Farm-Boy to Fighter Pilot
Farm-Boy to Fighter Pilot

Author: Colonel Hank Lackey

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-29

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 9781498444729

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At age eight, God gave Colonel Lackey a vision of being a fighter pilot. Later, a photo of General Douglas McArthur contributed to that previous vision. This vision led to an illustrious career for Colonel Hank Lackey. Yet experiencing the world in a cockpit wasn t the only event that Hank appreciated most in his life. His autobiography, From Farm-Boy to Fighter Pilot, reflects on navigating God s path and purpose for him from childhood to adulthood. Primarily raised by his grandfather on a farm, Hank was introduced to the merit of hard work and belief that more was planned for his life. He started up the army ranks as a civilian payroll specialist, later becoming an Air Force fighter pilot during the Korean War. However, what defined his life most was witnessing God lead the way of faith for him as an international secretary for a Christian organization. Sharing what Jesus did for him was the real dream come true. Colonel Hank Lackey s faith in God and awareness of Jesus in his life will heighten the power of his memories and trace every achievement he has made to God s purpose for him. His desire is that his story will live on inspiring and encouraging others for generations to come. "

Farm Boy To Fly Boy
Farm Boy To Fly Boy

Author: Col[Ret] G. Brennand

Publisher: FriesenPress

Published: 2018-01-15

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1525504959

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From his childhood growing up in Depression-era rural Manitoba to his rise through the ranks to become a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Col Gordon Brennand’s memoir, Farm Boy to Flyboy, is as much a history of the RCAF in the twentieth century as it is an account of his own life. Born a bit too late to participate in WWII, Gordon was inspired by Canada’s involvement in the Korean War to pursue a life in the military. After a failed start in the Navy, he enlisted with the Air Force with faint hopes of perhaps becoming a fighter pilot. Not only did he succeed, he logged four thousand hours on various jet aircraft types including over 1100 hours on the F-86 Sabre, which was the state-of-the-art fighter jet throughout most his thirty-four-year career, not to mention hundreds of hours on various other types of aircraft. He experienced several close calls during that time, including one incident when he had to eject and another when he had to force land due to engine failure. He went on to command two bases and has spent time living in most Canadian provinces as well as Germany, where he served for three years during the Cold War. Fascinating and insightful, this book will appeal to those who are fascinated by the military and flying as well as those who are simply seeking a first-person account of what life was really like for the men and women who served in the RCAF throughout one of the most pivotal periods of twentieth-century history.

Farm Boy to Fly Boy
Farm Boy to Fly Boy

Author: Captain Arthur L. Gregg

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2019-02-06

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 0359398499

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This is the story of a WW2 P-40 pilot from induction to separation. The narrative takes the reader from 1941 to 1946 and includes the China, Burma, India theater of operations. Excerpts from letters home and photos bring to life this fascinating tale of adventure. Publication of this book celebrates the 100th birthday of the author who resides in the Pacific Northwest.

From Farm Boy to Fighter Pilot and Beyond
From Farm Boy to Fighter Pilot and Beyond

Author: Harold Watson

Publisher:

Published: 2019-03-26

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781793176370

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Harold Watson was raised as a Farm Boy on an Indiana farm but had a childhood dream of becoming a Fighter Pilot. There are more than 30 pictures throughout the book illustrating his path from Farm Boy to Fighter Pilot And Beyond. This autobiography addresses the hyphen that is often in tombstones separating the date of birth and date of death. There is a candid discussion of setbacks and successes of his nearly four score life, about a third lived serving in the USAF. His Air Force career began with graduation from the USAF Academy followed the next day by marrying Bette Jayne (B.J.) Douglas. During their 26-year career they served in 15 different permanent duty assignments throughout the United States and four foreign nations. It is an inspiring memoir that records a well-lived, exemplifying Life, Goals, Finishing Strong and Lessons Learned along the way. It offers fantastic lessons to anyone that reads it. Throughout the book there is a recognition of his support team, including his wife, family, peers, and Lord. In writing this book, Hal is passing the baton from past to future generations and emphasizing that it isn't where you start, it is how you handle both successes and challenges, and finish strong.

My Flight
My Flight

Author: Lt. Col. Jesse C Wilkins

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2010-12-15

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1456822985

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With the dying rate of World War II veterans, now at 30,000 per month, I thought it would be fitting and appropriate to set forth my experiences during those years of America's greatness and the nobility of its people and its warriors. Dedicated to my wife, Jimmie, who endured much, and to my children, who desired to know. These are my recollections of events, and I will not attempt to justify to anyone or any cause my views concerning events and perceived faults of people or for lapses of my memories.

My Story...and I'm Sticking to It - I Think!
My Story...and I'm Sticking to It - I Think!

Author: George Partridge

Publisher:

Published: 2017-09-06

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 9780692892749

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A true story told by the author in his own words. Share his life with him as a small boy growing up on his share-cropper Dad's mule-and-horse Georgia farm. Live his dream of becoming a pilot - a fighter pilot. Feel his disappointments time and time again in his struggle to realize his dream; with eventual success through perseverance and dogged determination. Rejoice with him in marrying his boyhood dream-girl and together raising a great family. Grieve with him on losing a son and wife; and the eventual joy at finding and marrying a lovely English nurse. Know his many close calls in life, and during his 33+ years of military service - literally dodging bullets; ejecting from a jet aircraft; surviving a fiery aircraft crash; ground combat; and prostate cancer. This is a story for everyone: young, old and in-between; military and civilian.

