Lucky I Read It ! Well I have read in excess of 20 world war 2 pilots books and I very much enjoyed this one! I was completely drawn in and read it straight through...I enjoyed reading about all Richards exploits and his ability to put you there with him during his time in the sky. If you are a fan of the Army Air Force during WW2 then I highly recommend ready "Dumb But Lucky" and see how a regular guy managed to be very clever and yes a bit lucky as well!
Not so great I have read several books from WWII fighter pilots. I found this one lacking in any description of what combat was like except for a few episodes. Lt. Curtis flew 50 missions but most of them are glossed over and are very short in what actually happened. This book is mostly about living in Italy and what happens in his off time. Interesting enough though that is, there are better books out there. I would recommend, "Gabby" by Francis Gabreski, "Thunderbolt" by Robert S. Johnson, "Fly for Your Life", I think by Robert Stanford Tuck, and Douglas Bader's biography.
I enjoy reading WWII veterans stories about the war but this book just didn't grab me. In the preface the author gives away the whole premise of the book and what happens to him during the war.
I would pass this one by and look for a better story.Thank goodness for those diaries and letters Richard Curtis was an 18 year old who enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 because he wanted to be a pilot and not be drafted without a choice in his role in World War II. He was a wild man when he got at the controls of the fighter planes, but he was disciplined enough to write detailed diaries during training and in Italy. He kept his letters from his wartime girlfriend. From these diaries and letters we learn about the escapades of the flyboys, in the air, in the barracks, and with the girls. We see the suffering of the Italians who lived near the US airbase--the children who begged for food and ate from the Army's garbage cans, and the women and girls who turned to prostitution to survive. From Lt. Curtis' viewpoint in the sky, we see the US bombers down below which have been hit by German fire and realize that another 14 GI's have probably been killed. We learn of the rationing of fuel oil and how it affected those living through a New England winter. I was a child during World War II, and this book was a great education for me about what actually went on during that time.
