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One Man Air Force
Gentile’s personal account of life fighting through the skies of World War Two provides fascinating insight into the mind of this young pilot.
The feelings of engaging an enemy in a dogfight, of having a Messerschmidt close on your tail, and of soaring into the air in Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Mustangs are all encompassed within this memoir.
The admiration that Gentile commanded was demonstrated when General Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the pilot with the Distinguished Flying Cross and stated, “You are a One-Man Air Force.”
Gentile, in the course of this short book, takes the reader from his earliest memories of wanting to learn to fly through to his entry into the Second World War, through the course of three hundred and fifty combat hours in one hundred and eighty-two sorties, up to the moment when he was removed from front line combat in 1944.
“This is not only the story of ‘a one-man air force’ against the Huns; nor is it only a story of the fluctuations, failures and successes of our air war against the Luftwaffe. It is also the story of a new type of American — one who has been growing up all around this older generation of ours, sometimes, it seems, while we were hardly looking and who will be ready to take over and make use of the air power that is predicted now to lie just beyond the war.” Ira S. Wolfert
After surviving all the Germans could muster, he was killed in 1951 in a simple crash of a jet trainer while testing near Andrews AFB, Maryland. He was posthumously promoted to major and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton. This work was published shortly after he finished front line duty in 1944.
The feelings of engaging an enemy in a dogfight, of having a Messerschmidt close on your tail, and of soaring into the air in Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Mustangs are all encompassed within this memoir.
The admiration that Gentile commanded was demonstrated when General Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the pilot with the Distinguished Flying Cross and stated, “You are a One-Man Air Force.”
Gentile, in the course of this short book, takes the reader from his earliest memories of wanting to learn to fly through to his entry into the Second World War, through the course of three hundred and fifty combat hours in one hundred and eighty-two sorties, up to the moment when he was removed from front line combat in 1944.
“This is not only the story of ‘a one-man air force’ against the Huns; nor is it only a story of the fluctuations, failures and successes of our air war against the Luftwaffe. It is also the story of a new type of American — one who has been growing up all around this older generation of ours, sometimes, it seems, while we were hardly looking and who will be ready to take over and make use of the air power that is predicted now to lie just beyond the war.” Ira S. Wolfert
After surviving all the Germans could muster, he was killed in 1951 in a simple crash of a jet trainer while testing near Andrews AFB, Maryland. He was posthumously promoted to major and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton. This work was published shortly after he finished front line duty in 1944.
44 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1944
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 23, 2018
I enjoy first person accounts of history - this book has a lot of potential. Don Gentile was a great fighter pilot. He also served in the RAF Eagle squadrons and flew missions in the Spitfire, Thunderbolt, and Mustang.
There is a great underlying story, and the voice is very authentic, but the book is not well written and is extremely short, almost the length of an extended short story.
There is a great underlying story, and the voice is very authentic, but the book is not well written and is extremely short, almost the length of an extended short story.
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November 24, 2020Early last week I accidentally bought a ‘book’ called One Man Air Force, by Don S. Gentle. I say “book” because it’s only 50 pages, and I would have returned it (I was browsing WW2 books and hit the ‘buy with one click’ button), but the writing was so absorbing I had to keep going. It’s really nothing more than the account of the American-born Gentile joining the RAF in his eagerness to fly against the Germans — and then his learning to be a killer in the skies, outdoing even Eddie Rickenbacker once he’d transferred to the USAAF and begun flying P-51 Mustangs. Unfortunately, he perished soon after the war ended, while flying as a test pilot. Considering the utter joy he took in it, though, I suppose that’s probably how he would have wanted to go. A quote:
“At the rate of 700 miles an hour you can eat up all the distance there is in one gulp, but while you’re doing it it seems slow. You can think of a thousand things, and nothing seems to be happening in your life except that the plane is coming slowly toward you and you’re living a lifetime — as if it was a speed-up movie reel — and aging fast and growing old and older and looking suddenly at the end of your life in just about the time it takes to say it.”
