Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds »

CHRISTINA OLDS is the daughter of ROBIN OLDS. She holds a Vassar College BA in English & creative writing and compiled her father’s writings to help complete this book with ED RASIMUS, a retired USAF fighter pilot who has written two books on the Vietnam air war, When Thunder Rolled and Palace Cobra. They both live in Colorado.

The widely anticipated memoir of legendary ace American fighter pilot, Robin Olds

Robin Olds was a larger-than-life hero with a towering personality. A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—and an ace with 12 aerial victories.

But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend. He arrived in 1966 to find a dejected group of pilots and motivated them by placing himself on the flight schedule under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. Proving he wasn’t a WWII retread, he led the wing with aggressiveness, scoring another four confirmed kills, becoming a rare triple ace.

Olds (who retired a brigadier general and died in 2007) was a unique individual whose personal story is one of the most eagerly anticipated military books of the year.

AMERICA IN WWII magazine

Olds tells his story in an engagingly direct manner. His combat descriptions are gripping but so are his stories of living in England and the day-to-day triumphs and frustrations of fighting in World War II Yet, one gets the sense from the memoir that the supremely confident Olds was introspective. There is an underlying humanity and generosity to others in his tale. He shares even the darkest, most personal passages without bitterness or acrimony. The warmth of the narrative, the varied settings and the simply amazing things that Olds accomplished all make Fighter Pilot a must read for all aviation enthusiasts.