212th Marine Fighter Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal

New York: Pocket Books Non-Fiction, 1997. First Edition . Mass Market. Very Good. 240 Pages Indexed..This is the October 1997 First Pocket Books printing in brand new never read condition. Gift quality. More than fifty years ago, Max Brand conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with the pilots and ground crew of the legendary 212th Marine Fighter Squadron. This is the remarkable result: the sole work of nonfiction by one of America's most popular and prolific authors. Only recently discovered, this book is a stunning find, a brilliant portrayal that brings the Pacific War to life in all its grit and glory and drama. You'll experience air-to-air combat in the words and innermost thoughts of the men who were there, share in their fear and courage, their deadly defeats and thrilling triumphs. At last, Brand's account can take its place among the classics of World War II literature as an inspiring testament to the outstanding squadron behind one of the war's most pivotal campaigns. It was all dogfight. The Japs were throwing in everything to smash through to Henderson Field at last. Once they had made the field too bad a surface to use for takeoffs and landings, they could pour in troops and sweep the island clean. We kept in formation when we could, but mostly we had to go it alone. Most of the time nobody was guarding your tail. Zeros and Grummans were zooming, firing, coming from below, above, and both sides. Planes were spinning, looping, burning, slipping. The moisture in the air was just right for contrails, and the whole battle was written in loops through the air as though the sky were crazy. Crowds of planes were coming down in flames. Nobody in 212 forgot what Bauer had told us not long before: to stay and fight, no matter what the odds were, no matter how bad the position might be. That day we showed him we'd heard what he said.