Coming from John Bruning in January 2020 "Race of Aces"

Gents,

Hello, I am the writer of "Race of Aces" and I'd be happy to answer any questions that y'all have.

Race is the culmination of thirty years worth of research that dates back to my first year in graduate school at the U of O. In 2010, while I was in Afghanistan, I was involved in a precautionary helicopter landing in the Hindu Kush. I made a bucket list of books I wanted to write if I made it out of that situation. Indestructible was the first of those, Race is the second.

The book centers on the race that developed in the SWPA, so while there are many mentions to the other aces the national media was writing about at the time--including Gabreski, Johnson, Gentile, Boyington, Foss, etc., the focus is on the horse race that developed through 1943 between the guys who ultimately became the top U.S. ace and those around him. That would be Dick Bong (40), Tommy McGuire (38), Tommy's Group Commander, Charles MacDonald (27), Neel Kearby who really was the one who fueled the competition (22), and Bong's squadron commander, Gerald R. Johnson. Along with Tommy Lynch, these are the guys who were involved in the story that I wanted to write. They shaped the competition. They were friends, rivals and at times frenemies.

To write this, I relied on dozens of interviews I conducted, on camera and audio recording from 1992-2004, plus a series with the last surviving 475th ace, Perry Dahl, in 2017. Letters, diaries, family documents, school grades & transcripts, also served as primary research material. I spent 249 days on the road in 2017 going to archives from coast to coast, driving from the Seattle Museum of Flight to every principle and secondary archival holding I could find in the country.

I came back with about 14 terrabytes of copied documents, everything from the Form 5's of the aces & their wingmen to the squadron dailies, unit morning reports, personal encounter reports (of course), reports and tactical bulletins never published but written by these aviators. I collected thousands of photos.

When I finished the manuscript, I handed it to a number of pilots, historians and experts for vetting. Chris Fahey and Jack Cook and Robin Reid were among those who read it and passed it for accuracy.

I went in to the project with a traditional view of what the race was in the SWPA, and who had shaped it. The documentation I collected in 2017 convinced me the post-war narrative of this crazy event in American military history was not right. I wrote the book based on the information I discovered, and it puts the race in the SWPA in a different light.

Anyway, I'd be happy to chat about it. After the book is published, I'll be posting documents I discovered in very odd corners of the country that will shed light on the new things I developed in the book.

Just want to say thank you for keeping the memory and the spirit of the WWII generation alive with your interest, knowledge and community.

John R. Bruning
https://theamericanwarrior.com/


Author:

Race of Aces
Indestructible
Crimson Sky: The Air Battle for Korea
Jungle Ace
Luck of the Draw
Elusive Glory
Ship Strike Pacific
Bombs Away
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Atlantic
The Devil's Sandbox

Co-Author:
Luck of the Draw
House to House
How to Break a Terrorist
Ghost
Shadow of the Sword
Outlaw Platoon
Level Zero Heroes
Heart for the Fight
The Trident
Topgun