Lords of the Sky Quotes

“Ten days later, during lunch at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, Goering asked the young hero, "So you now have what, over a hundred conquests?"
He meant enemy aircraft, but Jochen, sincere or not, replied, "Herr Reichsmarschall, do you mean aircraft or women?"
Goering laughed so hard he nearly choked.”
― Dan Hampton, Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16

“It must be appreciated that Nazi Germany in 1939 was not the place to be a nonconformist. There was no freedom of speech, much music (including American jazz) was banned, and undesirable people often just disappeared. Marseille simply didn't care. He drank, which was a serious offense, and fast became one o f the most infamous womanizers in the Luftwaffe. He was in trouble so often that, according to one of his friends, "it was a noteworthy occasion when he was not on restriction."...........
......Restricted to his quarters, he didn't take that to include the town, so he borrowed (stole) his commander's car and went barhopping. Coming back drunk with two French girls certainly did not endear him to his new commander, Johannes Steinhoff. One could forgive his utter lack of military bearing and even his rebelliousness up to a point, but no his seeming disregard for his fellow pilots. But in studying the man, I don't think that was truly his attitude. He was a warrior and a loner. The cold fact was that he really didn't need anyone's help in the air and was better alone.”
― Dan Hampton, Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16

“He'd always lived off by himself in a hut, keeping a small garden and a hutch of rabbits. On some nights, his fellow pilots would see the red glow from a signal flare stuck in the ground, and Ball's dark silhouette as he played the violin in his pajamas. One of the reasons for his introspection was a woman. He'd fallen in love during his time off in England, but he refused to marry the girl until the war ended. It appears he didn't believe he'd survive; he once said to his father, Sir Albert Ball, that "no fighter pilot who fought seriously could hope to escape from the war alive.”
― Dan Hampton, Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16

“An exceptionally qualified high school graduate could procure an appointment to either the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs or the Naval Academy in Annapolis.* After four years of training and study, usually in an engineering or technical field, a graduate earned an accredited bachelor’s degree and was commissioned into the Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps.”
― Dan Hampton, Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16 – The National Bestseller: Definitive Military Aviation