The Flying Circus: Pacific War--1943--as Seen Through a Bombsight [Hardcover]

James C. Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1592286569 | ISBN-13: 978-1592286560 | Publication Date: July 1, 2005 | Edition: 1st

A personal account of World War II, from a legendary Texas congressman.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The lengthening shelf of Greatest Generation memoirs gets a pleasant if somewhat rambling and soft-focus addition in this reminiscence by the former Democratic Speaker of the House. Wright traverses the usual rites of passage, including post-Pearl Harbor enlistment, impulsive war marriage, immersion in a melting pot of fellow recruits, poignant farewell to family and, finally, combat with the Japanese as a bombardier on a B-24 Liberator. He survived his plane's run-ins with Zeroes and flak unscathed, but his unit suffered heavy losses, and he recounts the ordeals of other aircrews who were shot down and captured-and sometimes beheaded-by the Japanese. Still, Wright's was not the grimmest of wartime experiences; he was stationed at a relatively comfortable base in Australia. Much of the book is taken up with meandering, quotidian anecdotes-one chapter is titled "Mail Call, Mess Hall and Egg in My Beer"-and it is suffused with nostalgia for a "hopelessly romantic and very wonderful" time. Wright is also not an entirely reliable source of information on the wider war, and rather grossly overestimates the military significance of the engagements he participated in. Not particularly interesting in its own right, his book coasts on its association with the still-potent glamour of the Good War.
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From Booklist

Wright, author of such books as You and Your Congressman (1965) and Reflections of a Public Man (1984), is best known as a former U.S. Congressman with a lot of clout. The Texan served in Congress for three and a half decades and was Speaker of the House for two years (1987-89). But when he was a pup, Wright, a newly minted bombardier in World War II, took part in a historic event. In April 1943, 36 B-24 bombers took off from California's Hamilton Field, bound for Australia, from where they flew numerous sorties over Japanese bases. They were the 380th Heavy Bomb Group, dubbed "the Flying Circus." Wright recounts his time with the 380th in his usual plain-speaking, gently humorous style. It's a dramatic and poignant story, but the author doesn't turn it maudlin by milking it for every drop of emotion. In his hands, it's a lively story of comradeship, adventure, and a young man who had to grow up a lot faster than he would have preferred. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592286569
• ISBN-13: 978-1592286560
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,725,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dig around for the good stuff., January 23, 2006

By 

Richard Kaplan (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Flying Circus: Pacific War--1943--as Seen Through a Bombsight (Hardcover)

Overall this isn't very well written. Mr. Wright's editors could have done a better job in bringing the level of writing to a more appropriate adult tone. As Speaker Wright freely admits his recall of these events is faulty at times, but again the editors could have done a better job in making sure the historic background that Wright discusses is accurate. One of the glaring errors comes in the pages devoted to the Doolittle Raid of 1942. Supposedly they took off from the North Sea and "made their getaway to a predetermined landing strip in China."

The best parts of the book are when Mr. Wright abandons world outlooks and sticks to his facts; missions, training and the experiences he had, and those of his bomb group. To be commended is the praise and warmth that Mr. Wright genuinely feels for the Australians and their efforts at being mates, hosts and allies. That's where the interesting and compelling reading is found. Again the end of the book becomes a diluted ode to the fight for democracy, the Four Freedoms and the beginning of Mr. Wright's political career.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well Told Story of B-24's in the South Pacific, August 6, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Flying Circus: Pacific War--1943--as Seen Through a Bombsight (Hardcover)

A surprising numbre of fighters in what has become known as the Greatest Generation went on to careers in politics. Bob Dole, obvious of course because of the injury to his hand, Jack Kennedy, Nixon, and Eisenhower, and probably many more.

I had not known that Jim Wright, long time representative from Texas and eventually Speaker of the House had served combat tour with the Army Air Force. This story wasn't written until some fifty eight years after the fact. And it's written as an answer to his grandchrildren's 'What Did You Do in the War, Grandpa,' even if they hadn't asked the question.

His is a fairly standard tale of fairly standard people engaged in something so big that from the lower levels of the Army they could only glimpse a tiny bit. As he says, they weren't the Greatest Generation, not extraordinary people, just fairly malleable yound folks, products of our times and of our parents guidance. Hitler thought these young men decadent, indolent and soft. They weren't that either.

There are few surprises to the story. Young man, Pearl Harbor, hasty marriage, and a long B-24 flight to the war in the South Pacific. But then there is:

Lt. Hal Grace, bombardier, shot down, beheaded by the Japanese.
Lt. David Lippencott, pilot, show down, beheaded by the Japanese.
Lt. Edward Skuzinski, navigator, disabled in crash, left by the Japanese to perish inside plane as the tide came in.
Lt. Harold S. Mulhollen, pilot, killed in action.

I'm writing this on the anniversary of Hiroshima, tell me again we shouldn't have dropped that bomb.