MAC – The wind beneath my wings – By Sherry Hobbs

Description

The daughter of a World War II bomber pilot shares her father’s story in this biography. It wasn’t until Hobbs “opened a cardboard box of memorabilia” after her father’s death and her retirement that she realized “the significance of his life, in its totality.” She rifled through commendations, medals, photographs, letters, and firsthand accounts of his experiences in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The book begins with a genealogical history of the Scotch Irish McNeese clan through the birth of Hobbs’ father, Col. Harold McNeese. Nicknamed “Mac,” her father had an “idyllic” childhood in 1920s Texas, displaying a penchant for “wanderlust” and “thrill-seeking” that would be defining characteristics of his personality into adulthood. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mac enlisted in the Army Air Forces hoping to fly fighter planes. But he was told he would be piloting a new craft still under development, one “that would fly faster, higher, and farther than any plane in existence.” As the war effort ramped up in 1942, Mac would become one of the first men to fly the new B-24 bomber.

While Hobbs does an admirable job of contextualizing her father’s service, working in conjunction with the historian of the 307th Bomb Group (H) Association, Jim McCabe (who wrote the biography’s foreword), this volume’s strength lies in the written recollections left behind by Mac himself. These firsthand accounts, which are often provided to readers in their totality, offer personal and at times disgustingly sober accounts of dogfights, bombing campaigns, and other wartime experiences of the B-24 and B-29 pilot, including surviving a plane crash during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Among his many honors received during his service, Mac would be awarded a Purple Heart, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a Presidential Unit Award. Balancing solid research and objective storytelling with occasional spurts of sentimentality toward a father she clearly adores, Hobbs crafts a poignant, harrowing story. The book’s engaging writing style is accompanied by a wealth of photos, maps, and reproductions of primary sources. An engrossing, moving, and fitting tribute to an acclaimed war hero.