During World War II, thousands of volunteer combat aviators trained at places like Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Hancock Field in Santa Maria. Some air cadets and WASPs--young women pilots--lost their lives in training accidents. The graduates would go on to fight in both the Pacific and European theaters. They faced flak bursts and collisions that resulted in horrifying explosions and were sent on strafing runs that made them targets in a lethal shooting gallery. Downed airmen encountered both unexpected kindness and cruel deprivation as prisoners of war. Through interviews and official records, Jim Gregory tells the stories of heroic Central Coast veterans who fought a war that stretched from New Guinea to North Africa.

Author: Jim Gregory
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: History Press
Published: 05/14/2018
Series: Military
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.7lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781467139526

About the Author
Gregory, Jim: - Jim Gregory is a longtime Arroyo Grande resident, and this is his fourth book on local history. He attended the two-room Branch School in the Upper Arroyo Grande Valley, Cuesta College, the University of Missouri and Cal Poly. He taught for thirty years at Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo and at Arroyo Grande High School, earning Teacher of the Year in 2010-11 and retiring in 2015. Gregory is married to Elizabeth, a campus minister and teacher, and is the father of John and Thomas.