George C. Wilson (1927–2014)

"If you survive your first day, I'll promote you."

So promised George Wilson's World War II commanding officer in the hedgerows of Normandy -- and it was to be a promise dramatically fulfilled. From July, 1944, to the closing days of the war, from the first penetration of the Siegfried Line to the Nazis' last desperate charge in the Battle of the Bulge, Wilson fought in the thickest of the action, helping take the small towns of northern France and Belgium building by building.

Of all the men and officers who started out in Company F of the 4th Infantry Division with him, Wilson was the only one who finished. In the end, he felt not like a conqueror or a victor, but an exhausted survivor, left with nothing but his life -- and his emotions.… (más)

Presents a first-hand account of a year spent with the one hundredth test pilot class at the Naval Air Test Center, from hours of test flights and interviews with naval and civilian test pilots and engineers.
Washington Post journalist Wilson spent most of 1991 with the 100th test-pilot class at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, flying in a variety of high-tech planes with students and instructors, learning how to determine whether an aircraft that accomplished its contract specs and could land safely on a carrier deck was worthy of purchase by the Navy. In a series of exhilarating passages he conveys what it's like to fly these fantastic machines, including the "sweetly responsive" F/A-18, the Navy's most technically advanced aircraft. In an interview, former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman discusses the Pentagon's efforts toward keeping the Air Force as the nation's principal striking arm and "getting the Navy out of the strike business." Lehman believes naval aviation in general is undergoing a crisis of confidence because the Bush administration is the most anti-naval administration since Truman's. For his part, Wilson comes out strong in regard to women in combat, recommending that the armed forces welcome them "all the way aboard" by assigning them to tactical missions in the next war. Not as focused as his bestselling Supercarrier , Wilson's sprawling discussion of Navy test pilots and the history behind them will be of interest mainly to aviation buffs. Photos. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.… (más)

This is one infantry officer's memoir, from June 1944 to May 1945, from Normandy to Germany. George Wilson is unique in that he survived, most of his comrades who landed in Normandy never made it as they were killed or wounded along the way. Wilson has a lot of good stories (I was reminded of scenes from the movie The Big Red One). He often focuses on personal and tactical mistakes and so it's a useful book for those seeking battle lessons and consequences. I think he survived because he was always defensively considering the enemies next move and didn't let his guard down, and he let his mind control his emotions (standing straight up during tree-bursts for example when others naturally lay prone and became more exposed). Overall this is the best memoir of this theater I have read, it is obviously comparable to Band of Brothers which lacks the single POV cohesion this book has.… (más)