Rating: 
Summary: Another Ambrose Classic
Review: Ambrose has done it again. Four years ago, Ambrose declared during an interview on C-SPAN that he wasn't going to write about war any more. Fortunately, he broke that promise. The Wild Blue is a stirring tribute not only to George McGovern, but the men of the 455th Bomb Group as well as the nearly forgotten 15th Air Force which flew out of Italy.Following their training in flight school, to flight training on the B-24, we see these young men, boys really, take on the awesome job of learning how to fly one of the war's best, but most difficult to fly, bombers. What makes their journey particularly harrowing is that men were dying even in flight school. So by the time they reached Italy, death was something they were already acquainted with. The "Dakota Queen's" combat tour is a series of long range missions into Germany, Austria, Hungary and even Poland. The Luftwaffe is pretty much a spent force, but flak made the missions dangerous endeavours nonetheless. Milk runs were treasured but not all that frequent. The men of the 455th become the dogfaces of the airwar. Buy this. Read it and treasure it. It's superbly written and one of Ambrose's most moving works.
Rating:
Summary: Heroes Flying High
Review: Stephen Ambrose takes us inside the cramped, cold and courageous flights of B-24 'Liberator' bombers over Europe during WWII. A few highly selected men, but mostly boys, battled fighters and flack in order to destroy Nazi oil reserves and other strategic targets. Due to their staggering losses, bomber crews became one of the most dangerous assignments during the war. Ambrose takes us close to these heroes by chronicling the 35 missions of former Senator and Presidential candidate, George McGovern and his crew. Put the politics aside and learn about the intense training and miserable flight conditions. Discover the very personal battles each crew member fought with fear. See how 10 strangers bonded as one team at 25,000 feet. As a youth, my brother and I built models of B-24's and B-17's, inspired by war stories and movies, like "12 O'Clock High". We mistook the leather flight jackets and cool shades as glamour. "The Wild Blue" demonstrates war has little glamour. Ordinary people accepted dangerous positions and performed extraordinary tasks. Ambrose is informative and passionate in bringing us their story.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: I really wanted to enjoy this book. I just didn't live up to my expectations. Ambrose noted in the introduction that the book began as a biography of George McGovern and later turned into a story of "the men and boys who flew the B-24s over Germany." I got the impression he never did decide which book he was writing. That said, the book still has its good points. For one, it presented a side of McGovern that is not widely known. The reason I read this book was that I wanted to learn more about the air war in WWII, and I did learn a few things, though not as much as I had hoped. In following McGovern's war career, Ambrose takes you through the pilot training program and gives a good picture describes the difficulty of flying the B24 and what life was like on board the plane during a mission. Unfortunately, it was all interspersed with biographical information about the other members of the flight crew, ground crew, etc. that did more to confuse things than it added to the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing spectacular, but interesting
Review: I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen Ambrose. He was only a mediocre writer, in my opinion, and though his historian skills were reasonably well-developed, he had a sort of go-with-the-trends attitude towards things that didn't work very well, in my opinion. He was also occasionally caught basically skimming writing from other writers, a big no-no, especially when the skimmer hits the best-seller lists and those they copied from aren't that popular. The Wild Blue is apparently Ambrose's attempt to write something about someone who's politically akin to him. Though he was Eisenhower's official biographer, and also wrote a 3-volume bio of Nixon, Ambrose personally was a Democrat, and in this book he balances things by giving us a war-time bio of George McGovern, of all people. It turns out that mild-mannered George, back in the day, flew a B-24 Liberator in the last months of the war, and was something of a hero. The book, then, is a history of the B-24s in the war in Europe, and of the 15th Air Force, in Italy, and its participation in the war. While the book at times concentrates on McGovern, it also spends considerable time talking about other pilots and crewmen on other B-24s in the war in the Med. It's not quite a bio, but more than just an oral history. You get the idea that Ambrose would have liked to make the whole book about McGovern, but that there just wasn't enough material, so he sort of stretched what he had and added to it to get it to the length it is now. Ambrose isn't my favorite author, as I said, and this isn't his best book, but it wasn't bad.
