About the Book
William Davies was in college at the time of Pearl Harbor. He volunteered for the Navel Air Corp, and served in the Pacific. This is his gripping true-life story: combat operations, escorting dive-bombers and squadrons, dogfights, heroics in the cockpit whilst facing a deadly enemy. Davis squadron lost only two planes whilst destroying 155 enemy ones, and the immediacy of these life-and-death struggles is bought vividly to life in his own words, which include a successful attack on the Zuikaku, the last Japanese aircraft carrier left from the Pearl Harbor attack.
About the Author :
Bill Davis was a senior in college when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. He volunteered for the Naval Air Corps, and ended up being credited as one of those who sank the Zuikaku," the last Japanese carrier afloat that had taken part in the Pearl Harbor attack. He lives in Santa Barbara, California. In 1953, Jonathan Winters headed for New York for the "big time" with $56.46 in his pocket. Then came The Jack Paar Show," The Steve Allen Show," and The Tonight Show," where Jonathan was able to demonstrate his comic genius. He became a top name in American comedy. Jonathan and his wife Eileen have two children and five grandchildren. They live in Santa Barbara, where Jonathan paints and writes when he is not performing. Foreword by the legendary Jonathan Winters, a good friend of the author's with more than five decades in show business. He enlisted in the Marines in 1943, and was an orderly and a gunner on the U.S.S. Bon Homme Richard." "I never got to land or take off," Winters quips, "but I saw a lot of planes."
Review :
Santa Barbara News-Press, "July 8, 2007"Navy fighter pilot and Santa Barbara-resident William E. Davis offers up this harrowing tale of his sinking the Zuikaku, the last ship afloat to have attacked Pearl Harbor. An invaluable testament by one of the last survivors of those hellish years, detailed with forthright simplicity and verve." "Pacific Flyer, "July 2007"William E. Davis' recounting of his life as a young man before World War II and his subsequent adventures as a student pilot - and, eventually an F6F Hellcat fighter pilot in the Pacific - is an astounding tour de force ... Davis writes prose that is absorbing, witty, droll and occasionally, both tragic and hilarious ... Davis, himself, seemed to be living a charmed life - superb pilot, excellent gunner, a dogfighting ace, incredibly lucky at war and with women, he presents his story as he remembers it but with the skill and finesse of a professional novelist. This is one of those books that will preoccupy your spare time, one which you'll promise yourself, 'just one more chapter, ' and soon find it's 2 a.m. and where did the evening go? ... Davis doesn't dwell on the minutia of his experiences, concentrating instead on the bigger picture and the characters around him ... Throughout the book, his retelling of the day-to-day life of a Hellcat pilot on the USS Lexington is engaging and almost free of technical error; every sentence, paragraph and page is a joy to read ... In sum, a beautifully written, insightful and well-told tale of one man's war in the violent battles for aerial supremacy in the Pacific."
The Independent, "June 21, 2007"War may be central to our cultural consciousness these days, but for Montecito resident Bill Davis, it's more than a concept - it's a vivid memory." "USNI Proceedings, "August 2007 "These stories illustrate devotion to duty, a certain nonchalance toward danger, and incredibly fun-loving attitudes - all of which sustain my long-standing admiration of military aviators ... comedian and former Marine Jonathan Winters puts Davis in the ranks of America's foremost aviators. While I cannot judge that, I can heartily recommend this autobiography as engaging and delightfully absent of ego."
Warships International Fleet Review "(UK), " December 2007 "Written with great verve by Davis, his story reads like a Hollywood movie, full of great characters, humor, romance and tragedy. Beautiful scenery contrasts with the ugliness and brutality of war, with death accepted as inevitable for some unlucky members of this Band of Brothers. The action-packed war-fighting takes place in the final third of the book, but like a good movie, it is well worth the wait and the humor and warts-and-all style makes the pages fly by. A superb account of one man's war."
Warships International Fleet Review "(UK)," December 2007
"Written with great verve by Davis, his story reads like a Hollywood movie, full of great characters, humor, romance and tragedy. Beautiful scenery contrasts with the ugliness and brutality of war, with death accepted as inevitable for some unlucky members of this Band of Brothers. The action-packed war-fighting takes place in the final third of the book, but like a good movie, it is well worth the wait and the humor and warts-and-all style makes the pages fly by. A superb account of one man's war."
Santa Barbara News-Press, "July 8, 2007
"Navy fighter pilot and Santa Barbara-resident William E. Davis offers up this harrowing tale of his sinking the Zuikaku, the last ship afloat to have attacked Pearl Harbor. An invaluable testament by one of the last survivors of those hellish years, detailed with forthright simplicity and verve."
"Pacific Flyer, "July 2007
"William E. Davis' recounting of his life as a young man before World War II and his subsequent adventures as a student pilot - and, eventually an F6F Hellcat fighter pilot in the Pacific - is an astounding tour de force ... Davis writes prose that is absorbing, witty, droll and occasionally, both tragic and hilarious ... Davis, himself, seemed to be living a charmed life - superb pilot, excellent gunner, a dogfighting ace, incredibly lucky at war and with women, he presents his story as he remembers it but with the skill and finesse of a professional novelist. This is one of those books that will preoccupy your spare time, one which you'll promise yourself, 'just one more chapter, ' and soon find it's 2 a.m. and where did the evening go? ... Davis doesn't dwell on the minutia of his experiences, concentrating instead on the bigger picture and the characters around him ... Throughout the book, his retelling of the day-to-day life of a Hellcat pilot on the USS Lexington is engaging and almost free of technical error; every sentence, paragraph and page is a joy to read ... In sum, a beautifully written, insightful and well-told tale of one man's war in the violent battles for aerial supremacy in the Pacific."
The Independent, "June 21, 2007
"War may be central to our cultural consciousness these days, but for Montecito resident Bill Davis, it's more than a concept - it's a vivid memory."
"USNI Proceedings, "August 2007
"These stories illustrate devotion to duty, a certain nonchalance toward danger, and incredibly fun-loving attitudes - all of which sustain my long-standing admiration of military aviators ... comedian and former Marine Jonathan Winters puts Davis in the ranks of America's foremost aviators. While I cannot judge that, I can heartily recommend this autobiography as engaging and delightfully absent of ego."
"Pacific Flyer,
"July 2007: "William E. Davis' recounting of his life as a man before World War II and his subsequent adventures as a student pilot - and, eventually an F6F Hellcat fighter pilot in the Pacific - is an astounding tour de force ... Davis writes prose that is absorbing, witty, droll and occasionally, both tragic and hilarious ... Davis, himself, seemed to be living a charmed life - superb pilot, excellent gunner, a dogfighting ace, incredibly lucky at war and with women, he presents his story as he remembers it but with the skill and finesse of a professional novelist. This is one of those books that will preoccupy your spare time, one which you'll promise yourself, 'just one more chapter, ' and soon find it's 2 a.m. and where did the evening go? ... Davis doesn't dwell on the minutia of his experiences, concentrating instead on the bigger picture and the characters around him ... Throughout the book, his retelling of the day-to-day life of a Hellcat pilot on the USS Lexington is engaging and almost free of technical error; every sentence, paragraph and page is a joy to read ... In sum, a beautifully written, insightful and well-told tale of one man's war in the violent battles for aerial supremacy in the Pacific."
