“4th Quarter Outside Reading Book Review”

Flyboys by James Bradley. Macmillan Publishers, 2003. Genre: Historical Nonfiction

Flyboys is “A True Story of Courage” (cover). It tells a story of WWII “flyboys,” who are sent to destroy Chichi Jima, a small island, full of Japenese communication towers. The “Flyboys” are shot down by the Japenese and taken as POW’s. George H.W. Bush was one of these “flyboys” who was found by a U.S. submarine and saved. The other POW’s were brutally beaten, and at one part were eaten. It is an intense story, that gives the reader knowledge and praise to these “flyboys” and their families.

“James Bradley has once again given us the human face of a war we thought we knew, and in doing so has forced us not only to rethink our history but, far more important, to re-feel it. Flyboys is a triumph of careful listening, of far-flung reportage, and, most of all, of thoroughgoing empathy.” - Hampton Sides, Author of Ghost Soldiers

Flyboys provides the reader with details about World War II, specifically events that occurred in Chichi Jima. It fills the reader’s mind with details and leaves the reader with questions about the war: Was this a war worth fighting? Were both sides equally prepared and equipped to fight? What was the mindset of the Japanese, and how does one get this mindset to begin with? This book reminds me of the suicide bombers from Afghanistan that ran passenger planes into the Twin Towers of New York City. There is a section of this book that talks about the Japanese surrendering. They would come out into the open where the American military units were stationed. They had guns but didn’t aim them at the American fighters, instead they yelled and danced around, waiting for Americans to shoot them. They did eventually get shot. In their minds, it was the end for them with no hopes of winning this war. I think the 911 suicide offenders were acting in the same way.

The author Bradley writes in a style that shows Americans having a lack of feeling and emotion while in combat. Men at war have a job to do, they push all their feelings aside to do their job. A quote from the book shows this, as Bradley talks about one of the Americans shot down and missing: “When someone was gone… they were just gone.. There were no questions, no discussions, and no speculation”(211). I think Bradley wrote in this manner to show why his book was so important. Americans needed to know what happened to these men, it was time to bring emotions and feelings back for these men who remained gone. Bradley owed the story to the missing mens’ families.

I have read very little from the genre of historical fiction. I find some of the reading long. Yet, James Bradley keeps the reader interested for the most part by adding interesting stories and events throughout this book. I learned facts about WWII that I didn’t know before. It makes me feel angry toward the Japanese and how they treated our soldiers, but I also felt angry about our men being at war with them too. I was interested to learn about what George H.W. Bush did before being president. He had quite a military background, and it proved adventurous and sorrowful for him too.