The First Heroes
The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid
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Narrated by:
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Raymond Todd
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By:
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Craig Nelson
About this listen
The First Heroes is the story of this extraordinary mission, a moment in history that is surprisingly unfamiliar today. To give these heroes their due, Craig Nelson interviewed 20 of the surviving participants and researched more than 40,000 pages of archival documents.
Here is a true account of great personal courage and a powerful reminder that ordinary people, when faced with extraordinary circumstances, can rise to the challenge of history.
©2002 Craig Nelson (P)2003 Blackstone AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
One of the great untold stories of World War II finally comes to light in this thrilling account of the members of Torpedo Squadron Eight and their heroic efforts in helping an outmatched U.S. fleet win critical victories at Midway and Guadalcanal. These 35 American men - many flying outmoded aircraft - changed the course of history, going on to become the war's most decorated naval air squadron, while suffering the heaviest losses in U.S. naval aviation history.
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Excellent story well told
- By Kismet on 01-30-09
By: Robert J. Mrazek
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Once They Were Eagles
- The Men of the Black Sheep Squadron
- By: Frank Walton
- Narrated by: David Randall Hunter
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Marine Corps Fighter Squadron 214 was hastily organized in the field during World War II to meet the urgent need for another combat squadron in the South Pacific. The squadron, self-named the "Black Sheep", went on under the leadership of the swashbuckling "Pappy" Boyington to become the most famous in Marine Corps history. Now comes the true story of the Black Sheep Squadron and the men who wrote its record in the Pacific skies.
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great insight at the leyendary squadron
- By Ernesto morales on 04-28-18
By: Frank Walton
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Shot Down
- The True Story of Pilot Howard Snyder and the Crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth
- By: Steve Snyder
- Narrated by: Richard Rieman
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, the full and complete story of the B-17 Flying Fortress Susan Ruth is shared in unbelievable detail. Author Steve Snyder's story of his father, Lieutenant Howard Snyder, and the Susan Ruth crew, provides in-depth details about many aspects of World War II few understand or know about.
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One word: Horrible!
- By Anonymous User on 02-12-23
By: Steve Snyder
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The Wild Blue
- The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The very young men who flew the B24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds were an exemplary band of brothers. In The Wild Blue, Stephen Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship. Stephen Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and chose those few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war.
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Required Reading
- By Lyle on 11-22-11
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Deadly Sky
- The American Combat Airman in World War II
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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This insightful chronicle takes listeners inside the experiences of America's fighter pilots and bomber crews, an incredible assortment of men who, in nearly four years of warfare all over the globe, suffered over 120,000 casualties, with over 40,000 killed. Their stories span the Earth, into every corner of the combat theaters in both Europe and the Pacific. And the aircraft explored are as varied, tough, and legendary as the men who flew them.
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Twelve O'Clock High Unabridged
- By Chiefkent on 05-23-17
By: John C. McManus
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Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
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The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
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Never Call Me a Hero
- A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway
- By: N. Jack "Dusty" Kleiss, Timothy Orr
- Narrated by: Mike Ortego, Cassandra Campbell, Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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An extraordinary firsthand account of the Battle of Midway by one of its key participants, timed to the 75th anniversary: American dive-bomber pilot "Dusty" Kleiss helped sink three Japanese warships (including two aircraft carriers), received the Navy Cross, and is credited with playing a decisive individual role in determining the outcome of a battle that is considered a turning point in World War II.
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Love the story, disagree with the title.
- By STC on 08-21-17
By: N. Jack "Dusty" Kleiss, and others
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Angels in the Sky
- How a Band of Volunteer Airmen Saved the New State of Israel
- By: Robert Gandt
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Angels in the Sky is the gripping story of how an all-volunteer air force helped defeat five Arab nations and protect the fledgling Jewish state. It is the exhilarating account of a ragtag band of volunteer airmen from around the world who fought for Israel during the war of independence. They arrived from America, Canada, Britain, France, and South Africa. Almost all were World War II combat veterans. Many, but not all, were Jewish, and many knowingly violated their nations' embargoes on the shipment of arms and aircraft to Israel.
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Truly excellent story - highly recommended
- By Shimon on 03-21-19
By: Robert Gandt
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Lucky 666
- The Impossible Mission
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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From the authors of the New York Times best-selling The Heart of Everything That Is and Halsey's Typhoon comes the dramatic untold story of a daredevil bomber pilot and his misfit crew who fly their lone B-17 into the teeth of the Japanese Empire in 1943, engage in the longest dogfight in history, and change the momentum of the war in the Pacific - but not without making the ultimate sacrifice.
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A WWII Pacific Tale
- By A. L. DeWitt on 11-15-16
By: Bob Drury, and others
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The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
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INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
What listeners say about The First Heroes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael
- 04-08-15
Outstanding - Ranks with Unbroken
What made the experience of listening to The First Heroes the most enjoyable?
This was an outstanding book undertaking both a panoramic view of the Doolittle raid, and well as a good study of the individuals involved.
What did you like best about this story?