“At the rate of 700 miles an hour you can eat up all the distance there is in one gulp, but while you’re doing it it seems slow. You can think of a thousand things, and nothing seems to be happening in your life except that the plane is coming slowly toward you and you’re living a lifetime — as if it was a speed-up movie reel — and aging fast and growing old and older and looking suddenly at the end of your life in just about the time it takes to say it.”
October 18, 2020
GREAT PERSONAL STORY OF AN AMERICAN FIGHTER PILOT THAT ENTERED WWII EARLY & GAINED INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE TO SHARE AS AMERICA ENTERED THE WAR
This is an inspiring story of an American boy that turned his love of airplanes & flying into a great contribution toward winning the Air War Over Germany. Told with humility and honesty, that shares his understandings & experiences gained with future generations that have or may yet face similar challenges.
It is also interesting & exciting reading, that kept me turning pages.
In addition it provides a great contrast of America United for a common cause & the America today divided by an Insidious Attack by those that lack the understanding of American Greatness & Why God has Blessed America More Than All Other Nations.
This is an inspiring story of an American boy that turned his love of airplanes & flying into a great contribution toward winning the Air War Over Germany. Told with humility and honesty, that shares his understandings & experiences gained with future generations that have or may yet face similar challenges.
It is also interesting & exciting reading, that kept me turning pages.
In addition it provides a great contrast of America United for a common cause & the America today divided by an Insidious Attack by those that lack the understanding of American Greatness & Why God has Blessed America More Than All Other Nations.
August 25, 2018
Compared to the contemporary books of pilots like Robert S. Johnson, Adolf Galland, Johnnie Johnson, Hans Ulrich Rudel, Gregory Boyington and Robert L. Scott - this is a very brief book that really doesn't give you much but a quick few glimpses into what "Gentle" obviously considered the most important things he learned as a fighter pilot. It certainly doesn't compare to any of the works by the pilots that I have listed. It definitely avoids his grounding for stunting over an airfield in England and crashing.
June 6, 2021
I love reading books like this. First hand accounts of experiences of men in positions at a young age that just scream, I'm just another ordinary guy placed in a situation where I end up doing the extraordinary, have the skill and talent to be in the wrong place at the right time, to be the best that I can be and also benefit my country... IN REAL TIME. In a way it makes me sad because the types of people like this that stood up against tyranny are fading fast and are becoming forgotten!
May 25, 2020
Great read!
As a modern day fighter pilot and a frequent flyer of WWII Era aircraft-fighters and bombers in air shows and as an instructor - I found it very easy to relate to this book. Don takes us into the cockpit of the Spitfire in the Eagle squadrons, and the P-47 and P-51 of the AAC. He provides an interesting perspective and is thoroughly entertaining.
As a modern day fighter pilot and a frequent flyer of WWII Era aircraft-fighters and bombers in air shows and as an instructor - I found it very easy to relate to this book. Don takes us into the cockpit of the Spitfire in the Eagle squadrons, and the P-47 and P-51 of the AAC. He provides an interesting perspective and is thoroughly entertaining.
November 20, 2020
Good opening no close.
Title says it all.Hi author Did a great job of Describing Ariel combat This was the best Descriptions of such combat that I have read anywhere.But quite suddenly The book ended With no Effort At putting The earlier parts In summary or making it Less Than appointment description.
Title says it all.Hi author Did a great job of Describing Ariel combat This was the best Descriptions of such combat that I have read anywhere.But quite suddenly The book ended With no Effort At putting The earlier parts In summary or making it Less Than appointment description.
December 5, 2017
Book, like it's subject, is gone too fast...
Quick read, finished in one sitting. Interesting but left me wanting more!
Oh what this country could do with a few more like Don... Tragic end for him.
Quick read, finished in one sitting. Interesting but left me wanting more!
Oh what this country could do with a few more like Don... Tragic end for him.
September 11, 2021
Great Mustang story...ndeded to be longer.
Could have expounded more on training...flying Thunderbolts..just longer in total...was just getting into his account and then it was over...
Could have expounded more on training...flying Thunderbolts..just longer in total...was just getting into his account and then it was over...
