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Originally Posted by Apache
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Thanks for the post. Got it free in an earlier promotion. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to read it yet.
I thought that I was fairly conversant about WWII, but I didn't know who Gunn was until I saw the book previously and read about him in the
Wikipedia article to learn more out about him . . . .
I had actually forgotten that he was a fighter ace, and about the rest of his combat exploits and success. Some people may enjoy reading about those.
The thing about him that stands out to me is the modifications that he made to the aircraft, that made them more versatile and, therefore, more effective. Many a very helpful innovation in WWII came about the same way--instead of trying to go through the layers of bureaucracy to get some modification to a piece of equipment approved, the men in the field just (probably against the rules) made the modification (an old saying is relevant here: "it's better to ask for forgiveness, than to ask for permission"), tried it out, and if it worked it seems that it got fast-tracked by the military to be standard equipment in subsequent production of whatever the equipment was.
BTW--"Pappy" Gunn shouldn't be confused with "Pappy" Boyington, the WWII ace whom the TV series
Baa Baa Black Sheep, or something to that effect (you youngsters out there probably won't know what I'm talking about), was about. For one thing, I think that Gunn and Boyington were in two different branches of service in the military.
I noticed that the ratings of the book are stellar, and the book is a #1 seller in two or three categories at Amazon. It should be a good read. Now if only I had time to read it . . . .