Goodreads asked John R. Bruning:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

John R. Bruning Race of Aces dates back to a grad school term paper I wrote about Gerald Johnson and the young men from his neighborhood in Eugene, Or. prior to and during the war. I later wrote my M/A thesis on Gerald, then Jungle Ace, a biography of him. While doing the research for those projects, I talked to many veterans of the 5th Air Force who also knew and flew with Tommy McGuire, Richard Bong, Charles MacDonald and Neel Kearby.

I always wanted to revisit the friendships and rivalries among those five men, which I didn't get into in Jungle Ace. In 2010, I was in Afghanistan and came up with a mental bucket list of books I wanted to write if I got home. The first became Indestructible, the second is Race of Aces. My awesome agent, Jim Hornfischer, heard me talk about these five remarkable Americans and convinced me that this should be my next book. Hachette gave me the opportunity, for which I will always be grateful. They are a wonderful group of people to work with, and Race of Aces is truly a collaborative effort between the folks at Hachette, Jim and myself.

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