Rupert Red Two

December 31, 2007
A full colonel, Broughton chronicles his 30-year career from his 1945 graduation from West Point as an Army Air Corps Officer through his transition to the newly-established U.S. Air Force in 1947, through years of service including in the Vietnam conflict. A man who loved being a pilot more than climbing the ranks, Broughton's voice has integrity and heart to spare. Primarily, he writes about the aircraft he was assigned to fly (he flew virtually every fighter in the inventory) and the missions of each posting. But he also writes vividly about the transient, near-nomadic lifestyle a post-WWII military career could become (he and his family made three coast-to-coast moves in 15 months). Touched with humor and loss and the frustrations of military life under a growing bureaucracy, Broughton's tour brings to life what was probably the most exciting time in history to be an Air Force pilot.

February 25, 2008
A full colonel, Broughton chronicles his 30-year career from his 1945 graduation from West Point as an Army Air Corps Officer through his transition to the newly-established U.S. Air Force in 1947, through years of service including in the Vietnam conflict. A man who loved being a pilot more than climbing the ranks, Broughton's voice has integrity and heart to spare. Primarily, he writes about the aircraft he was assigned to fly (he flew virtually every fighter in the inventory) and the missions of each posting. But he also writes vividly about the transient, near-nomadic lifestyle a post-WWII military career could become (he and his family made three coast-to-coast moves in 15 months). Touched with humor and loss and the frustrations of military life under a growing bureaucracy, Broughton's tour brings to life what was probably the most exciting time in history to be an Air Force pilot.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2007
The author of the Vietnam aviation classics Thud Ridge (1969) and Going Downtown (1988) returns at last with a third, this biographical overview. Graduating from West Point in 1945, Broughtons first posting was to occupied Germany, flying P-47s. After transitioning to jets, he flew one model of F-84 in Korea and a later, better model as leader of the Thunderbirds. A tour of duty with NORAD put him in the cockpit of the undeservedly obscure F-106, and his final two tours of duty were in Vietnam, flying the F-105 Thunderchief. His record of decorations speaks for itself, and so does his prose, which is among the best from-the-cockpit aviation writing of the latter part of the twentieth century. He vividly conveys the sensations of rolling in on a heavily defended target and of nursing a crippled plane home as well as of battling incorrigible superiors and of writingto the next of kin of pilots who did not enjoy his good fortune.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)