Rating:
Summary: Boys to Men in 35 Missions
Review: Narrating George McGovern's WWII service in B-24s, Stephen Ambrose also tells the story of the B-24 strategic bomber and the men who served as B-24 crews. Included are succinct accounts of some crew members who flew in other B-24s. These airmen were a cross section of the United States; i.e. good and bad and stupid and bright, each a slice of humanity.
After McGovern signed-up for the Army Air Force (AAF), he waited a year before called to active duty in February 1943. In 1942 the AAF lacked sufficient airfields, airplanes, instructors, and barracks to immediately start training the large number of airmen the war would require. In 1939 the Army Air Corps had only 1,700 aircraft and 1600 officers. By 1944 the AAF had 2.4 million personnel and was almost one third of the total Army strength. The book gives a short account of pilot training. Like the rest of the Army, air-crews had to go through army basic training before proceeding to flight training. The author noted "It was almost universally agreed that the B-24 was the hardest plane to fly. The AAF knew that and its training program reflected the fact." The B-24 pilot required physically stamina with McGovern stating that his pre-flight Phys-Ed coach "made a bigger contribution to saving our lives than any single person." After B-24 transition training, aircrews were assigned to aircraft. The book notes "It was critical for each crew to develop and maintain a close bond." Most were twenty-two years old or younger."
In September 1944, McGovern and crew were judged ready. They were assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force based at Cerignola, Italy. They didn't fly a B-24 over but took a long ship trip to Italy. Chapter Four contains an informative discussion of bomber strategy. The British went to night bombing, making German cities and their civilian population the target." The AAF wanted no part of the British policy, adopting strategic daylight bombing in the summer of 1942, but as the author notes "they had been rushed into battle prematurely." Rarely were the missions decisive because the Germans could repair damage almost as fast as they were bombed-out. Strategic bombs results were flat and casualty rates were high so that by mid-1943 the situation was critical for strategic bombing as conducted by the Eighth Air force in England. By late 1943 loss rate started declining as experience was gained. Also in December 1943, the Fifteenth Air Force was formed so that Germany and Austria were being bombed from the South and in the East.
After Chapter Five's brief discussion of Cerignola, Italy, Chapter Six narrates how McGovern and other new crews learned to fly in combat. AAF's policy in late 1994 was for the pilot to fly their first five combat missions as co-pilots with a veteran and experienced crew. McGovern's first mission was November 1, 1944. AAF takeoff procedures would drive today's air traffic controllers nuts. McGovern later admitted "Every takeoff made in World War II was an adventure." As a co-pilot McGovern learned much noting that flak was almost always dangerous. McGovern's B-24 was never attacked by German fighter aircraft as few remained in service late in the war. After completing his five co-pilot missions, McGovern took command of his own crew as aircraft commander. While missions were flown against a variety of targets, the strategic emphasis was on oil refineries and railroad marshalling yards. The text provides succinct accounts of the missions McGovern and his crew flew. On one mission, McGovern's aircraft lost the right wheel on takeoff. They flew the mission and McGovern said regarding his return landing "....made the best landing I'd ever made in my life." Enroute to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia on a mission, his aircraft lost an engine and lost a second engine to flak over the target. On the return McGovern made an emergency landing on an Adriatic island.
Chapter Nine is devoted to The Tuskegee Airmen who in P-51s flew cover in 1945 for the Fifteenth Air Force bombers. They were greatly admired, and appreciated by the bomber crews as the Tuskegee Airmen effectively prevented any German fighter plane attacks. McGovern's last mission was to Linz, Austria on April 25, 1945. Less than two weeks later the Germans surrendered and the war in Europe ended. During the last fifteen months, McGovern's group had flown 252 combat missions, lost 118 B-24s and suffered nearly 1,000 casualties-killed, wounded, missing or taken prisoner.
