Thunderbolt
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Narrated by:
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Clay Lomakayu
About this listen
Thunderbolt is the incredible true life story of Robert S. Johnson, one of America’s leading fighter pilot aces in World War II. His memoir is an action-packed account of how a young man from Lawton, Oklahoma went on to amass 28 enemy kills, the first US Army Air Force pilot in the European theater to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I tally of 26 enemy planes destroyed.
©2011 Sundance (P)2021 SundanceListeners also enjoyed...
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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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Viper Pilot
- The Autobiography of One of America's Most Decorated Combat Pilots
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Sure to rank as one of the greatest aviation memoirs ever written, Viper Pilot is an Air Force legend's thrilling eyewitness account of modern air warfare. From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Force fighter squadrons whose mission is recognized as the most dangerous job in modern air combat. Weasels are the first planes sent into a war zone, flying deep behind enemy lines purposely seeking to draw fire from surface-to-air missiles and artillery. They must skillfully evade being shot down - and then return to destroy the threats, thereby making the skies safe for everyone else to follow.
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FINALLY A Pilot Tells it Like it is!!
- By aaron on 10-26-12
By: Dan Hampton
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A Thousand Shall Fall
- The True Story of a Canadian Bomber Pilot in World War Two
- By: Murray Peden
- Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno
- Length: 19 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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During World War II, Canada trained tens of thousands of airmen under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Those selected for Bomber Command operations went on to rain devastation upon the Third Reich in the great air battles over Europe, but their losses were high. German fighters and anti-aircraft guns took a terrifying toll. The chances of surviving a tour of duty as a bomber crew were almost nil.
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Brilliant account of WW2 flying
- By John on 06-14-17
By: Murray Peden
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A Higher Call
- An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
- By: Adam Makos
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Four days before Christmas in 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a 21-year-old pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. It was their first mission. Suddenly a sleek, dark shape pulled up on the bomber’s tail - a German Messerschmitt fighter. Worse, the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber with the squeeze of a trigger.
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An Absolutely Incredcredible Audiobook!
- By JerryL on 03-23-13
By: Adam Makos
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The Night Stalkers
- By: Michael J. Durant, Steven Hartov, Lt. Col - Ret Robert L. Johnson
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Here are thrilling, never-before-heard stories of the Army's elite aviation unit - the most daring and professional helicopter crews in the world. Special Operations pilots are notoriously reticent; they don't talk about their missions, at least not to anyone outside their small community. But now, with the publication of The Night Stalkers, Durant and Steven Hartov shed a fascinating light on these mysterious super commandos and take readers into a world they have only imagined.
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A book that does justice
- By Robert on 10-05-07
By: Michael J. Durant, and others
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Taking Fire
- The True Story of a Decorated Chopper Pilot
- By: Ron Alexander, Charles W. Sasser
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Nicknamed "Mini-Man" for his diminutive stature, a mere five-foot-three and 125 pounds in his flight boots, chopper pilot Ron Alexander proved to be a giant in the eyes of the men he rescued from the jungles and paddies of Vietnam. With an unswerving concern for every American soldier trapped by enemy fire, and a fearlessness that became legendary, Ron Alexander earned enough official praise to become the second most decorated helicopter pilot of the Vietnam era. Yet, for Ron, the real reward came from plucking his fellow soldiers from harm's way, giving them another chance to get home alive.
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Unnecessarily vulgar - returned it
- By Jess Henderson on 07-08-20
By: Ron Alexander, and others
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Damn Lucky
- One Man's Courage During the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History
- By: Kevin Maurer
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, John Luckadoo
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was a world away from John Luckadoo’s hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. But when the Japanese attacked the American naval base on December 7, 1941, he didn’t hesitate to join the military. Trained as a pilot with the United States Air Force, Second Lieutenant Luckadoo was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group stationed in Thorpe Abbotts, England. Between June and October 1943, he flew B-17 Flying Fortresses over France and Germany on bombing runs devised to destroy the Nazi war machine.
