February Third - The Story of a Green Hornet

A gripping memoir by Don Hickman, formerly a navigator with the 371st Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Wing.  It starts with the tragic B-47 landing accident on February 3rd, 1963 at Greenham Common, which copilot Dick West did not survive.  It then follows Don through pilot training and to special operations in Vietnam, where as a helicopter pilot, Don was shot down on February 3rd, 1972, nine years to the day after the Greenham Common accident. Click here to read the PDF manuscript.

Books Written By or About 307th Members

Title Author
Publisher
Remarks
Holding the Hand of Darkness

Arthur Hood

(370th BS)

2003. Llumina Press

www.llumina.com/store/Militay.htm

$19.95  + 5.50 S/H

Art takes us through cadets, B-47s at LAFB, and through many years with the KC-135, pulling no punches throughout.
Brothers to the Wind

Oliver E Fowler

(Former CO, 307th ARS-deceased 2000)

Vantage Press, 516 W 34th St, NY, NY 10001, $13.95 + S/H
A vivid description of life in the pre-World War II Air Corps and combat pilot experiences.  (Several copies available through Barnes & Noble out of print books)
Morotai - a memoir of war
John Boeman
1981. Sunflower University Press, 1531 Yuma, Manhattan, KS 66502-4228
Describes the author's experience in WWII pilot training, and as a B-24 pilot with the 307th Bomb Group "Long Rangers" in the South Pacific campaign.
Bridge Busters - The Story of the 394th Bomb Group

J Guy Ziegler

(former member of 307 AEMS)

Acacia Publishing, $24.95

www.acaciapublishing.com

The saga of a B-26 Marauder group in WWII.
Wings for the Dragon - The Air War in Asia, Chapter V "Ali Duke and His Forty Thieves"
Alice Rogers Hager
1945. Dodd, Mead & Co, NY.
While the entire book deals with the little known air war in the China-Burma-India theater of WWII, Chapter V tells of the exploits of Walter F "Buddy" Duch, then a young first lieutenant commander of a C-47 cargo squadron. (Duch later became the 1st CO of the 424th BS in 1958, CO of 307 FMS, and 307th DCM).  Copies are available through out of print books.

1944 Diary of a Bomber Pilot

Bruce Eugene Mills

Michael Bruce Mills & Melba Babe Mills
2001. Vantage Press, 516 West 34th St, NY, NY 10001, $8.95.
A love story of the whirlwind courtship and marriage of Bruce and Melba, interupted by Bruce's 36 B-17 missions over Europe.
The Heart of the Tiger
Glen D Hesler
1999.  San Diego Publishing Co, PO Box 9393, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 9393.

Follows Glen's military aviation career from 1940 to 1970 (he's still boring holes in the sky today!)  Of particular interest is his time with the Flying Tigers in WWII China, his shootdown, and his 33 days escaping and evading the Japanese on foot, walking well over 400 miles, aided by Chinese partisan forces.

The book is now in it's second printing.  The cost is $20 + $3 shipping.  Books are available through Glen Hesler at 700 Markhill Drive, Box 44, Sevierville, TN 37862 or phone 865-908-5258 or email: lucyglen@bellsouth.net.

               

February Third - The Story of a Green Hornet.

Donald W Hickman

(former member of the 371st BS)

Unpublished - available only on this web site.

The memoir starts with the tragic B-47 landing accident on February 3rd, 1963 at Greenham Common, which copilot Dick West did not survive.  It follows Don through pilot training and to special operations in Vietnam, where as a helicopter pilot, Don was shot down on February 3rd, 1972 in Cambodia, nine years to the day after the Greenham Common accident.

Devil at My Heels:  A World War II Hero's Incredible Saga of Torment, Survival, & Foregiveness Louis Zamperini
2003.  William Morrow, $24.95
Lou Zamperini, a 1936 Olympian, joined the Air Corps and soon became a B-24 bombardier with the 307th Bomb Group Long Rangers in the Pacific.  His plane went down in May 1943, and he and two others spent 47 days in a life raft until picked up by the Japanese.  He spent the rest of the war as a POW in Japan, undergoing terrible abuse.  Postwar, he could not find himself, until with the aid of Billy Graham, he was able to confront and forgive his captors. 
From Hayseed to Jet Pilot and Beyond

Johnny Clark

(307th BW, LAFB)

Available from Johnny, $21.95.

Johnny Clark, 803 Villa Plaza, Papillion, NE 68046-3093.

Phone 402-670-1331

email: meptck@cox.net

Johnny tells about being an Iowa farm boy in the Great Depression, and his 20 years as a pilot in the Army Air Corps and the USAF, with stops along the way to marry his high school sweetheart, and for the Berlin Airlift.  Then there is a second career in the natural gas industry and world travels.

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