My War: The True Experiences of a U.S. Army Air Force Pilot in World War Ii

I have read a few of this genre, and as far as personal war histories go, this is one of the better ones. The book begins with the authors enlistment, and takes us through the training, war experience, and even a bit of the post-war life history of his life.===The Good Stuff===* The author writes very well. The book is an easy read- I ended up reading it in less than a day. John Walter is able to describe his decision-making processes and relate his wartime experiences quite well. It should not have to be stated, but this book is remarkably free of the typos and other editing fiascoes that seem to plague Kindle books of this type.* Walter gives us at least a glimpse of his thoughts. For example, he chooses to train as a bomber pilot-not because he liked bombers, but because he wanted to avoid washing out as a fighter pilot and ending up a bomber co-pilot.* The book is an excellent look at wartime US (and England). Walter relates his difficulties in traveling, finding accommodations, and also his interactions with the people of each country.* While there are some "fraternity-boy" pranks and stories, the book doesn't get caught up in it. We know that in wartime Britain, women outnumbered men by 4-1. We can guess the rest.* Walter does an excellent job of describing the more technical details of flying a B-17. We go through a pre-flight, coax an overloaded bomber into the air, learn how to form up in a formation, then get shot at and drop our bombload over the target. Finally we coax our battered airplane back to a safe landing. I have never been in a B-17, but know how one sounds when it starts up, where the best places to sleep are, and the types of close calls than can turn one of the most robust planes ever built into a deathtrap.* The author takes us through his training, pilot experience, and command experience. We can see the boy turn into the man, and watch as he goes from a slightly scared recruit to a confident command pilot.===The Not So Good Stuff===* There are lots of pictures in this book. Too bad they are illegible on the small Kindle screens.* Probably my most serious critique- Walter is careful about the sides of the war he shows us. For example, he talks about the camaraderie of his crew, but shies away from the flip side. He hints that he never learned the names of some of his temporary crewmen, but doesn't discuss the value of life of close friends versus new members of the squadron. Other works I have read have discussed this phenomenon, which is simple human nature. But few things drive home the cruelty and harsh decision processes of war like this. Would have been nice to see some of the harsher sides of wartime commands discussed.===Summary===* It was a very enjoyable read, and one of the better efforts I have read. I truly got the feel of being in a cockpit. Walter is an engineer by training, so as expected there is more attention to how the engine controls work than his emotions at watching a friend die in front of him. The book is roughly 33% actual flying stories, with the rest accounts of training, life in the army, and hints of family life. I thought it was a nice balance, and would recommend the book, both as a history of B-17 pilots and a general look at life during wartime.

Every so often I read a World War Two bomber crewman memoir that reaches out and grabs me. Such is John C. Walter's outstanding book MY WAR: The True Experiences of a U.S. Army Air Force Pilot in World War Two, published by Authorhouse in 2004. Not since I read the late Gene Carson's Wing Ding have I felt like I've gotten into the head and heart of a bomber crewman in such detail.Walter flew as a pilot with the 95th Bomb Group (H) out of Horham, England in World War Two. The book begins with his enlistment and early training and follows Walter and his crew across the Atlantic to England, where they complete 35 harrowing missions in the early months of 1945 flying a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Not all of the crew survives their tour, and many fellow crews also go down. Walter tells his story alternating the stress and terror of flying missions with the high-spirited living of the crewmen between missions. He explains many things that I never fully understood despite having read literally over a hundred bomber crew memoirs. I guess one could say Mr. Walter has an eye for detail that enables him to describe the experience in new and introspective ways. Considering he spent much of his career honing his writing skills as a technical writer for General Dynamics, he's had a lot of practice. He also has a wonderful dry sense of humor, which I appreciated greatly while reading.Other pluses to the book are the good photographs throughout and the appendix, which describes in detail how to read a Pilot Information Sheet used on a mission. The book has 247 pages.I managed to get hold of Mr. Walter today and I hope to use his insight and expertise while writing the 95th BG history this coming year. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.Rob Morris, Author, Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War Two, Potomac Books, 2006

This was a very good read. In a lot of WWII books, the author seems to build himself up in the storyline. Mr Walter was without ego or concern as to how he appeared, it was simply a recollection of his time as a trainee pilot and B-17 pilot over Europe. I found this book most interesting because, as Mr Walter's tour was ending, my father's tour was beginning. My father was also in the 95th Bomb Group and flew on four of the same missions as the author. My father's first mission was Berlin, on Feb 26. He also flew on the Leipzig (Feb 27), Dresden (Mar 2) and Datteln (Mar 7). The author attributes the last mission to Dortmundfeld, however the `Operational Record of the 95th Bomb Group (H)' attributes the mission to Datteln (Benzene factory).In the later part of the war, most of Germany's fighters had been destroyed and had become less lethal to the bombers. However, as Germany's occupied territories began to shrink, the anti-aircraft guns were pulled back to protect German cities. Consequently the B-17 bombers began to suffer more losses from anti-aircraft fire than from fighter attacks. This is evident from the author's first mission, losing his copilot. And yet, the loss of his navigator shows how dangerous it was to simply be a passenger on one of these missions - he died from oxygen starvation. This was not an uncommon occurrence.Overall, simply an excellent story of a young kid going to war, and being responsible for the lives of 9 people.

Excellent book, very well written with the expertise of someone who has been through a great deal of danger.