In the chapters on combat, the text relate the effects of combat on the aircrews who were almost always exhausted after a B-24 mission. In addition, the flying officers were well thought of by theirs crews as these officers looked after the well-being of the entire crew. The book's reporting of the various post-war assessments of the effectiveness of strategic bombing was interesting. Luftwaffe commander Goring said target selection had been excellent. Albert Speer, the minister of production, emphatically stated that strategic bombing could have won the war without a land invasion. Other German leaders said that the Allies had underestimated German industrial capacity.
After the war, McGovern and his crew flew several missions carrying food to war ravaged areas including Germany. On June 18,1945 McGovern and his crew flew a B-24 back home. Some returning veterans, including McGovern, when to college. Regarding B-24s, the author relates that in less than a year after the war, virtually all B-24 had been salvaged with only three aircraft remaining in museums today, only two still flying.
This is a very readable account of an aircraft and its crews who have been somewhat overshadowed by the more famous B-17.
Rating: 
Summary: Captures the experience of flying in WWII
Review: "Wild Blue" is the story of a young George McGovern and of a plane called the B-24 and the role they both played in winning WWII for the Allies. Ambrose does a very nice job of drawing you into the whole experience of particiapting in WWII as a bomber pilot. He brings a lot of issues to light that you simply don't tend to think about including training and the differences in flying different aircraft. As always, Ambrose does a wonderful job of capturing the comaraderie of the men and the importance of those among them who accepted roles as leaders.
The book will give you a greater appreciation for what these men did and endured and will entertain you at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but incomplete
Review: Stephen Ambrose's "The Wild Blue" is an interesting read but rather incomplete. By incomplete I understand that most of the coverage was given to former Senator George McGovern, but there is no doubt that he should have developed thought and descriptions of more of the characters. Also there should have been more thought into delving into the air war over Europe in World War II. I would have personally liked more background information on what was happening in terms of organization and strategy in regards to the air war. Maybe some more information in terms of the British Royal Air Force or German Luftwaffe would have been benificial.
One of the strengths of this book is the descriptions of the B-24 Liberator, Ambrose handels that by being thorough and describing the plane with ease. I have a lot of respect for the young men who flew bombing missions over Europe and my dad a retired Air Force pilot praised them in his recent retirement ceremony, which was really cool. Ambrose really could have done more work and research for this book. If he wanted to write a straight biography of McGovern he could have done just that. Overall this is a very simple book and some could find it a very good read for studying the importance of the B-24 in Europe.
Rating:
Summary: Is it his work?
Review: This work is said to be plagarism--see Scandals and Scoundrels: Seven Cases That Shook the Academy, by Ron Robin.
Rating:
Summary: George McGovern
Review: This is the Ambrose book about George McGovern. At the time, McGovern was in his 20's and was a B-24 pilot. It was many years later that he ran for President.
It is an interesting book in that the B-17 has gotten all the glory in the bombing of Germany in WWII by the allies. The B-24 could go a little faster, and had a larger bomb load than the B -17. It carried fewer guns, 10 vs. 13 for the B-17.
The B-24 however had no hydraulics, so that it was pilot muscle power that flew the plane. The wheel was held by the pilot in his left hand while the pilot operated the instruments with his right hand. The left arm grew 15 inch or larger biceps in struggling with the wheel to keep the plane in the air.
It was not unusual to have the ground crew carry a pilot out of the aircraft after a mission, he was so exhausted.
The 15th Air Force flew most of their missions from Africa, and later, from Italy. It was b-24's that flew the mission over the Polesti oil fields when most were shot down.
There was a mission over Austria where a bomb was jettisoned. McGovern thought for years that the bomb hit a farm house and killed all those inside. Years later, he visited Austria and found the family he had bombed. No one had been hurt.
The book is about George McGovern, with the B-24 and 15th Air Force as a supporting cast.
I found it interesting as I knew very little about any of this.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Band of Brothers of the sky...
Review: This was a good book, however, it did not come close to D-Day, Band of Brothers or Citizen Soldiers. This did not have the impact of those other works. They are all great and worth the time to read, this one just isn't quite up to the same caliber.
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