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A Very Strange Trip
by L. Ron HubbardBoldly go to times where no one has gone before. While transporting a contraband Russian time machine and developmental weaponry, Private Everett Dumphee finds himself cast into new settings when the device suddenly activates. What follows are fantastic high-tech experiences that might be called the ultimate off-road adventure. For the determined Dumphee - narrowly escaping with his life and three beautiful women - it is not necessarily a matter of will he make his destination, but when. These four vivid characters trek through this fun and fast-moving journey like there's no tomorrow. Wherever that may be. "A wild, high-tech ride through time. Read it to have a rollicking good time." --Brian Herbert, co-author "Dune: House Attreides"
A Very Unusual Air War: From Dunkirk to AFDU: The Diary and Log Book of Test Pilot H. Leonard Thorne, 1940-45
by H. Leonard Thorne Gill Griffin Barry GriffinIn May 1940, 20-year-old Len Thorne joined the RAF, as did many young men during the Second World War. After two hectic tours of operational duty as a fighter pilot, including some desperately dangerous low-level flying at Dunkirk, he was posted to AFDU (Air Fighting Development Unit) and remained there as a test pilot for the rest of the war.Fortunately for us, Len kept a detailed diary, which, set alongside his log book, tells the unique story of a test pilot tasked with developing operational tactics and testing captured enemy aircraft, such as the feared Fw 190. During Len's career, he worked alongside some of the most famous fighter aces and his records cast light on some of the most famous flyers of the RAF, including Wing Commander Al Deere and Spitfire aces Squadron Leader ‘Paddy’ Finucane, Ernie Ryder and many others.A unique record of military aviation history, From Spitfire to Focke Wulf offers a window to this era of rapid and high-stakes aircraft development.
Veteran
by Gavin G. SmithThree hundred years in our future, in a world of alien infiltrators, religious hackers, a vast convoying nation of Nomads, city sized orbital elevators, and a cyborg pirate king who believes himself to be a mythological demon Jakob is having a bad day:"Nothing gets in the way of a hangover like being reactivated by your old C.O. and told to track down an alien killing machine. The same kind of killing machine that wiped out my entire squad. And now it's in my hometown.My name is Jakob Douglas, ex-special forces. I fought Them. Just like we've all been doing for 60 bloody years. But I thought my part in that was done with. My boss has other ideas. If I didn't find the infiltrator then he'd let the Grey Lady loose on me. And believe me; even They've got nothing on her. So I took the job. It went to shit even faster than normal. And now I'm on the run with this teenage hacker who's had enough of prostitution. The only people I can rely on want to turn the internet into God. And now it turns out that They aren't quite what we'd all thought. I've been to the bottom of the sea and the top of the sky and beyond trying to get to the truth. And I still can't get far enough away from the Grey Lady. All things considered I'd rather be back at home deep in a whiskey bottle."Veteran is a fast paced, intricately plotted violent SF Thriller set in a dark future against the backdrop of a seemingly never ending war against an unknowable and implacable alien enemy.
Veteran Avenue: A twisting thriller perfect for Jack Reacher fans
by Mark PepperA friend&’s violent death and a haunting childhood memory send an aimless ex-soldier back into fighting mode, in this thriller by &“a writer to watch&” (Time Out).1978. While on holiday in America, British eight-year-old John Frears is befriended by a stranger in the Oregon wilderness and stolen away from his parents. After a bizarre hour spent in a log cabin, he is sent away carrying a picture of a young girl.2013. Since leaving the military, John Frears has been drifting, unable to settle. When he hears his friend Donnie Chester was shot and killed, he feels compelled to travel to Los Angeles for the funeral. As John slowly becomes entangled with his friend&’s grieving sister, and a desperate, disillusioned LAPD cop, his life becomes more complicated than he could have imagined. And when the mysterious event from his past crashes into the present, it could mean the difference between life and death . . .
Veteran Comes Back
by Willard WallerIs he the man you knew—or a stranger? Is he bitter? hopeful? disillusioned? What sort of husband, father, son, will he make? Will you let demagogues exploit and subvert him as they have done elsewhere? How can we help him find the road back?Will he sell apples and pawn his medals, or will we assure him a job? What of the disabled—how can we restore him to usefulness? Will we make the grim mistake of spending too much—too late—and for the wrong people? These and other questions are answered in this book—a realistic discussion of America’s gravest social problem.…The Veteran’s Future is in your hands—and Your Future is in his hands!THIS book is written not only to help the veteran adjust to society, but also to help the veteran’s father, mother, wife, sister, sweetheart, to understand his state of mind. For it is only through a sympathetic understanding of what he has really become through war, that it is possible to help him at all. This book deals with such concrete problems as: the veteran’s marital relations—dealing with the crippled veteran at home—war brides and G.I. babies—veterans organizations—re-educating veterans—the lures of demagogues to capture the veteran’s vote—his struggle to get a satisfactory job—the delicate question of treating psychoneurotic veterans—and many others.…This book does not presume to give all the answers. The author hopes that it will be a firebell in the night—to wake up America now to the veteran problem before it descends upon us in all its fury.