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must read
- By td godfrey on 10-06-22
By: Kevin Maurer
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Carrier Pilot
- By: Norman Hanson
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, Norman Hanson learned to fly the Royal Navy's newest fighter: the US-built Chance Vought Corsair. Fast, rugged, and demanding to fly, it was an intimidating machine. But in the hands of its young Fleet Air Arm pilots, it also proved to be a lethal weapon. Posted to the South Pacific aboard HMS Illustrious, Hanson and his squadron took the fight to the Japanese. Facing a desperate and determined enemy, Kamikaze attacks, and the ever-present dangers of flying off a pitching carrier deck, death was never far away.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 11-26-17
By: Norman Hanson
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Finish Forty and Home
- The Untold World War II Story of B-24s in the Pacific
- By: Phil Scearce
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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During the early years of World War II in the Pacific theatre, against overwhelming odds, young American airmen flew the longest and most perilous bombing missions of the war. They faced determined Japanese fighters without fighter escort, relentless anti-aircraft fire with no deviations from target, and thousands of miles of over-water flying with no alternative landing sites.
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Pretty Good!
- By Robert on 02-01-13
By: Phil Scearce
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To the Limit
- An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam
- By: Tom A. Johnson
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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From June 1967 to June 1968, Tom Johnson accumulated an astonishing 1,600 flying hours piloting the UH-1 "Iroquois" - better known as the "Huey" - as part of the famous First Air Cavalry Division. His battalion was one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War, and helped redefine modern warfare. Johnson's riveting memoir takes us into key battles and rescue missions, including those for Hue and Khe Sanh. In harrowing detail, he tells of being shot down in the battle of A Shau Valley, of surviving enemy attacks during the Tet Offensive, and of a death-defying nighttime river rescue.
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Huey pilot's perspective of the 67-68 Vietnam war.
- By Jim on 10-15-18
By: Tom A. Johnson
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The Mighty Eighth
- The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It
- By: Gerald Astor
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Europe has fallen. Pearl Harbor is in flames. Enter: the Eighth. In 1941 the RAF fought a desperate battle of survival against the Luftwaffe over Britain. Then, from across the Atlantic, came a new generation of American pilots, gunners, and bombardiers, a new generation of flying machines called the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, the P-47 Thunderbolt, and the P-51 Mustang fighter.
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A Good Listen with 1 problem
- By Matthew Schuller on 08-23-19
By: Gerald Astor
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The Cactus Air Force
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In The Cactus Air Force, Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver worked closely with Eric to build on his collection of diary entries, interviews and first-hand accounts to create a vivid narrative of the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942.
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Excellent Book!
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Leyte Gulf
- A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle
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Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the “lost victory” of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened.
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Perhaps a little scholarly
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Clean Sweep
- VIII Fighter Command Against the Luftwaffe, 1942–45
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- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
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On August 7, 1942, two events of major military importance occurred on separate sides of the planet. In the South Pacific, the United States went on the offensive, landing the First Marine Division at Guadalcanal. In England, 12 B-17 bombers of the new Eighth Air Force’s 97th Bombardment Group bombed the Rouen–Sotteville railroad marshalling yards in France. While the mission was small, the aerial struggle that began that day would ultimately cost the United States more men killed and wounded by the end of the war in Europe than the Marines would lose in the Pacific War.
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may be factual but poorly written
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Dark Waters, Starry Skies
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Thousands of miles from friendly ports, the US Navy had finally managed to complete the capture of Guadalcanal from the Japanese in early 1943. Now the Allies sought to keep the offensive momentum won at such a high cost. This is the central plotline running through this page-turning history beginning with the Japanese Operation I-Go and the American ambush of Admiral Yamamoto and continuing on to the Allied invasion of New Georgia, northwest of Guadalcanal in the middle of the Solomon Islands and the location of a major Japanese base.
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great but way too much alliteration...
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Fantastic!!!
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Above the Reich
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- By: Colin Heaton, Anne-Marie Lewis
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They are voices lost to time. Beginning in the late 1970s, five veteran airmen sat for private interviews. Decades after the guns fell silent, they recounted in vivid detail the most dangerous missions that made the difference in the war. Ed Haydon dueled with the deadliest of German aces - and forced him to the ground. Robert Johnson racked up 27 kills in his P-47 Thunderbolt, but nearly lost his life when his plane was shot to ribbons and his guns jammed. Cigar-chomping Curtis LeMay was the Air Corps general who devised the bomber tactics that pummeled Germany's war machine.
