Tag: afghanistan

WWII aviation military history book – “Race of Aces” (Hachette Books, 2019) – John R. Bruning interview

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John Bruning is a historian with a passion for WWII aviation. He’s written books on the subject and we spoke about his most recent book about the WWII race to be America’s top aviation ace Race of Aces. Check the book out here: https://amzn.to/2Rdem20

0:42 – John talks about how he got into writing on WWII army aviation.

2:47 – John talks about how he structures the story of the five airmen in the book.

4:44 – John talks about how he chose what parts of the story to tell.

7:27 – John talks about the personalities of these airmen.

11:13 – John talks about the Army’s concern with their aces getting shot down.

14:05 – John talks about the Aleutians campaign and its part in this ace race.

17:26 – John talks about the planes involved in the race.

19:21 – John talks about his favorite parts of the book including Gerald Johnson’s romance with his future wife.

24:41 – John talks about the documents he used for his research and who he interviewed.

36:32 – John talks about how his perceptions about General Kinney changed during research.

40:05 – John talks about the champagne prize for winning the ace race.

40:38 – John talks about pilot Charles MacDonald.

44:55 – John talks about the emotional impact researching the book had on him. He relates a story of being in a chinook in Afghanistan.

1:02:45 – John is on facebook at John R. Bruning at the website johnbruning.com and theamericanwarrior.com.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2Rdem20

https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/john-r-bruning/race-of-aces/9780316508643/

https://theamericanwarrior.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: John R. Bruning

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, corsair, marines, history, fighter groups, richard bong, tommy mcguire, neil kirby, charles macdonald, gerald johynson, tommy lynch, 475th, 348th, aleutians, 5th figher command, general kenney, general whitehead, 5th air force, alaska, kiska, P-38, P-39, P-40, planes of fame, 457th, 49th fighter group, hind, japan, das boot, afghanistan, detroit lake, WWII, world war two

Check the book out here.: https://amzn.to/2Rdem20

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Iraq War military history book – “The Warriors of Anbar” (Da Capo Press, 2019) – Ed Darack interview

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Ed Darack is a prolific writer who wrote a book about his experiences embedded with a Marine unit in Iraq. We spoke about his experiences there and the Marines he wrote about. Check out the book here.

1:02 – Ed talks about how he got into writing this book.

5:52 – Ed talks about how he logistically managed being embedded with the unit in Iraq.

10:02 – Ed talks about the time period the book covers – 2006 to 2007.

11:14 – Ed talks about what he wanted to focus the book on. He focused on the individuals.

18:50 – Ed talks about the size of the Marine battalion versus the population of the area they were operating in.

22:23 – Ed talks about the artillery, tank, and air support the battalion had.

24:26 – Ed talks about the support this battalion had in theater.

26:30 – Ed talks about the morale of the unit.

27:54 – Ed talks about relations between the Marines and other units operating in the area.

29:18 – Ed talks about what he focused on in the book.

30:18 – Ed talks about how he approaches the analysis in the book.

32:14 – Ed wanted to paint a clear picture of modern war.

33:13 – Ed talks about what it was like to interview the Marines and their family.

34:40 – Ed talks about the Marine Corps birthday.

35:24 – Ed talks about how he did the research for the book.

37:26 – Ed talks about Iraqi reactions to the Marines.

38:13 – Ed talks about what he enjoyed about doing the book.

40:35 – Ed talks about what he found most surprising.

41:20 – Ed talks about some friction at the RCT level.

43:55 – Ed talks about awards that the unit received.

45:34 – Ed talks about his hope that the book will help people understand the job that the Marines do.

47:11 – Ed talks about the information that couldn’t get into the book.

48:19 – Ed talks about getting the book published.

49:24 – Ed talks about his next writing project on Operation Redwings and articles for Smithsonian Air & Space magazine.

50:13 – Ed is on darack.com and has various social media accounts.

51:12 – Ed thanks the battalion for letting him on board.

Links of interest

Check out the book here.

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/ed-darack/the-warriors-of-anbar/9780306922664/

http://darack.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Ed Darack

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, hawaii, marines, mountain warfare training center, afghanistan, kunar, nangahar, battalion, 3/3, 2/3, iraq, embedded, haditha triad, al-anbar, operation redwings, al-qaeda, hachette books, navy, fleet marine, female marines, lionesses, air wing, air and space, smithsonian, whiskey company, deployment, beirut bombings, baghdad, fallujah, ramadi, AQI, islamic state, colonel farouk, ODA, fireteam, squad, platoon, company, MEU, rct2, rct7, harriers, isr, blackhawk, information operations, IED, wagu beef

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cold War history book – “Spy Pilot” (Prometheus Books, 2019) – Francis Gary Powers, Jr. interview

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Francis Gary Powers, Jr. is son of the famed U-2 pilot who was downed during a mission. Gary has spent years researching his father’s life and developing the Cold War Museum. We spoke about his new book that covers his father’s and family’s life and career.

1:06 – Gary explained why he wrote the book on his father.

4:00 – Gary talks about he structured the book. He discusses who he interviewed for the book and FOIA requests.

5:53 – Gary talked about how he got the government to help him with his research.

10:18 – Gary talks about how the US government initially refused to believe that the Soviets had missiles that could have reached his father’s plane.

12:00 – Gary talks about how he got into this research.

15:50 – Gary talks about the various sections of the book.

17:01 – Gary talks about how his book adds to the history of this event.

18:40 – Gary talks about the Soviet pilot who was shot down chasing Gary Powers.

21:25 – Gary talks about how the Russians celebrated their pilots.

25:20 – Gary talks about his involvement with the movie “Bridge of Spies.”

28:56 – Gary talks about the Cold War Museum.

34:51 – Gary talks about some of the interesting spy and other items held at the Cold War Museum.

41:51 – Gary talks about the similarities between early NASA and the military.

44:00 – Gary talks about old audio recordings his father had made [that] years ago.

46:42 – Gary talks about the extensive physical and mental testing U-2 pilots went through.

53:58 – Gary has sites at coldwar.org for the museum. Gary has garypowers.com or spypilotbook.com.

Links of interest

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576973/spy-pilot-by-francis-gary-powers-jr-and-keith-dunnavant/9781633884687/

http://garypowers.com/

http://coldwar.org/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Francis Gary Powers, Jr.

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, U-2, spy missions, cold war museum, Gary Powers, veterans, CIA, Air Force, medals, missiles, eisenhower, krushchev, latvian rugs, vladimir prison, bridge of spies, afghanistan