Born To Live On The Edge
Born To Live On The Edge

Author: Fredrick Pumroy

Publisher:

Published: 2023-04-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781959173274

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From Indiana farm boy to Vietnam fighter pilot and beyond, Fredrick L. Pumroy often seemed to "live on the edge." Stories about his narrow escapes from enemy anti-aircraft fire over the Ho Chi Minh Trail and dances with death in all manner of aircraft make for very entertaining reading in his cleanly written memoir, Born to Live on The Edge. This one hundred-page book is a must-read for pilots-or for anyone who dreams of becoming one. Such readers will sigh with envy to read of a gift the eight-year-old Pumroy received from his father: a small, one-seat plane that the boy and his father flew around in over the family farm until his father was forced to sell the plane. A high school jock who also played sports in college, Pumroy joined the Air Force with every intention of becoming a fighter pilot. It was on his first mission as a Forward Air Controller that reality overcame dreams of glory: "I hadn't been shot at before and I didn't like it," he remembers, adding that over a two-month period his aircraft "took 309 bullet holes." The section on Vietnam, Loas and Cambodia is among the more exciting and best-written in this short memoir. There are chapters on flying all types of aircraft-military and civilian, commercial and private-and none are dull. While he always thanked the Lord for keeping him alive through the dangers he faced, after one near-fatal incident the veteran pilot says he began to wonder just "how many more fixes God would get me out of." The book is written in a clean and crisp manner, and it is illustrated with photos taken by the author, some while flying over hostile territory. There are stories about drinking games and boyish pranks that pilots in a war zone partake in to cope with stress, and there are little asides about friends, comrades, and some top brass Pumroy met during his flying years. All of these people and events are related in a straightforward style that is honest without being cloyingly personal. As with many people in hazardous jobs, not every day in Pumroy's life was dangerous, exciting, or particularly interesting. The chapters about his farm and school days, his time "flying a desk," and his post-Air Force career as a technical consultant may be of most interest to friends and family, or to other once-dashing flyboys whose days of danger and glory are long gone. From the death-defying to the mundane, Pumroy kindly shares his memories with readers.

Windswept Heights
Windswept Heights

Author: Edwin M. Weigel

Publisher: Outskirts Press

Published: 2008-11

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9781432731403

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With first group of pilots to land in Japan This is a story about a farm boy from Kansas who rose to rank of Major in the Air Force and the recipient of five coveted Air Medals.

A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald
A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald

Author: Joseph F. Moser

Publisher: All Clear Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780615221113

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On August 13, 1944, during his 44th combat mission, Joe Moser's P-38 Lightning was shot down. Captured by Nazi forces, he and his fellow group of Allied fliers were scheduled for execution as terrorfliegers and shipped in overcrowded cattle cars to Buchenwaldthe infamous work camp where tens of thousands died of cruelty, medical experiments, and starvation. Once a simple farm boy focused on sports and his dream to fly the fastest, meanest fighter plane, Moser now faced some of the worst of Hitler s ghastly system. From the harrowing and sometimes hilarious experiences of flight training to the dehumanization at the hands of Hitler s SS, this is a story of quiet, steady courage sustained by faith, family, and the commitment to freedom and liberty in even the most desperate of circumstances."

Whitey From Farm Kid to Flying Tiger to Attorney
Whitey From Farm Kid to Flying Tiger to Attorney

Author: Wayne Gordon Johnson

Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 1936183935

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"Whitey- - From Farm Kid to Flying Tiger to Attorney, is the fascinating and riveting story of a boy, the 11th of 14 children of Norwegian immigrant parents, who grew up on tenant farms in rural Minnesota during the Great Depression. Johnson describes in graphic detail the harsh conditions under which the family lived and survived. "We were poor but didn't know it." With commendable honesty, Johnson's story illuminates the indiscretions of youth against the backdrop of a rural farm family. His story takes us through the extraordinary journey of one man who has seen more in his life, so far, than most of us could ever imagine. Wayne "Whitey" Johnson enlisted in the Air Corps on 8 December, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Trained as a fighter pilot in the P-40 Warhawk and the P-51 Mustang, Wayne was sent to China to join the famed Flying Tigers. He was stationed in an area of far eastern China referred to as the "pocket," surrounded by Japanese troops less than 50 miles away. He relates the grim realities of war with startling realism, graphically portraying the triumphs and tragedies - and the joys and sorrows - of young men at war. Whitey, as part of a flight of 16 P-51 Mustang fighters, participated in the first fighter strike against Japanese airdromes near Shanghai. Coming in at tree-top level, and catching the enemy by complete surprise, they destroyed 97 Japanese planes - mostly on the ground - without loss of any Americans. After the war, he became a successful attorney, setting a record as the longest-serving City Attorney in the United States, serving two cities for over fifty years. Continuing his activity in Aviation, Johnson was named Mr. Aviation of Minnesota in 1968. He was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2001. The Silver Bay (MN) airport was renamed the Wayne Johnson Airport in his honor in 2005 - an honor few living airmen enjoy. He has flown over 60 military and civilian aircraft and piloted his own plane into his mid-eighties."--Back cover.