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Excellent Book!
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Leyte Gulf
- A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle
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Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the “lost victory” of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened.
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Perhaps a little scholarly
- By Michael Kiehn on 11-14-24
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Clean Sweep
- VIII Fighter Command Against the Luftwaffe, 1942–45
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, BrigGen Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson USAF (Ret.) - foreword
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On August 7, 1942, two events of major military importance occurred on separate sides of the planet. In the South Pacific, the United States went on the offensive, landing the First Marine Division at Guadalcanal. In England, 12 B-17 bombers of the new Eighth Air Force’s 97th Bombardment Group bombed the Rouen–Sotteville railroad marshalling yards in France. While the mission was small, the aerial struggle that began that day would ultimately cost the United States more men killed and wounded by the end of the war in Europe than the Marines would lose in the Pacific War.
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may be factual but poorly written
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great but way too much alliteration...
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The Air War Through German Eyes
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Written from the "other side" and told as much as possible through the words of the veterans, this is an important book on one of the most controversial campaigns of the Second World War.
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Interesting idea mediocre execution
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The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
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The 'Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club' was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975.
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Tired drivel
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Baa Baa Black Sheep
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Story
Here, in his own words, is the true story of America's wildest flying hero, of his extraordinary heroism, and of his greatest battle of all-the fight to survive. The World War II air war in the Pacific needed tough men like Colonel Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. The legendary Marine Corps officer and his bunch of misfits, outcasts, and daredevils gave a new definition to "hell-raising" - on the ground and in the skies.
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Who picked the narrator?
- By D. DAVIS on 08-21-19
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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
- Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot
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Overall
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Story
You do not have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s fascinating personal tale, woven around his 28-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through the narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia; Europe to the Middle East; linking the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot.
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A 28 year history of Air Force fighter duty.
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Under the Southern Cross
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Performance
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Story
From August 7th 1942 until February 24th 1944, the US Navy fought the most difficult campaign in its history. Between the landing of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal and the final withdrawal of the Imperial Japanese Navy from its main South Pacific base at Rabaul, the US Navy suffered such high personnel losses that for years it refused to publicly release total casualty figures.
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Another first class work by Thomas Cleaver.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-21
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Going Downtown
- The US Air Force Over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961–75
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war.
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well done great detail
- By Robin Green on 07-14-24
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Hell's Angels
- The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II
- By: Jay A. Stout
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Story
Although the United States declared war against Germany in December 1941, a successful assault on Nazi-occupied Europe could not happen until Germany’s industrial and military might were crippled. The first target was the Luftwaffe—the most powerful and battle-hardened air force in the world. The United States Army Air Forces joined with Great Britain’s already-engaged Royal Air Force to launch a strategic air campaign that ultimately brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. One of the standout units of this campaign was the legendary 303rd Bomb Group—Hell’s Angels.
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Captivating
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Wings of War
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- By: David Fairbank White, Margaret Stanback White
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Wings of War is the incredible true story of the P-51 Mustang fighter and the unlikely crew of designers, engineers, test pilots, and army officers who brought it from the drafting table to the skies over World War II. This is hardly a straightforward tale of building an airplane—for years, the team was stymied by corruption within the defense industry and stonewalled by the Army Air Forces, who failed to understand the Mustang’s potential.
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Disappointed
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Hogs in the Sand
- A Gulf War A-10 Pilot's Combat Journal
- By: Buck Wyndham
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- Unabridged
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Story
The mighty, iconic A-10 Warthog was first thrust into battle in Operation Desert Storm. The men who took it through walls of flak and surface-to-air missiles to help defeat the world's fourth-largest army were as untested as their airplanes, so they relied on personal determination and the amazing A-10 to accomplish their missions, despite the odds.
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Weak
- By KL on 12-29-22
By: Buck Wyndham
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Turning the Tide
- The USAAF in North Africa and Sicily
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Using first-hand accounts from pilots and other aircrew, Tom Cleaver describes how the USAAF units that landed in Morocco were forced to learn their own lessons in combat with veteran Luftwaffe units, and how the experience gained in the skies over North Africa and Sicily was invaluable in developing the air forces that would dominate the skies over Europe in the latter years of the war.
