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![Red Tails: The Tuskegee Airmen and Operation Halyard: An All-New Update for The Forgotten 500: A Penguin eSpecial from NAL Caliber by [Gregory A. Freeman]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51aEBqFMP0L._SX260_.jpg)
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Red Tails: The Tuskegee Airmen and Operation Halyard: An All-New Update for The Forgotten 500: A Penguin eSpecial from NAL Caliber Kindle Edition
Gregory A. Freeman (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American pilots in the US military, and Operation Halyard was one of the most extraordinary rescue missions of World War II, described in Gregory Freeman’s The Forgotten 500. Now a newly discovered connection between them has come to light—the “Red Tails” flew fighter cover for the mission. The remarkable story is revealed here by the author whose work James Bradley calls “amazing [and] riveting.”
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDutton Caliber
- Publication dateJuly 5, 2011
- Reading age18 years and up
- File size152 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B005DIAVMQ
- Publisher : Dutton Caliber (July 5, 2011)
- Publication date : July 5, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 152 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 144 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,010 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #429 in United States Veterans History
- #1,245 in United States Military Veterans History
- #2,083 in Motivational Business Management
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Gregory A. Freeman is an award-winning writer with more than 25 years experience in journalism and narrative nonfiction. Known for writing books that make a true story read like a gripping, fast paced novel, Freeman is quickly becoming one of the most respected and successful authors in the field of narrative nonfiction.
Freeman's books are scrupulously researched and entirely factual, yet they read more like novels because he weaves the "stranger than fiction" personal stories of his subjects into a compelling narrative. Each project requires intensive research - getting to know the subjects personally and probing for previously undisclosed documents. Freeman also explores the subject matter himself, whether that means flying onto the deck of an aircraft carrier at sea or gaining access to the most restricted parts of the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison. But the most important parts of the books are the often intensely personal, emotional interviews with the men and women who were there. Their personal stories make up the heart of Freeman's work, the part that most connects with the reader.
In addition to his books, Freeman writes for a wide range of magazines and other publications, including Reader's Digest, Rolling Stone, American History, and World War II.
Freeman has won more than a dozen awards for his writing, including the coveted Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists - twice in five years. He attended the University of Georgia in Athens and began his writing career there, working for newspapers while studying journalism and political science.
After receiving his degree, he went on to work for The Associated Press in Atlanta and then spent several years as executive editor of a publishing company. He then became a freelance writer, editor, and author.
Known for writing narrative nonfiction that makes a true story read like a gripping, fast paced novel, Freeman’s latest work is The Gathering Wind: Hurricane Sandy, the Sailing Ship Bounty, and a Courageous Rescue at Sea, released October 29, 2013, by New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Books. This book tells the story of the tall sailing Bounty, which was lost off the coast of North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Answering many of the questions prompted by that terrible loss, The Gathering Wind is a compelling drama about the crew, the Coast Guard rescuers, and the investigations that followed.
Freeman’s earlier book The Last Mission of the Wham Bam Boys tells the story of a World War II bomber crew that is shot down over Germany and then lynched by local townspeople, leading to the first war crimes trial after the conflict ended. Kirkus Reviews called it “A chilling tale” and “a riveting narrative.”
Freeman also published Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny and Bravery on the USS Kitty Hawk in September 2009, also with Palgrave Macmillan. Troubled Water tells a little known story of a race riot on the carrier Kitty Hawk in 1972, focusing on the two senior officers who will determine whether this already tragic episode ends peacefully or spirals down into one of the darkest moments in Navy history. Just prior to that, Freeman co-authored a book with Col. Larry C. James, the U.S. Army psychologist who was sent to stop the abuse at the notorious military prison in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Fixing Hell: An Army Psychologist Confronts Evil at Abu Ghraib, released in August 2008, tells the harrowing tale of a man struggling to be both a military officer and a medical professional, while also revealing previously unknown details about the prison scandal and how the system was improved.
James Bradley, bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys, and The Imperial Cruise praises Freeman as a talented author whose books provide an important service to the country. Bradley says of Freeman's latest, Troubled Water: "Gregory Freeman has dug out the true hidden story of the first mutiny in the history of the U.S. Navy. You'll enjoy this high-seas thriller."
Freeman won wide acclaim for The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II, published in 2007 by New American Library. This popular book tells the fascinating but previously unknown story of Operation Halyard, a super secret and ultra risky rescue mission to save downed American airmen in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Malcolm McConnell, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of American Soldier, says of The Forgotten 500: "Freeman chronicles [the story] with a master's touch for detail. Although this book reads like a fast paced novel, it is based on scores of probing interviews and meticulous archival research." Gregg Olsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep Dark, says The Forgotten 500 is "a literary and journalistic achievement of the highest order, a book that illuminates, thrills and reminds us that heroes sometimes do live among us. It will take your breath away."
