Medal of Honor Volume 3 & 4: Marine Aviators of WW2 Part 1 & 2
By Matt Bittner
Medal of Honor Volume 3: Marine Aviators of WW2 Part 1
Author: Alan Durkota & Thomas Darcey
Publisher: Aeronaut Books
ISBN: 978-1-953201-21-8
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 164
Aeronaut Books has been publishing tomes on all of the USA's Medal of Honor (MoH) recipients. Volume 3 and 4 of the series covers those fliers that were in the United States Marine Corps. Part 1 coveres the following aviators:
- William Bauer (KIA)
- Gregory Boyington (POW)
- Jefferson DeBlanc
- Henry Elrod (KIA)
- Richard Fleming (KIA)
- Joseph Foss
Medal of Honor Volume 4: Marine Aviators of WW2 Part 2
Author: Alan Durkota & Thomas Darcey
Publisher: Aeronaut Books
ISBN: 978-1-953201-22-5
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 130
Part 2 covers the following USMC aviators:
- Robert Galer
- Robert Hanson (KIA)
- John Smith
- James Swett
- Kenneth Walsh
Each pilot is covered in relatively great detail and has color profiles of each of the aircraft they flew. In addition, most of the aircraft flown have pictures as well.
Regrettably, both books exhibit numerous grammatical and structural issues. There is a noticeable amount of text repetition and unnecessary filler. For instance, there are images of museum examples such as the Wildcat and Corsair, along with general Japanese Air Force photos and US aircraft that may or may not have been relevant to the encounters described by the Medal of Honor recipients' text. Additionally, it's worth mentioning that James Swett's Medal of Honor citation is absent from the text, unlike the citations provided for all the other recipients.
With further editing, these books could have achieved a higher standard of quality. However, in some instances, the text becomes challenging to navigate. Nonetheless, it's important to acknowledge that these books comprehensively cover all the Medal of Honor recipients from the US Marine Corps during World War II.
My thanks to Aeronaut Books for sending these books for review. Contact them direct for ordering information.