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Midway
- The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle
- By: Mark Stille
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Midway is the most famous naval battle of the Pacific War, and one of the most mythologized. The traditional view of the battle, popularized in its immediate aftermath and surviving through to the present day, is of a heavily outnumbered American force snatching victory in the face of overwhelming odds. This view is simplistic and, in many respects, wrong. Pacific War expert Mark Stille provides a detailed analysis of this pivotal battle, and argues that Midway was neither a miraculous American victory, nor a product of good fortune.
By: Mark Stille
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Pacific Thunder
- The US Navy's Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943–October 1944
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
On 27 October 1942, four "Long Lance" torpedoes fired by the Japanese destroyers Makigumo and Akigumo exploded in the hull of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8). Minutes later, the ship that had launched the Doolitte Raid six months earlier slipped beneath the waves of the Coral Sea 100 miles northeast of the island of Guadalcanal and just north of the Santa Cruz Islands, taking with her 140 of her sailors. With the loss of Hornet, the United States Navy now had one aircraft carrier left in the South Pacific.
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Good for what it is, but not what it claims to be
- By David Maher on 12-18-17
What listeners say about Thunderbolt
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- dwillia26
- 12-07-23
Exceptional Story
This is the second time I have encountered this book. The first time was back in 1976 when I owned a copy as a boy. I loved it then and I loved it now as I learned much more of Johnson’s story of flying combat in WWII than when I was a kid. Of course this should be the case after serving in two combat tours myself since that period. Now I can appreciate the humility, joy, and agony of loss as Johnson relates it here. Well worth anyone’s time at any age!
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- JS
- 05-24-22
Excellent book, bad narrator
This book is awesome and is an excellent read for any fan of aviation or military history. However, the narrator isnt the best, and fails to capture the tone of the story. Also, the narrator can't pronounce aircraft names and the author got several aircraft names wrong.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-07-23
Great book!
If you like books about WWII fighter war this is your book! You will enjoy it.
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- Michael D Coulombe Jr
- 12-13-22
a great story and so very true it is
I read this book a long time ago and paperback but I decided to hear it as an audiobook and it was very awesome the narrator did a very excellent job kept you on the edge of your seat it it beats reading the book because when you hear the voices change and all that it's something special reading the book is great and stuff but just to hear the physical voice describing everything it's special it's a great addition and back it's a very true story
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- S. H. Moore
- 10-07-21
My favorite flying book of all time.
Bob Johnson and George Preddy are my 2 favorite US aces. I have read thunderbolt 6 times through my life. It is simply one of the best ever written. Up there with Closterman and Bader. If you like aerial combat stories this one is full of them. It gave me the wrong impression as a kid. I thought all flying books were this action packed and most are not. This one is light on the barrack life and London shenanigans it’s just all flying and fighting.
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- Craig D. Prestininzi
- 11-05-21
Heroic story, mediocre reading
Seriously, how many mispronouncing is allowed without an editor asking for corrections? Loved the story, would have liked to know more about after the war, though.
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- MStewart
- 12-09-21
Excellent book!
Excellent book, narrator not the best, if I had to hear him miss pronounce Folke Wulf 190 instead of pronouncing it Folk Wulf 190 as the e is silent and other words one more time! Other than that it’s an amazing story.
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- Richard C. Allred
- 10-15-23
Worth reading
Good insight into the air war in Europe. A little to much self back patting for me.
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- Ralph Bartley
- 06-05-24
Survival in the face of insurmountable odds.
I especially liked his description of his childhood in Oklahoma. The freedoms that he had may never be experienced in America again. His extraordinary life from his childhood days through his darkest hours of battle prepared him for the challenging and frightening experiences ahead. Wonderfully described by the author of his life and times.
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- Mike Griffith
- 07-08-22
Nice History
If you are looking for a gentle poetic reading of the 56th fighter group in the beginning of the Second World War, this is for you. However if you’re looking for a statistic filled history of the P-47 this isn’t it. While often ponderous the writer takes most of the sharp edges off of 1940s army life. This is a good introduction to the era’s history and should be read.
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1 person found this helpful