Before that, Freeman saw great success with Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It, originally published in July 2002 by William Morrow. In Sailors to the End, Freeman tells the story of the young men aboard an aircraft carrier in 1967, following their life-and-death struggles through an accidental fire that threatens to destroy the world's most powerful ship. Sailors to the End was enthusiastically embraced by the military community and general interest readers alike. One reviewer said, "The book grabs readers and leaves them emotionally exhausted. In particular, the description of the death of sailor James Blaskis in a remote and inaccessible part of the ship cannot leave a reader unmoved." A Kirkus Reviews writer called Sailors to the End "a compassionate account of a dramatic incident in modern naval history, told with cinematic immediacy and narrative skill." Senator John McCain, who was injured in the fire, endorsed the book and called it "a riveting account" that honors the men who died.
In Lay This Body Down: The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves, Freeman paints a vivid picture of a plantation run with slave labor 56 years after the Civil War. Melissa Fay Greene, author of The Temple Bombing and Praying for Sheetrock, called Lay This Body Down a "magnificently well-written book." Library Journal's Robert C. Jones wrote that "this moving narrative account is arguably the most complete history of this event available."
See the author's web site at www.gregoryafreeman.com.
Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s businessperson. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous direct sales organizations.
Bob regularly addresses audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 — sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes and political leaders including a former United States President.
Although for years he was best known for his book "Endless Referrals," over the past few years it’s his business parable, "The Go-Giver" (coauthored with John David Mann) that has captured the imagination of his readers.
"The Go-Giver," a The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek Bestseller, has sold over 700,000 copies. Since its release it has consistently stayed in the top 25 on 800ceoread’s Business Book Bestsellers List. It has been translated into 21 languages. It was rated #10 on Inc. Magazine’s list of the Most Motivational Books Ever Written, and was on HubSpot’s 20 Most Highly Rated Sales Books of All Time.
Bob is the author of a number of books on sales, marketing and influence, with total book sales of well over a million copies.
The American Management Association named Bob one of the Top 30 Leaders in Business and he was named one of the Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World by Richtopia.
Bob is an advocate, supporter and defender of the Free Enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve.
He is also an unapologetic animal fanatic and served on the Board of Directors of Furry Friends Adoption and Clinic in his town of Jupiter, Florida.
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Spoiler Alert: Finally, we get to the Tuskegee Airmen, and a couple of quotes about the gratitude of white bomber crews to the Red Tails. The Tuskegee Airmen were distinguished by the dedication of the fighter pilots who stuck to their posts as escorts and protectors of the bombers, while others abandoned the almost defenseless crews to go off "happy hunting."
We get numerous quotes, and one scene to support the bomber pilots' and crews' appreciation for the black fighters when a Tuskegee Airman entered a POW camp, where he was welcomed with open arms because the prisoners were so grateful for the Red Tails' protection, and because he was black, and therefore couldn't be a German spy. These assertions of the Tuskegee Airmen's skill are frequent and repetitive, and not difficult to believe, but stating it over and over, even quoting others' stating it, isn't nearly as convincing as anecdotes or stories. The secrecy of the mission and the official lack of recognition of the Red Tails in general, make the gaping hole of evidence more understandable, but isn't that the point? Historians (and journalists) uncover resources, dig into the minds of soldiers or their kin, and generally have or find support for their theses, or they abandon them. Looking back on this thesis, though, it was only that the Red Tails participated in the evacuation, not that they distinguished themselves. Um, OK.
The most disappointing part of the book for me, though, was the end. There is a brief and joking interchange over the radio between the Tuskegee Airmen trying to find the downed bomber crews, and a siting of a Red Tail from the ground during the operation, and that was that. No more about these gallant men.
During the daylight rescue from the mountain, the fighter pilots engaged the nearby German army, while the bombers landed, boarded up the stranded airmen and took off again in the miraculously undetected rescue operation. Somebody on the ground sees one? two? all? Red Tails amongst the fighters, then they took off to attack the nearby Germans, but since the theme so far had been the loyalty, dedication, humility and courage it took to stick with and protect the bombers through everything, rather than abandoning the to rack up kills, I was left in confusion. There was no indication that the Red Tails were headed out to fight this time, no acknowledgement that this flight was different from their escort sojourns, just an acknowledgement before they left that this mission was more dangerous than most because they would be in and over enemy territory. They found their way in, then we are told that "the fighter planes" took off to engage the Germans, while the story continues to follow the bombers and evacuees. Wait, what? That was it. No more mention of the Tuskegee Airmen until the last paragraph (which was about the downed airmen and the skill of the bomber pilots), where they were acknowledged to have been there.
The Tuskegee Airmen were an amazing group of men who excelled during the war, breaking in to a world dominated by white men, and demonstrating courage, tenacity, dedication and skill. I don't think that their presence during this mission demonstrates any of that, though, and simply stating that they were there would have accomplished the same thing. The logic seems to be "this was a dangerous mission; the CIA recruited only the best (bomber) pilots to participate; the Tuskegee Airmen participated as (fighter) pilots; ergo, they were the best....
Most of this book retells in limited detail the facts in "The Forgotten 500" story (I'm only guessing since I haven't read the first book yet). A small portion of this offering (it's a very quick read) relates the history of the Tuskegee pilots as well as their involvement in this operation.
It is well worth reading.
It should have earned 4 stars from me due to its brevity, but I love the Tuskegee airman and they always deserve 5 stars for everything they've done!
Devlin Scott (Lyshan Press)
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