Dirty Eddie's War Volume 20

LEE COOK is the author of The Skull and Crossbones Squadron: VF-17 in World War II; Fighting 17: A Photographic History of VF-17 in World War II; and The Aces of Fighting 17: VF-17's Top Guns in World War II. He lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife Michele.

"The American Navy fighter pilot Harry 'Dirty Eddie' March defied the rules and kept a diary of his service in the South Pacific from 1942 to 1944. It shows far more clearly than censored letters or official documents the physical and mental challenges confronted by fighter pilots and the toll they took on them. . . . [T]he immediacy of the material sets it apart from most other accounts. . . . Dirty Eddie's War captures an individual pilot's experiences and makes them fully accessible to its audience."--Michigan War Studies Review "It really is a story that deserves to be told. Thanks to Harry's letters reporting to the home front, his family preserved a very accurate picture of the man and his many adventures. Harry March's life may have been cut short, but due to the unstinting efforts of author and historian, Lee Cook, his true legacy will not be lost."--from the Foreword by William Lee "Country" Landreth, Commander, U.S.N. "What I liked best was the extreme ambivalence 'Dirty Eddie' March shows about serving at the spear point. Exhaustion was constant, a condition made much worse by the malignant climate of the malarial jungle throughout the area. During both tours the emotional, psychological and physical pounding endured has Dirty Eddie--and his friends--most willing to pass the baton and get out. He writes much about his comrades who perished. Casualties were painful and psychological wear severe. His diary catches this unit fatigue nicely--something rarely done in accounts of the air war."--Eric Bergerud, author of Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific "Dirty Eddie's War adds a rich dimension of personal and personality to the historiography. In the sheer numbers of WWII books, it is easy to lose the individuals, and books such as this serve as reminders of how personal the war really was. His diary is the unvarnished truth, not meant for outside eyes, and is often brutally honest."--Sharon Tosi Lacey, author of Pacific Blitzkrieg: World War II in the Central Pacific (UNT Press)