000			01870nam a2200217Ia 4500
003			NULRC
005			20250520103008.0
008			250520s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9780811718424
040			_cNULRC
050			_aD 790.262 .R53 2017
100			_aRichardson, Robert L. _eauthor
245		4	_aThe Jagged edge of duty : _ba fighter pilot's world war II / _cRobert L. Richardson
260			_aGuilford, Connecticut : _bStackpole Books, _cc2017
300			_axiii, 394 pages ; _c24 cm.
504			_aIncludes index.
505			_aCHAPTER 1. GUMP -- 2. Squadron organization -- 3. Two flyers for the fray -- 4. America with no choice left -- 5. Meet the group -- 6. Meet the pilots -- 7. Bomber escort -- 8. Losses mount and the mission to Palermo -- 9. The P-38 fighter interceptor 10. Attacks on Sardinia -- 11. When things go wrong -- 12. Bombs at their fingertips -- Approaching air rule -- Aftermath -- The search for Allan Knepper -- After combat -- Epilogue.
520			_aThe World War II fighter-pilot story. On the very first day of the invasion of Sicily, three months into his combat career, Allan Knepper flew his P-38 Lightning fighter in a squadron sent out to sweep the island and interdict German ground targets. Retreating German infantry unexpectedly pounded the American flyers. Knepper was one of two shot down; he was never found. Knepper's story is the story-in-microcosm of thousands of American fighter pilots in World War II. Richardson recounts Knepper's experiences from training through combat and uses them to discuss the aircraft, tactics and doctrine, training, base life, and aerial combat of the war. This is the intimate account of one pilot at war, but also the anatomy of the fighter-pilot experience in World War II.
650			_aFIGHTER PILOTS -- UNITED STATES -- BIOGRAPHY
942			_2lcc _cREF
999			_c20885 _d20885