a loss at the same time.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book out loud to my 7th grade son as we are currently living in Hiroshima, Japan. We learned about some of the history building up to World War II, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the battle to overtake and secure Iwo Jima and the flights and missions based from Iwo Jima to attack Tokyo. We read a chapter about the dropping of the A-bomb and also learned about how ferocious the Japanese military was. For example, I never knew that the Japanese killed a total of 26 million people, or that they cannibalised US POW's. I think what struck me the most was the number of close friends this man lost as a result of war. How these men found the strength to go on fighting after loosing one after another comrade, I do not know. It was a stirring account and at the end of the story I found myself sobbing while reading it aloud.

[Bill Shuey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four star rating is based on the historical elements of the story not because it replicates Steinbeck or Hemingway. The story centers on Captain Jerry Yellin and his memories of the WWII war while a P-51 fighter pilot on Iwo Jima.

The book will provide a window into the horrors of the war in the Pacific; the brutality and lack of human compassion by the Japanese and finally the price that the people of Japan were required to pay because of the false pride of the military leadership of their country.

This book is well worth reading for its historical content and perspective of the kids who flew combat missions into Japan.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, short book about the Last Fighter Pilot. Jerry Yellin flew the last combat mission of WWII in his P-51D Mustang over Tokyo the day the war ended.

This is a book of victory and loss. He lost many friends in the war ... fellow pilots that were lost in accidents and combat. He emerged standing at the end. Though this book was written in 2017, Yellin, at the age of 93, wrote a forward to the book.

It tells a story that I had never heard before ... how the Army Air Corps based their fighters in Iowa Jima even while the battle continued on and provided air support for the Marines. Later, they provided fighter coverage for the B-29s attacking Japan.