I really appreciated the fact that the author did not cut out the spiritual aspects of some of the characters. Even including the part of Missionary John Birch's part in the rescue of Jimmy Doolittle.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
This is a great story, and well done. Definitely too long for one sitting.
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Overall
- William Ness
- 06-23-08
Review
I found the text to be intelligently written and informative. I did not like the reader though. When quoting, he tried to sound like Bogie and other 40s and 50s charactors! He also made many quotes to sound like hick southerners with little education. I'm sure this isn't the case. There were also too many mispronounced words and places. I will be looking out for this reader in the future and avoid him.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- John Gardner
- 11-03-04
Good book, questionable narrator
This book satisfied my desire to know more about the Doolittle raid, and it was interesting to learn so much more about the aftermath than you normally encounter in books dealing with military actions. However, I gave the book only three stars because it is, indeed, distracting to hear "ensign" mispronounced literally dozens of times. Other mispronunciations reveal that the narrator has no familiarity with the subject matter, or military knowledge in general. Other examples of mispronunciations (in addition to those mentioned in the previous review) include, but are not limited to: Swigert (the Apollo astronaut), AFB (always read as letters, not "Air Force Base") and virtually every Japanese name, Fuchida Mitsuo being the worst.
The book was tedious in places, but I would recommend it for its coverage of facts you won't find anywhere else (at least not in one place).
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7 people found this helpful
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- Blake
- 05-31-12
A Great Story Written Like a History Textbook
While the pilots of the Doolittle Raid flew at treetop level, the author Craig Nelson tells their stories from 30,000 feet, far too high to get into the B-25 bombers with any of the crew members who took part in this historic mission. The story reads like a history lesson, and includes long passages about the Pearl Harbor and Midway battles before and after the Doolittle Raid to put the mission into historical context, rather than getting personal with the men of the mission itself. The reader will come away with a good overview of the mission, and it's importance, but in the process learn very little of the 80 men on the 16 B-25 bombers who took part in the mission. The narrative bounces around from crew to crew so frequently, without connecting to any individual crewmen, that it never touches any of them deeply. This is made far worse by a narrator who reads this book like one run-on sentence, far too often without as much as a pause as the author changes from crew to crew. The narrator reads this book as if he's in a race to get to the end of it, which unfortunately comes without ever really learning who these amazing men of the Doolittle Raid really were.
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- G. B. C.
- 11-19-18
Fascinating and deeply rewarding story of survival
The harrowing story of the captives from the flight, whether in Manchuria, China or ultimately Japan, is heart-wrenching. The torture and killings by the Japanese are offset only somewhat by the intense transformation of Jacob DeShazer.
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- Roxie Reed
- 03-25-24
Poor Narrator
Bad narration. Sounds like robot is reading the script. A little drama or emotion would have enlivened the story greatly.
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Overall
- William
- 07-20-04
Heroic Attempt
This was an heroic attempt by the author to present a detailed recounting of what at the time was an heroic effort by the fledgling AAF to retaliate for Pearl Harbor and give the United States a psychological lift at the beginning of World War II after the U.S. had suffered defeat after defeat. It is long, it is detailed, it is tedious, yet most of it is good listening, but you have to want to hear it.
But, where do they get readers who pronounce "ensign" as "en sign" rather than "N-sn", or "cpl", the abbreviation for corporal as "c.p.l."? Would you believe "boatswain"?
I can't recommend this book to anyone unless they have an abiding interest in hearing the details of this mission, and what happened to each of the eighty crewmen who took part in the raid.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Ron
- 08-02-07
insight to history that turns religious
The First heroes gives great insight and detail into the planning, execution and aftermath of the Doolittle Raid on Japan. You hear from the flyers involved, the planners and the Japanese point of views. It explores the history of the crews and what they endured after the raid.
However, near the end there seems to be a great deal of emphasis on how Christianity altered the flyers and allowed them to embrace and change their enemy. While I can understand that the comfort of God and religion can help some in difficult circumstances, it just seemed to dwell too much on this aspect.
There are also several significant fact errors in the book but none of importance to the overall material. These mostly deal with locations and or procedures
I still recommend First Heroes but be ready for religious preaching in the last quarter of the book.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Paul
- 05-06-05
Excellent!
I am very much enjoying this selection for several reasons. First and foremost, it's a really good story that keeps you wanting more. At no point did it ever for a moment become slow.
As a historical reference it offers an excellent gateway to understanding, and wanting to learn more about the pacific campaign.
It does an excellent job covering both the tactical aspects of the raid, as well as the strategy shifts that Japan (wrongfully) adopted as a result of the raid.
What I really liked was that the author leads you in a very logical progression to the battle of Midway, where I'm going to continue on from here.
The reader did make some wackey reading errors, but that was offset by a nice smooth, well paced, and comfortable style.
I've heard a lot of books here on Audible, and this is clearly amoung my favorites. For that I am grateful to the author, the reader, and to Audible.
Thanks Guys!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Scott R. Shelhamer
- 11-27-04
Amazing
I really liked this book. It was very informative and enjoyable to listen to. It was a little hard to read all of the details in the story but how can you tell a story like this with discussing the characters in detail. If you enjoy WWII books, you must read this one.
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