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Author's Synopsis
Long before William “Bill” Hanchett became a professor of history and a notable expert on Abraham Lincoln, he was a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. While telling a unique story of the Army Air Forces, Disgracefully Easy: A B-24 Pilot’s Letters Home is a book of correspondence which highlights Hanchett’s early writing, powers of observation and growing historical perspective. In addition to vivid first-person descriptions of flying, Hanchett’s letters and postal cards discuss the difficulties of a once wealthy family struggling to recover from the Great Depression.
From living as a recruit in a luxury beachfront hotel converted into barracks by the Army, to taking courses at a civilian college as an aviation student, to “bombing” the San Diego Naval Base in his future beloved home town, Bill Hanchett takes his family with him from basic training through advanced flying school where he hoped to be a hotshot fighter pilot, “dancing around the sky.” Instead, much to his chagrin, he was assigned as an instructor-pilot, teaching cadets from the rear seat of a BT-13 Valiant training airplane. He began to enjoy being an instructor, but as the war progressed and the flying school closed, Lieutenant Hanchett transitioned to become a four-engine bomber pilot in the fall of 1944, as the presidential election was well underway. Clearly expressed in his correspondence were Bill’s strong opinions about the divisive politics of that time, which usually conflicted with his father’s outlook.
Ultimately, in early 1945 Bill became responsible for training a bomber crew in the Nevada desert for an overseas assignment which never materialized because the war ended. While training his men hard, he became frustrated with what he viewed as pointless flying and concluded to his father that his service was “disgracefully easy” compared to others who saw combat. The chapter introductions and notes in Disgracefully Easy were prepared by Bill Hanchett’s son, Tom.
Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle
Review genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Pages/Word count: 308 / 94,928