Veteran Lancs: A Photographic Record of the 35 RAF Lancasters that Each Completed One Hundred Sorties
by Norman FranksAviation historians will know that the Avro Lancaster bomber is the most famous aircraft to have fought with RAF Bomber Command during World War Two. They will know too that, of the 7,366 that were built, over 3,400 were lost on operations and a further 200 plus were destroyed and written-off in crashes. Operational sorties flown totalled more than 156,000, carrying over 600,000 tons of bombs to targets all over Europe. But this came at a terrible cost. With extensive losses on some night operations, occurring when bombers were pitted against a dedicated German night-fighter arm (as well as anti-aircraft fire) it is not surprising, or even incredible, that just 35 Lancasters managed to complete 100 or more sorties during the course of the war. A number of them actually achieved well over one hundred sorties, and a few were tragically lost after reaching this amazing figure.This book covers the history of these 35 incredible Lancasters, featuring many photographs of both aircraft and crew members drawn together in an effort to create a photographic record of these veterans. In addition, there is a section dedicated to many Lancasters that, whilst not achieving this almost magic total, either through eventual loss or the ending of the war, did achieve a large number of operations. Pictures of these have been added so that their achievements, as well as the achievements of the crews who flew in them, can be viewed together.
The Veteran Omnibus
by Gavin G. Smith'an exceptional talent' Peter F. HamiltonMy name is Jakob Douglas, ex-special forces. I fought Them. Just like we've all been doing for 60 bloody years. But I thought my part in that was done with. Three hundred years in our future, in a world of alien infiltrators, religious hackers, a vast convoying nation of Nomads, city sized orbital elevators, and a cyborg pirate king who believes himself to be a mythological demon Jakob is having a bad day. VETERAN is a fast paced, intricately plotted violent SF Thriller set in a dark future against the backdrop of a seemingly never ending war against an unknowable and implacable alien enemy.In WAR IN HEAVEN, the high-powered sequel to VETERAN, an unlikely hero makes an even more unlikely return to take the reader back into a vividly rendered bleak future. But a bleak future where there are still wonders: man travelling out into the universe, Bladerunner-esque cities hanging from the ceilings of vast caverns, aliens that we can barely comprehend.Gavin Smith writes fast-moving, incredibly violent SF thrillers but behind the violence and the thrills lies a carefully thought out story and characters who have far more to them than first meets the eye.Never one to avoid controversy Gavin Smith nevertheless invites you to think beyond the initial shock of what you have just read. But in the meantime? Another fire-fight, another chase another flight of imagination.
Veteran Volunteer: Memoir of the Trenches, Tanks & Captivity, 1914–1919
by Jamie VansFrank Vans Agnew left America in 1914 and claiming to be 40 (rather than 46) enlisted in 2nd King Edward's Horse. He arrived in France in 1915 at Festubert and was given a commission. After attending the Machine Gun School he was at the Somme before volunteering for the Tank Corps. In 1917 he was wounded at Messines, where he won his MC. He demonstrated his tank for King George. He fought at 3rd Ypres and was wounded and captured at Cambrai in November 1917. Over the next 12 months he was held as a POW at Hanover, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg and Fstenberg.His extraordinary and varied experiences are superbly recorded in this memoir.As featured in Isle of Wight County Press and on BBC Radio Bristol.
Veteranhood: Rage and Hope in British Ex-Military Life
by Joe GlentonOne of Britain's most radical veterans takes us on a guided tour through ex-military life at the heart of a dead empire.The military veteran is claimed by all sides. Conservatives, liberals and socialists all want to speak about and for ex-servicemen, yet far-right demonstrations are dotted with berets and medals and ex-military men have become celebrities of the reactionary manosphere. So who are Britain's ex-servicemen? What do they want? What are their politics? What are the issues which animate them? Are they just irredeemable fascists by dint of their service to Empire? Or is there a radical political potential waiting to be unlocked? Former soldier Joe Glenton takes us on a guided tour through ex-forces life at the heart of a dead empire as he attempts to demystify military culture, rescue the veteran from his captors, and discover if a more optimistic, humanist mode of veteranhood can be recovered from the ruins.