February 9, 2022
great book would like more
Good book but short. Would like to read about the meeting with Eisenhower as well as how he was able to exit the war was he able to take advantage of his savings during the war?
Good book but short. Would like to read about the meeting with Eisenhower as well as how he was able to exit the war was he able to take advantage of his savings during the war?
September 7, 2017
With a team behind him
Like to know what happened Mr. Gentile? Ending just left you hanging. You know what became of him after the war?
Like to know what happened Mr. Gentile? Ending just left you hanging. You know what became of him after the war?
November 11, 2017
A Living Hero
It is unfortunate that only the living can tell their storied histories. At !east this story can speak for his !most comrades.
It is unfortunate that only the living can tell their storied histories. At !east this story can speak for his !most comrades.
November 23, 2017
Short and Choppy
Not well written and not much of a story. Needed a good editor and a ghost writer. Abrupt ending leaves the reader hanging
Not well written and not much of a story. Needed a good editor and a ghost writer. Abrupt ending leaves the reader hanging
November 29, 2017
Extreme Brevity
This could have been a great book if the author had researched and included more background material to fill in the story.
This could have been a great book if the author had researched and included more background material to fill in the story.
January 27, 2018
Too Short!
Great description of war in the air over Europe. The author probably has a lot more to tell. His story is brief but his descriptions were excellent.
Great description of war in the air over Europe. The author probably has a lot more to tell. His story is brief but his descriptions were excellent.
January 30, 2018
great book, too short.
February 1, 2018
Interesting Read
For a book about fighter pilots this book was good. But other than a very few dogfights we don't get a lot of detail.
For a book about fighter pilots this book was good. But other than a very few dogfights we don't get a lot of detail.
April 17, 2018
A good tale, but very short!
This is one of the great stories from WWII. I wish the story has been more involved. A great man and pilot.
This is one of the great stories from WWII. I wish the story has been more involved. A great man and pilot.
May 30, 2018
Is there a problem with this book?
What I got was very good, but there were only 45 pages of it. I suspect there is some issue with the digital file at Amazon.
What I got was very good, but there were only 45 pages of it. I suspect there is some issue with the digital file at Amazon.
January 30, 2019
Good read
Enjoyed reading the book. Only thing was a little short,but like the idea that the book skipped the training part of his experience.
Enjoyed reading the book. Only thing was a little short,but like the idea that the book skipped the training part of his experience.
May 8, 2019
Good quick read.
Good read. Provides insight into his life and experiences to balance what historians have written about him. I enjoyed it and feel most others will as well.
Good read. Provides insight into his life and experiences to balance what historians have written about him. I enjoyed it and feel most others will as well.
April 20, 2020
Short
Read like an excerpt of a diary. Not a book. Should have been more comprehensive and detailed. Didn't learn much.
Read like an excerpt of a diary. Not a book. Should have been more comprehensive and detailed. Didn't learn much.
August 18, 2020
Brash and deservedly arrogant killing machine
While he was a very effective airforce pilot he in fact did not do it alone. He was a great team player as was his squadron mates.
While he was a very effective airforce pilot he in fact did not do it alone. He was a great team player as was his squadron mates.
September 10, 2020
just a quick little pamphlet about this one man. nice story but just very small work.
March 31, 2021
If you want to read a good on how a one man brags about himself this is the book. It was short and disappointing to read about his ego.
July 14, 2021
Short…
Good book and a great story but it ended very abruptly. But perhaps like his life…maybe that was the point?
Good book and a great story but it ended very abruptly. But perhaps like his life…maybe that was the point?
April 1, 2023
Only a ten minute read
Really, a 10 minute read for a full priced book. I respect Gentile,but the book is a fraud. Way too short.
Really, a 10 minute read for a full priced book. I respect Gentile,but the book is a fraud. Way too short.
December 28, 2019
Flying With Him
He wrote about what was going through his mind at crucial moments. I could almost feel I was in the cockpit.
He wrote about what was going through his mind at crucial moments. I could almost feel I was in the cockpit.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews