67 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boys to men, August 20, 2001
This book has two central characters and is mostly a story about their shared experiences. The first subject is 2nd Lt. George McGovern, who in 1944 was just a typical US Army Air Force pilot; nothing here hints at the man, who, nearly 30 years later, would run for US president. The second is a machine, the B-24 Liberator, and one plane in particular - McGovern's "Dakota Queen", which he piloted on 35 bombing missions over Germany from his base in Cerignola, Italy, as part of the 741st Squadron, 455th Bomb Group. THE WILD BLUE then has a narrow focus and is less about the broad role of the bomber in the air war over Europe - that story about the more famous and glamorous B-17 and the 8th Air Force - has been told already in books like THE MIGHTY EIGHTH, a book which Ambrose himself read and rated highly.
The Liberator comes by it's neglected treatment in history, and it's earned reputation as an ugly duckling quite fairly, as the following description of conditions in the plane attests. "Steering the four-engined airplane was difficult and exhausting, as there was no power except the pilot's muscles. It had no windshield wipers, so the pilot had to stick his head out the side window to see during a rain...there was no heat, despite temperatures that at 20,000 feet and higher got as low as 40 or 50 degrees below zero...the seats were not padded, could not be reclined, and were cramped into so small a space that a man had almost no chance to stretch and none whatsoever to relax. Absolutely nothing was done to make it comfortable for the pilot, co-pilot, or the other eight men in the crew..." Yet, as with all ugly ducklings, it had it's day and earned it's admirers. There were more B-24's built than any other US airplane and Ambrose says "it would be an exaggeration to say that the B-24 won the war for the Allies. But don't ask how they could have won the war without it."
The greater emphasis of the book is on McGovern and his crew's experiences and it's in the telling of these stories where Ambrose's skills always shine; allowing the personal recollections of the participants to make the events come alive for us the readers. We follow the crew from induction through training to their arrival in Italy in 1944. There was danger from the outset. The book reveals that in basic and advanced flight training over 3,500 men lost their lives, 824 in 1943 alone; survival was an issue even before entering combat.
McGovern and his crew experienced their fair share of adventures on missions. On one flight an engine quit, then another was hit by flak; on two engines he was losing altitude rapidly but McGovern managed to nurse the bomber down for an emergency landing on an airstrip less than half the length the B-24 normally required. For this feat McGovern earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. By highlighting McGovern's experiences are we to believe that the book is portraying him as exceptional? Not at all. The reality is that when he arrived in Italy in 1944, McGovern was a 21 year old pilot. His co-pilot and navigator were the same age and half his crew were teenagers. What Ambrose sees as extraordinary is that these stories of survival, skill, courage, fortitude, bravery, and duty, are all, each and every single one, the exploits of very young men - even boys. Indeed he says "in the twenty-first century, adults would hardly give such youngsters the key to the family car, but in the first half of the 1940's the adults sent them out to play a critical role in saving the world."
They are now our aging parents and grandparents and all we can do is honor them and thank them for being men while they were still boys. We can only hope that written tributes such as THE WILD BLUE or the verse below are sufficient to show our appreciation to them.
"They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
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25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Fantastic!!, August 17, 2001
Stephan Ambrose has written something that verges upon legend. His accounting of the B-24, and George McGovern's time while assigned to the 455th is really a study in history. It also shows the tenacity with which he strives to include every detail.
The B-24 is the "lost sheep" of airpower in WWII. Everyone seems to be fascinated with the B-17, primarily because of the press it received. Also at the top of the list is the B-29, primarily because of the atomic bombs. However, the role that was played by the B-24 was, in fact, much larger, and amassed more scope. It just had the poor luck not to be identified as an icon.
One of the most important air raids in WWII was the raids on the Ploesti oilfields. B-24's handled this raid brilliantly. However, as history would have it, this one small fact has often been overlooked. Ask a handful of people today which bomber was used in this raid, and a large majority will not be able to tell you.
In his telling of the B-24, Stephan Ambrose has gone all-out. His descriptive tone of narration is exquisite, making you feel that you are actually in every inch of the aircraft. His in-depth look at the more famous raids puts you right there with the crew . . . so much that you can almost feel the shock wave from the flak, and hear the sounds of the cannon rounds as they whiz by.
All-in-all, this book is one for the ages. Finally, as the Tuskeegee Airmen book (and movie) did for those brave flyers, this book has finally given credit where it has been long overdue. The B-24 was aptly named "The Liberator", and it truly lived up to its name - liberating Europe and the world.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A SOLID READ - IF NOT THE AUTHOR'S BEST, July 16, 2006
While I enjoyed this one, it certainly was not the author's best work. It did draw attention to a group of very brave men, the B-24 crew members in the European Theater, which was good as this group and this plane is often overlooked. It did seem to me though that the author, on one side was trying to write a biography of George McGovern, or if he was trying to cover the air war during the last part of WWII. I did enjoy his trade mark technique of telling the stories of different men who participated, but he would always go back to McGovern. Perhaps if he had stuck to one or the other the book would have had more of an impact. Parts of this work did drag and were rather repetative. On the other hand, the author did not try to over dramatize McGovern's part in the war. The work was well crafted and you certainy would not waste your time in reading it. I suppose it is not quite fare to compare this work with other works by this author. After all, no one bats a thousand all the time. Overall, recommend this one with reservations. It is about very brave young men and we do need to know as much about them as possible.
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