Veterans: Faces of World War II
by Sasha MaslovIchiro Sudan trained to be a kamikaze. Roscoe Brown was a commander in the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military aviators. Charin Singh, a farmer from Delhi, spent seven years as a Japanese prisoner of war and was not sent home until four years after the war ended. Uli John lost an arm serving in the German army but ultimately befriended former enemy soldiers as part of a network of veterans—"people who fought in the war and know what war really means." These are some of the faces and stories in the remarkable Veterans, the outcome of a worldwide project by Sasha Maslov to interview and photograph the last surviving combatants from World War II. Soldiers, support staff, and resistance fighters candidly discuss wartime experiences and their lifelong effects in this unforgettable, intimate record of the end of a cataclysmic chapter in world history and tribute to the members of an indomitable generation. Veterans is also a meditation on memory, human struggle, and the passage of time.
Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War (Isis Reminiscence Ser.)
by Richard van Emden Steve HumphriesUsing the veterans own words and photographs, the book brings to life a mixture of their excitement of embarkation for France, their unbound optimism and courage, the agony of the trenches, and numbing fear of going over the top. The fight for survival, the long ordeal of those who were wounded and the ever present grief caused by appalling loss and waste of life make for compelling reading.The veterans give us first hand accounts of stark honesty, as they describe in many cases more freely than ever before about experiences which have lived with them for over 80 years.
Veterans and Agent Orange: Herbicide/Dioxin Exposure and Type 2 Diabetes
by Institute of MedicineIn response to the concerns voiced by Vietnam veterans and their families, Congress called upon the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review the scientific evidence on the possible health effects of exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides. This call resulted in the creation of the first NAS Institute of Medicine Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides in 1992. The committee published its initial findings in the 1994 report Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam. This report is the result of a 1999 request from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) under the aegis of the Veterans and Agent Orangeresearch program. Specifically, DVA asked the committee to examine evidence regarding the association, if any, between Type 2 diabetes and exposure to dioxin and other chemical compounds in herbicides used in Vietnam. Veterans and Agent Orange: Herbicide/Dioxin Exposure and Type 2 Diabetesreviews the scientific evidence regarding the association, if any, between Type 2 diabetes1 and exposure to dioxin2 and other chemical compounds in herbicides used in Vietnam. This report examines, to the extent that available data permitted meaningful determinations, (1) whether a statistical association with herbicide exposure exists, taking into account the strength of the scientific evidence and the appropriateness of the statistical and epidemiologic methods used to detect the association; (2) the increased risk of the disease among those exposed to herbicides during Vietnam service; and (3) whether there is a plausible biological mechanism or other evidence of a causal relationship between herbicide exposure and the disease.
Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 1998
by Institute of MedicineThird in a series of six congressionally mandated studies occurring biennially, this book is an updated review and evaluation of the available scientific evidence regarding the statistical association between exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam and various adverse health outcomes suspected to be linked with such exposures. As part of the review, the committee convened a workshop at which issues surrounding the reanalysis and the combination of existing data on the health effects of herbicide and dioxin exposure were addressed. This book builds upon the information developed by the IOM committees responsible for the 1994 original report, Veterans and Agent Orange, and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 1996, but will focus on scientific studies and other information developed since the release of these reports. The two previous volumes have noted that sufficient evidence exists to link soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and chloracne with exposure. The books also noted that there is "limited or suggestive" evidence to show an association with exposure and a neurological disorder in veterans and with the congenital birth defect spina bifida in veterans' children. This volume will be critically important to both policymakers and physicians in the federal government, Vietnam veterans and their families, veterans organizations, researchers, and health professionals.
Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014
by National Academies of Sciences Engineering MedicineFrom 1962 to 1971, the US military sprayed herbicides over Vietnam to strip the thick jungle canopy that could conceal opposition forces, to destroy crops that those forces might depend on, and to clear tall grasses and bushes from the perimeters of US base camps and outlying fire-support bases. Mixtures of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), picloram, and cacodylic acid made up the bulk of the herbicides sprayed. The main chemical mixture sprayed was Agent Orange, a 50:50 mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. At the time of the spraying, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most toxic form of dioxin, was an unintended contaminant generated during the production of 2,4,5-T and so was present in Agent Orange and some other formulations sprayed in Vietnam. Because of complaints from returning Vietnam veterans about their own health and that of their children combined with emerging toxicologic evidence of adverse effects of phenoxy herbicides and TCDD, the National Academy of Sciences was asked to perform a comprehensive evaluation of scientific and medical information regarding the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange, other herbicides used in Vietnam, and the various components of those herbicides, including TCDD. Updated evaluations were conducted every two years to review newly available literature and draw conclusions from the overall evidence. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014 is the final and cumulative report of the series.
