Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot's Life From Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs

Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot's Life From Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs | Jack Broughton | I concur, "non carborundum illegitimi"

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Rupert Red Two: A ...

	Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot's Life From Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs Jack Broughton Zenith Press, 2008 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In 1945 Second Lieutenant Jack Broughton graduated from West Point with the silver pilot wings of a newly commissioned member of the Army Air Corps. Nearly thirty years later, he retired as a full colonel in the United States Air Force, an entity that didn't even exist when he first learned to fly. Along the way Colonel Broughton saw duty in virtually every fighter aircraft the Air Corps and then Air Force had to offer.

He experienced the birth and coming of age of the U.S. Air Force and its bloodying in combat in Korea and Vietnam. In this, his third book, Broughton offers readers what is virtually a biography of the U. S. Air Force as it was experienced by one of its finest combat leaders.

From his initial duty in postwar Germany as part of the American occupation, to air-to-air combat in Korea, to his command of the Thunderbirds and two combat tours in Vietnam, Broughton describes what it is to meet the enemy in the air--and to fly some of the best-known aircraft in combat. By the bestselling author of Thud Ridge and Going Downtown.

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Rupert Red Two

This is the third book by Colonel Broughton that I have read (the first being "Thud Ridge" and the second, "Going Downtown"), and as always, I found it extraordinarily well written. His previous books provided us with the real soundtrack of flying combat missions over "The North". With "Rupert Red Two", Col. Broughton gives depth and colors to a true Air Force warrior pilot. I couldn't put that book down and, in fact, ordered several copies for friends and family members alike. All in all, I found the book thoroughly enjoyable and learned a lot about the 50's and 60's U.S. Air Force. Honor, Duty, Country - those aren't just words for men like Broughton, they are the very meaning of their lives. And they all paid a price for it, sometimes, at the hands of their own chain of command... A must read!

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I concur, "non carborundum illegitimi"

I met "Thud Ridge" in the Grand Forks AFB library while in high school, just before Dad retired at nearly 22 years and that many thousand hours, most of them spent telling tanker pilots where to go. It was a long wait for "Going Downtown", and this latest was also worth the wait. Col. Broughton tells it like it was, and unfortunately often is, and after all, that's bureaucracy. One great anecdote concerns...heck, they're all good reading.
From a shop steward in another bureaucracy, fighting to improve efficiency despite the "overhead", as we in the field called them in the USFS...

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A Future Classic

Col. Broughton has done a superb job sharing the rest of his aviation career with aviation enthusiasts. This book details the MANY assignments he was fortunate (and unfortunate enough, in some cases) to have throughout his incredible career as a warrior/fighter pilot and HERO.

Those who have read the classics "Thud Ridge" and "Going Downtown" know well of his efforts for this country in the Thud. This latest treasure will leave you shaking your head with amazement and, yes, envy, at the roads he has traveled.

Of particular interest are the no-frills details of many of the difficulties higher echelons created. Common sense had no relevance to many of these "superiors" as they sought to get the necessary boxes checked with little regard for common sense or even, their men.

As ex-AF, I can say the book is a truly endearing no-nonsense, genuine description of life in the AF -and against- the powers-that-be, both in and out of the military.

Many thanks for sharing these stories of an incredible career.

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Third Excellent Book from Col Broughton

I am a retired fighter pilot with over 5000 hours of fighter time including 1200 in the Thud. I find Col Broughton's books to be required reading for those wanting to be a fighter pilot or for those that think they are. While his books are outstanding narratives of fighter pilot action they are more than that. They talk about leadership, loyalty, professionalism and a personal code of standards. I was a Fighter Wing Commander and I hope I exhibited some of those traits that Col Broughton expoused. Well done - Col Broughton!

Broughton gets the rest of his story on the record

Really enjoyed this - maybe because I'm an old fighter pilot from the Vietnam/NATO era also. This remembrance doesn't have the riveting narrative of the first two tales from Thud Ridge, but the anger is no longer so strong all these years later.

I still chafe with the repulsive attitude of senior USAF leaders that sacrificed Broughton and his Wing Commander for politics. Only the traitorous Congress that deserted the RVN when Nixon's attention was diverted by Watergate was worse. Shame, shame. Never forget, never forgive this disgrace to American history.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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