By Jack BroughtonHardcover, 6.25 x 9.25
352 pages, 33 b/w photos
ISBN: 978-0-7603-3217-7
$26.95 / $32.50 CAN / £16.99
“… sit back and strap in—tight. You’re joining the U.S. Army Air Force at the end of the Big One. You’ll be passing from the era of the propeller-driven airplane to the era of the supersonic jet, flying with an author of impeccable credentials: four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars, the Air Force Cross, over 200 combat missions deep into enemy territory in three different kinds of fighters in two wars. You’ll love it!”
—Dr. Richard P. Hallion, U.S. Air Force Historian, 1991-2002
In 1945—just months after the conclusion of World War II—Second Lieutenant Jack Broughton graduated from West Point with the silver pilot wings of a newly commissioned member of the Army Air Corps. Nearly thirty years later, he retired as a full colonel in the United States Air Force, an entity that didn’t even exist when he first learned to fly. Along the way Colonel Broughton saw duty in nearly every fighter aircraft the Air Corps and then Air Force had to offer.
Virtually a biography of the U.S. Air Force as experienced by one of its finest combat leaders, Rupert Red Two is an expertly crafted account of Broughton’s experience amidst the birth and coming of age of the U.S. Air Force. From his initial duty in postwar Germany as part of the American occupation, to air-to-air combat in Korea, to his command of the Thunderbirds and two combat tours in Vietnam, Broughton describes what it is to meet the enemy in the air—and to fly some of the best-known aircraft in combat.
Including candid evaluations of American combat aircraft from a master pilot and thrilling recollections of almost three decades behind the stick, Rupert Red Two provides a rare glimpse at America’s evolution in the air from a man who helped guide it.
About the Author
Jack Broughton graduated from West Point in 1945 with his pilot’s wings and army second lieutenant bars. He was assigned to Europe, and flew P-47s and P-51s until his return to the United States in 1948. Colonel Broughton retired from the air force in 1968 with forty-three separate awards and decorations, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and one Air Force Cross, which, along with the army's Distinguished Service Cross and the navy's Navy Cross, is second only to the Medal of Honor. His proudest accomplishment was being combat ready in every air force fighter from the P-47 to the F-106. He is the author of two bestselling combat memoirs, Thud Ridge and Going Downtown. Colonel Broughton currently lives in Mission Viejo, California.
Virtually a biography of the U.S. Air Force as experienced by one of its finest combat leaders, Rupert Red Two is an expertly crafted account of Broughton’s experience amidst the birth and coming of age of the U.S. Air Force. From his initial duty in postwar Germany as part of the American occupation, to air-to-air combat in Korea, to his command of the Thunderbirds and two combat tours in Vietnam, Broughton describes what it is to meet the enemy in the air—and to fly some of the best-known aircraft in combat.
Including candid evaluations of American combat aircraft from a master pilot and thrilling recollections of almost three decades behind the stick, Rupert Red Two provides a rare glimpse at America’s evolution in the air from a man who helped guide it.
About the Author
Jack Broughton graduated from West Point in 1945 with his pilot’s wings and army second lieutenant bars. He was assigned to Europe, and flew P-47s and P-51s until his return to the United States in 1948. Colonel Broughton retired from the air force in 1968 with forty-three separate awards and decorations, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and one Air Force Cross, which, along with the army's Distinguished Service Cross and the navy's Navy Cross, is second only to the Medal of Honor. His proudest accomplishment was being combat ready in every air force fighter from the P-47 to the F-106. He is the author of two bestselling combat memoirs, Thud Ridge and Going Downtown. Colonel Broughton currently lives in Mission Viejo, California.
