Flyboys is the true story about
eight American airmen who were shot down during World War II
and held prisoners on a small island off the coast of Japan.
The fate of these men was not known until the Japanese war crimes
trials were held in 1946. The horrific results led to the hanging
of high ranking officers and the imprisonment of many others.
Information about the crimes was kept from the American public;
the files were sealed and were not opened until the late 1980s.
The author wanted to let the
story be known in honor of these airmen. He used the information
from the trials in addition to interviews of the Japanese
survivors who witnessed the action to tell us the fate of
these men. Bradley researched the lives of each of them so
we could best know and understand them. He also included a
great deal of information about Jimmie Doolittle, who was
the first to bomb Tokyo, General Curtis LeMay, who used the
B-29 missions to devastate Tokyo, and Colonel Tibetts who
dropped the 1st atomic bomb.
James Bradley's reading of
his book is especially effectivebecause of his personal
connection with one of the soldiers who served in the Pacific.
His first bestseller, Flags
of Our Fathers,
told the stories of his father and the five Marines who were
immortalized in the famous photo of the raising of the American
flag on Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
I highly recommend this book
and hope all Americans will read it or listen to this excellent
six-hour abridgement on five CDs. I know there will be many
who will feel that war crimes should be forgiven. My feelings
are that maybe they should, perhaps, but never should they
be forgotten.
,
told the stories of his father and the five Marines who were
immortalized in the famous photo of the raising of the American
flag on Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima.