Customer Reviews

United States Naval Air Stations of World War II, Vol. 2: Western States

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you were a naval aviator, this book will bring the back memories that dwell in the shadows of your mind. Naval Aviation history is very quickly disappearing. All you have to do is to take a trip to Davis Montham AFB, Tucson, AZ (often called the bone yard) if you want to see how much of it that has already been retired. I was a "Cold War Pilot" who trained and flew out of many of these navy fields in T-34Bs, T-28s, TS2As, SP2Hs and P3Bs. These two books will preserve a small part of our heritage as Naval Aviators of the by gone eras of WWII, Korea, Viet Nam and the cold war. Thank you Mr. Shettle for taking the time, effort and expense to write and assemble these two magnificant volumes. They are a subperb doucmentation of Naval Air shore facilities.

As a Naval Aviator for many years, and one who flew into many of the Naval Air Stations on the west coast, Hawaii, and Alaska, I found this book to be one of the best I've ever read. It is filled with many facts on some of the Naval Air Stations I never knew about, and then listed many of the Air Stations I had never heard of. Mr. Shettle has done a masterful job of detailing these once proud bases, and as one who has flown into many of them it was a memorable trip down Memory Lane. My only other comment is, where is the book on the Eastern States? I'd love to know about them.

Mr. Shettle did a wonderful job in researching and compiling this book. One of those overnight navy bases that sprung up overnight during the war was in our hometown. Although it didn't even last until the end of the war our local historians wanted to compile a history of the naval air station but there was very little information. I ran across this book through Amazon and ordered it, not really expecting much. Imagine our surprise and delight when the book arrived and there were two pages devoted to our base with a aerial photo included. Starting with this information we were able to find more from the Navy Archives and eventually build a history of the NAS. An unexpected bonus . . . we wrote to Mr. Shettle asking if he had any other information and he kindly responded.

A great history lesson is in this book, how the USA went from almost undefended to over defended within the period 1939 to 1945. The photos and pocket histories of each airfield, no many are abandoned, are excellent and heartwarming to those who have been there.