We Band Of Brothers

xiv, 393, [1] pages. Illustrations. The dust jacket has slight wear and soiling. Foreword by Robert L. Crippen, Captain, United States Navy, Astronaut. From Jacket "This is the gut-wrenching, scared-as-hell story of a group of World War II college-age kids who flew B-25 Bombers in the South Pacific by the seat of their pants and wreaked havoc on Japanese military aspirations. Nine out of ten from the 345th Bomb Group didn't make it back." Ralph Eugene "Peppy" Blount (born October 19, 1924, Ferris, Texas - d. June 22, 2010)[1] was an American collegiate football end and official; member of the Texas house of representatives; former World War II pilot of a B-25J and author of several books about life, war and football. After graduating from Big Spring High School he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. At 19, he was the youngest pilot of a B-25 bomber strafer in the South Pacific during World War II. He earned more than 15 military decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three clusters, two Presidential Unit Citations and six major Battle Stars. In 1945, just before the end of World War II, First Lieutenant Blount participated in the attack of the Japanese cargo ship Kanju Maru at Saigon. He was inducted into both the Commemorative Air Force's Combat Airmen's Hall of Fame in Midland, Texas; and the Southwest Football Official's Hall of Fame. He wrote several books, including We Band of Brothers; Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Play Football; A Time For All Reasons; and All Things Considered. It's Been a Good Life. The 345th Bomb Group, Air Apaches, Fifth Air Force, as the first full Air Force Combat Group sent to the Pacific in World War II, added a new dimension to the ever-growing saga of the B-25 . . . a minimum altitude bomber-strafer. We Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of their use of the B-25 in the finest tradition and heritage of their use of the B-25 in the finest tradition and heritage of the U.S. Air Force. - Lt. General J. H. Doolittle (Retired), U.S. Air Force. R. E. Peppy Blount has been a public figure in Texas since he returned from the South Pacific as a veteran of World War II. Captain Blount was highly decorated with honors including the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was also awarded the DAR Medal of Honor and inducted into the CAF Combat Airman's Hall of Fame in 1999. "We Band of Brothers" covers the operations of the 501st "Black Panthers" squadron of the 345th Bomb Group, the legendary "Air Apaches." Blount joined up with them in November 1944 at the simple coastal strip at Tacloban in the Philipinnes, and while many may have thought the war was nearing its end, for Blount it was only the beginning. The next base was at San Marcellino in Luzon, but far from the tropical paradise one may imagine, it was "the dirtiest, driest, dustiest, hottest base of operations yet encountered." During World War II the 345th Bombardment Group operated in the Southwest Pacific Theater as a North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force. It was awarded both the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its combat service in New Guinea; the Bismarck Archipelago, Leyte; Luzon; the Southern Philippines and China. The group was activated on 11 November 1942, at Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina, by Third Air Force order No. 275. The 498th, 499th, 500th, and 501st Bombardment Squadrons were assigned to it. Selected to escort the Japanese surrender party from Japan to Ie Shima. It returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated on 29 December 1945. The 501st Bombardment squadron was first activated in 1942. After training in the United States as a medium bomber unit, it deployed to the Southwest Pacific Theater, where it engaged in combat, advancing from Australia, through New Guinea and the Philippines, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its.…