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Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea |  | Author: David Sears
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $13.50
as of 9/8/2010 01:25 MDT details
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Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 44034
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0306818515
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.904245
EAN: 9780306818516
ASIN: 0306818515
Publication Date: May 11, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little known aspect of America’s stalemated war: navy aviators. His research inspired novel about these pilots became an overnight bestseller and, perhaps, the most widely read book ever written about aerial combat. Using Michener’s notes, author David Sears tracked down the actual pilots to tell their riveting, true-life stories. From the icy, windswept decks of aircraft carriers, they penetrated treacherous mountain terrain to strike heavily defended dams, bridges, and tunnels, where well entrenched Communist anti-aircraft gunners waited to shoot them down. Many of these men became air combat legends, and one, Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon. Such Men As These brims with action-packed accounts of combat and unforgettable portraits of the pilots whose skill and sacrifice made epic history.
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| Customer Reviews:
Navy Aviators in the Korean War July 22, 2010
Chief Woodie
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought this book because of two main reasons: I am a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer (1963-1983) but more importantly, my oldest brother was a Navy Aviator who flew Skyraiders in the Korean war. He was shot down and KIA on June 19, 1953, just weeks before the end of this War. (I will never call it a "police action".) On page 305, Mr. Sears explains, better than I have ever read before, the "political events" of June 18-20, 1953 that sent my brother up on his final flight. He was awarded a posthumous NAVY CROSS for his bravery in flying close air support for US Troops on the ground in the "Punch Bowl".
Mr. Sears is a very gifted writer who is able to teach history in an enticing and spellbinding way. I enjoy reading both fiction action and military history nonfiction novels. This book brings the non-fiction history of the Korean War and the Navy Aviators to the "movie screen of the mind" in and exciting way. I believe that any serious reader would enjoy this exciting book.
Because of Mr. Sears superb writing style, I am looking forward to reading all of his Military History books. As a veteran and military history buff, I look forward to learning and being entertained at the same time.
I am very thankful for the dedication that it took for Mr. Sears to compile this extensive history and then to be able to condense into less than 400 pages.
I highly recommend this outstanding history of Naval Aviation and the Korean War.
Heroes working against great odds July 15, 2010
R. Drew
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book does an excellent job of condensing a complex story. No, you will not get Navy-vs-N. Korean Airforce recaps, or technical details behind ditching a Corsair, but we learn what motivated Michener to be a war correspondent- and how he accumulated enough material to write 'Toko-ri'. And again, you ask how the U.N. left the politicians two options: abandon the South, or defend with inadequate weapons. It was the first asymmetric war, and became jets bombing horse carts.
If anything, the equipment was not up to the task, but the men were. You follow them as they pass stringent entrance exams, then flight school, and join squadrons. Experienced fighter pilots teach them to function as long-range artillery- interdicting the streams of men and supplies washing over S. Korean cities. Then, bruised and sadder, the squadron rotates back home. Sadly, the military never communicated the experiences of the first pilots back to those preparing for their turn in the warzone. The last chapters of the book deal with POW experiences- very inspirational.
Buy this book to accompany anything faced by ground forces- Chosin Reservoir, Inchon, or Chinese involvement. It explains a lot.
NavAir in the Korean War! June 27, 2010
Michael OConnor (Wausau, WI USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This being the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of war in Korea, David Sears' marvelous acccount of the combat missions flown by USN aviators in the 'Forgotten War' is especially welcome. Comparatively few books have been written on NavAir over Korea. Sears' wide-ranging, incisive and well-written account will take pride of place in the books on that long-ago 'police action.'
SUCH MEN AS THESE is far more than a 'yank-and-bank' account of missions flown by the Navy's carrier-based aviators from 1950 to 1953. Sears begins his story in the 1940s, detailing the Navy's tremendous growth followed by huge postwar cuts in personnel and ships, bruising inter-service fights between the Navy and USAF and the development of the Cold War. Neil Armstrong, Jesse Brown, Joe Akagi and other eager naval cadets undergoing training in the mid-1940s saw their hopes of combat (against the Japanese) derailed by war's end yet perservered and eventually found the combat they were seeking over the Korean peninsula. Sears also interweaves the postwar development of jet aircraft and their often-troubled deployment to American carriers in his narrative. Lastly, he traces James Michener's Korean War-reporting efforts and how he came to write the classic war novel THE BRIDGES OF TOKO-RI.
