Reviews
This is not your usual run of the mill biography. This is the story of a warrior. There are many types in the military: diplomats, politicians, sycophants, citizen soldiers, patriots, war lovers, otherwise unemployable, etc. They are all needed and, with good leadership, most perform well under stress. But, surprising as it may seem, the warriors are marked by their rarity. Jim Kasler is a WARRIOR. Having been a POW with Jim and being an aviator (Navy), I can verify that this account is reliable, factual, and even-handed. It doesn't try to tell any one else's story but Jim's own. It is not a revisionist history. It pulls no punches. It tells it like it is (was). It makes you proud to be an American. Thank God Jim Kasler was on our side., eoeThis is not your usual run of the mill biography. This is the story of a warrior. There are many types in the military: diplomats, politicians, sycophants, citizen soldiers, patriots, war lovers, otherwise unemployable, etc. They are all needed and, with good leadership, most perform well under stress. But, surprising as it may seem, the warriors are marked by their rarity. Jim Kasler is a WARRIOR. Having been a POW with Jim and being an aviator (Navy), I can verify that this account is reliable, factual, and even-handed. It doesn't try to tell any one else's story but Jim's own. It is not a revisionist history. It pulls no punches. It tells it like it is (was). It makes you proud to be an American. Thank God Jim Kasler was on our side.e, eoeI was privileged to serve in the company of heroes . . . like Jim Kasler. They were the ones who sustained me.e, I was privileged to serve in the company of heroes . . . like Jim Kasler. They were the ones who sustained me., James Helms Kasler won three Air Force Crosses, the only man in history to do so, and is thus a hero to the third power. His life is told in powerful terms in this excellent biography, which benefits greatly from having two highly qualified writers and researchers as authors.
Synopsis
Perry Luckett and Charles Byler have written the first biography of Col. James Kasler, who is the only three-time recipient of the Air Force Cross, the second highest medal for wartime valor. Kasler served as an eighteen-year-old B-29 tail gunner in World War II, became a legendary jet ace in Korea, and was so famous in Vietnam that he was known by name in the White House. Major General Hoyt Vandenberg put Kasler, along with Chuck Yeager and Robbie Risner, as "head and shoulders above the rest as stick-and-rudder pilots." Kasler planned and led the most effective bombing mission of the Vietnam War. He was shot down and had to endure six and a half years of torture in a POW camp. His courage under those brutal conditions earned him the respect of such men as John McCain and James Stockdale. This book captures the essence of a genuine American hero who fought in three wars and traces the history of the U.S. Air Force during its formative period., The first biography of Col. James Kasler, the only three-time recipient of the Air Force Cross, the second highest medal for wartime valour. This book captures the essence of a genuine American hero who fought in three wars and traces the history of the US Air Force during its formative period.