Twenty Five Milk Runs (And a Few Others) [Paperback]

Richard Riley Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2006

This is a life story, from 1922 - present. I am the only pilot to ever tow a banner around the White House (Vietnam protest banner).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in 1922, Mr. Johnson was the son of migrant farm workers and sharecroppers during the great depression. Living in abandoned houses, barns and tents, his family managed to survive while putting the author and his brother through eight elementary schools in six states.

In 1935 he became interested in collecting Indian artifacts which developed into a love of archaeology which he maintains to this day.

After high school the author hitchhiked from Souther Illinois to Norfolk, Virginia to work in a defense plant. He joined the Army Air Force after getting a draft notice in 1942.

With only a high school diploma he managed to pass all the requirements to become a pilot of a heavy Flying Fortress bomber in which he flew 32 combat missions over the Third Reich. Two missions on D-Day, June 6, 1944, marked the halfway point in his combat tour. The author takes the reader along on every mission whereby he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals.

After leaving the Air Force he moved to Washington DC and then to a little fishing village on the Chesapeake Bay where he met and married his wife in 1954. While raising three children the author took up flying again and started towing aerial banners around Baltimore and Washington, accumulating over five hundred hours in his 1946 Piper Cub, PA-12 airplane which he bought in 1968 and which he still owns.

During the Vietnam War he towed a protest banner around the White House, being the only pilot to ever do so.

He joined the Civil Air Patrol in 1959, doing much search and rescue work over the next 14 years, retiring from the CAP with the rank of Lt. Col.

He gives numerous talks every year on subjects dealing with archaeology and aviation in the second World War.

The reader is taken along on all the exciting moments in the author's own words, written not as the usual war stories, but with insight and sensitivity. He has some unorthodox ideas about space and science, which he expounds in the last chapter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141202501X
• ISBN-13: 978-1412025010
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,561,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fortress Pilot's Life and War, March 16, 2005

By 

L. Mayes (Rapid City, SD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twenty Five Milk Runs (And a Few Others) (Paperback)

As a 21 year old B-17 bomber pilot Richard Johnson completed 32 combat missions over Europe as a member of the "Hell's Angels" of the 303rd Bomb Group from RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom. Not bad for a guy who didn't learn to drive a car until he returned to the USA after his combat tour!! What separates this memoir from the many others of similar origin is author Johnson's attention to detail and unfailing, often self deprecating, sense of humor. This is really two books, the first and last thirds of the book devoted to his life before the war as a vagabond itinerant farm laborer's son and after the war as a member of post-war American society and pilot with the Civil Air Patrol. The remainder of the text is some of the most entertaining and detailed reading this reviewer has encountered relative to the daily horrors, triumphs and uncertainties of flying bombers against a capable and determined German enemy. The author chronicles each of his 32 combat missions, plus some others, in sufficient detail about his plane, his Squadron and his Group as to give the reader a great sense of what was happening. His post war friendship with one of the German 88 mm FLAK gunners against which Johnson's unit flew results in some very good explanations of how the anti-aircraft units functioned. He is objective, sometimes brutally honest about events and personalities, and unfailingly interesting. Dick Johnson is not a professional writer, and this may lead to the strength of this book, which is its total readability. He tells the stories just like they happened, no embellishments, just factual narration with humor as the lubricant. While the portions of the narrative about his non-USAAF life may not appeal to all, this reviewer found the author's experiences growing up during the Depression and facing a very uncertain future with only a high school diploma, DFC and Air Medals after the war both interesting and relative to what he learned as a young pilot during war time. This is an excellent book and is recommended for those who like WWII aviation and a good story.

5.0 out of 5 stars Written from the heart, April 16, 2007

By 

Tony Eller (Estero, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twenty Five Milk Runs (And a Few Others) (Paperback)

Very enjoyable and readable. The writer has had a very interesting life and has written his story with passion. Starting with his childhood and leading to his experiences in WWII the book is engrossing. I recommend reading this if you enjoy autobiographies or a pilot's perspective of WWII - especially coming from a pilot who could fly a 4 engine bomber before he could drive a car.