Customer Reviews

Janey: A Little Plane in a Big War

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My father was an infantry man in WW2, and never had the war seemed so real to me as when I read this book. The characters are young and sometimes cocky, brave, funny and touching. Schultz makes you see battles from a whole different perpective--the skies above the action. He takes you from beautiful contrysides to the stench of battle. All the time you realize how vulnerable he was in a plane made of wood and canvas. As he says, "You never see the one that gets you." I laughed many times and cried more, but I couldn't put it down. It woke up all my senses!

"Dawn's first light crested the eastern hills and gave the earth a rosy glow. Flying on such a day was pure joy. Smooth, dense, misty morning air slowly released its grip as light emerged from the countryside, fulfilling the promise of another day. Our fears vanished as we soared above the sleeping ground. We were immortal. From our perch above the commotion, we watched the world come to life to begin another day of killing."

Normally I'm turned off by the High Literary Style, but the way that passage ends with the knife-twist--"another day of killing"--redeems it with room to spare. Time and again in Schultz's book, he and his collaborator pull off that neat trick: loving memories entangled with the ordinariness of war.

(Like the time Schultz lands Janey in a vineyard that turns out to be a German minefield. He's full of morning coffee, and one of his great hopes on landing was to empty his bladder. There's nothing for it! He just has to piss his pants.)

Schultz and Janey fly and fight with the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division through North Africa, Sicily, the Anzio beachhead and the advance to Rome, and finally the invasion of southern France. They both survive--quite an accomplishment, not only for the pilot but especially for the Piper Cub. Among other tricks, they take off from an LST "aircraft carrier" whose tiny plywood deck is greatly supplemented by 24 knots of wind over the bow:

Of course I am sappy about Piper Cubs. But I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it highly.

Little did I realize that the plane "Janey" was featured in an exciting book. Imagine my delight when I put a picture of my Dad, Combat Photographer, S/Sgt. Bill Heller, standing beside the Piper Cub "Janey" on my website [World War II Memoirs-3rd Infantry Division]. The bravery described in the book is understated but richly deserved. I recently saw a replica of the plane "Janey" which was built by Harold Miller and his son at Leland, Illinois. One doesn't realize the fraility and size of the plane until standing next to it. "Dutch" Schultz weaves a spellbinding and fantastic story!

Schultz has written of his escapades in WWII with a sense of humor and leaves the reader eager for the next chapter. A variety of experiences; flight behind enemy lines, duel with an ME 109, rescue of Italian boy with land mine wounds, and spinning with General Patton kept me awake.

I could not put this book down. The way the author wrote his account, it draws you in, as if you were his co-pilot. Very well done.