Sears is a gifted writer. SUCH MEN AS THESE flows effortlessly, interweaving the various plot threads into a seamless whole. Sears' book is a very thorough account of NavAir circa 1940-1953, Sears lingering briefly to discuss some sidebar topic, battlefield development or personality before returning to the main narrative thread. He does a fine job of describing carrier ops off the Korean peninsula. The men portrayed in SUCH MEN AS THESE like Brown, Akagi, Paul Gray, John Abbott, Duane Thorin, Howard Thayer, George Schnitzer and Harry Ettinger come across as living, breathing human beings doing their very best in a no-win war.
All in all, SUCH MEN AS THESE is a well-done history of NavAir in action and a great tribute to the long-ago warriors of the 'Forgotten War.' Highly recommended.
****
2,300 Helpful Votes.
"THE NAVY PILOTS WHO FLEW OFF THE CARRIERS DURING THE KOREAN WAR" June 2, 2010
Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
The background for this well written book comes of course from The Korean War, a 'police action' never declared a war by Congress but most people refer to it as a 'war' all the same. Built into this background is the work that James A. Michener did while spending time aboard both aircraft carriers and planes collecting datum during the war prior to his writing the book The Bridges at Toko-ri. Later from his writings came two Hollywood movies, Men of the Fighting Lady and The Bridges at Toko-ri. The movies and the book were well received (even to this day) both by the United States Navy and the reading and viewing public. Late in his career Michener stated that he felt the best book he had ever written was The Bridges at Toko-ri.
I purchased a copy of this new book by Mr. Sears primarily for two reasons: I hold an honorable discharge from the United States Navy during the Vietnam era and I have been a lifelong fan of James Albert Michener. I have to agree with author Michener for I too feel The Bridges at Toko-ri represent his best work. Short, concise, but with a realism that jumps both off the page and movie screen. Similar things can also be said for Mr. Sears' new book, with title SUCH MEN AS THESE, having its genesis with Michener's book, The Bridges at Toko-ri. Of all the contents of Michener's book, the words "Where did we get such men?" spoken by Admiral Tarrant have always been ingrained in my memory.
SUCH MEN AS THESE is written by an ex-Navy officer, not an aviator (airdale), but we will not hold that against him! I too was not an 'airdale' though I served with a few while stationed near NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola, Florida, but was always a 'black shoe' sailor. SUCH MEN AS THESE is a very fine book on many levels due to its offering several aspects of history, in addition to describing these mostly citizen pilots, abruptly, some would say unfairly, called back to active duty to become heroic combat pilots. Imagine being home with the wife and kids, working your job or profession after serving during World War Two, now only to be removed within days from all you have worked for during the last few years, finding yourself quickly back in a combat zone trying to stay alive on a day-to-day basis.
Mr. Sears sets the entire Korean War combat area and the U.S. Navy carrier operations before the reader, giving context and depth to both the political and military parallel activities. Names such as Truman, MacArthur, Syngman Rhee, Mao, Stalin, et al., pop up continuously with resultant explanations of the politics into the conflict. The maps are not many in the book but they are adequate, while the photos are more than adequate and the notes, glossaries, and appendices are far above average.
I read many books of a military nature and cannot overstate how well this book reads, its flowing style is of the best quality and meter. Due to the nature of the subject and the manner in which the author has connected the war, the political, and the writings of James A. Michener together in one neat bundle a reader can in all good manner call this a very unique book.
I have enjoyed reading the book over several nights and recommend it to all who enjoy a solid work of history, especially of a mostly forgotten war in that far away place called Korea. For those of us who grew up during this period, reading Michener's books, and later serving in the Navy close to these areas (serving in Japan for 25 months, I was in and out of Yokosuka several times). I say again, this is one fine, interesting work of non-fiction.
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