Veterans and Agent Orange (2018): Update 11 (2018)
by Engineering Medicine National Academies of SciencesFrom 1962 to 1971, the U.S. military sprayed herbicides over Vietnam to strip the thick jungle canopy that could conceal opposition forces, to destroy crops that those forces might depend on, and to clear tall grasses and bushes from the perimeters of US base camps and outlying fire-support bases. Mixtures of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), picloram, and cacodylic acid made up the bulk of the herbicides sprayed. The main chemical mixture sprayed was Agent Orange, a 50:50 mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. At the time of the spraying, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most toxic form of dioxin, was an unintended contaminant generated during the production of 2,4,5-T and so was present in Agent Orange and some other formulations sprayed in Vietnam. Because of complaints from returning Vietnam veterans about their own health and that of their children combined with emerging toxicologic evidence of adverse effects of phenoxy herbicides and TCDD, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was asked to perform a comprehensive evaluation of scientific and medical information regarding the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange, other herbicides used in Vietnam, and the various components of those herbicides, including TCDD. Updated evaluations were conducted every two years to review newly available literature and draw conclusions from the overall evidence. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 11 (2018) examines peer-reviewed scientific reports concerning associations between various health outcomes and exposure to TCDD and other chemicals in the herbicides used in Vietnam that were published between September 30, 2014, and December 31, 2017, and integrates this information with the previously established evidence database.
Veterans Benefits For Dummies
by Rod Powers<p>Saving veterans and their families from months of phone calls and internet searches, Veterans Benefits For Dummies outlines the various programs that the VA and other government agencies have in place as well as the procedures for filing applications, claims,and appeals for these benefits which include: <p> <li>Health care <li>Ongoing care for wounded and disabled vets <li>Education assistance <li>Vocational rehabilitation <li>Life insurance <li>Home loan guarantees <li>Pensions <li>Survivors' benefits <li>Burial benefits</li> </p>
Veterans Employment Tactics: Packaging Yourself for Job Hunting Success (Second Edition)
by Tom Stein Greg Wood<p>Things have changed, times have changed, and times are tough - especially if you're a military veteran seeking employment in today's economy. This essential guide is designed to help you succeed in your civilian job search. Written by a career military officer and a career expert, TheHireTactics introduces a methodology that includes innovative tools that go far beyond the traditional resume and cover letter. You will learn how to define your value in civilian terms and employ the strategies and tactics necessary to differentiate yourself from the competition and successfully complete your job search mission. <p>Learn the 4 Milestones for Civilian Employment: <p> <li>Packaging - teaches you how to implement new and unique tools that will clearly separate you from your competition. <li>Promotion - introduces strategies and techniques that help you successfully penetrate the hidden job market by broadcasting your value to the business community, not your resume. <li>Product Demonstration - teaches you the techniques to conduct a proactive, strategic interview that will greatly enhance your chances of getting the offer. <li>Pricing - Teaches you how to negotiate the difference between what you're offered and your true worth to the organization.</li> </p>
Veterans of the First World War: Ex-Servicemen and Ex-Servicewomen in Post-War Britain and Ireland (Routledge Studies in First World War History)
by Oliver Wilkinson David SwiftThis volume synthesises the latest scholarship on First World War veterans in post-war Britain and Ireland, investigating the topic through its political, social and cultural dynamics. It examines the post-war experiences of those men and women who served and illuminates the nature of the post-war society for which service had been given. Complicating the homogenising tendency in existing scholarship it offers comparison of the experiences of veterans in different regions of Britain, including perspectives drawn from Ireland. Further nuance is offered by the assessment of the experiences of ex-servicewomen alongside those of ex-servicemen, such focus deeping understanding into the gendered specificities of post-war veteran activities and experiences. Moreover, case studies of specific cohorts of veterans are offered, including focus on disabled veterans and ex-prisoners of war. In these regards the collection offers vital updates to existing scholarship while bringing important new departures and challenges to the current interpretive frameworks of veteran experiences in post-war Britain and Ireland.
Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace
by Maxine Hong KingstonNational Book Award Winner Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior, China Men, and The Fifth Book of Peace, has been leading writing-and-meditation workshops for veterans for more than a decade. The practice of meditating together, writing stories and poems, and then reading their works aloud has been extremely healing for these individuals and has produced some extraordinary writing - Tolstoy-like descriptions of battle scenes, Hemingway-esque flashbacks, and gripping accounts of growing up in military families, serving as medics in the thick of war, coming home to homelessness, and finally doing the work to experience first-hand the deep transformation that is possible when one truly comes to grips with one's whole past.
The Veterans' Tale: British Military Memoirs of the Second World War (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)
by Frances HoughtonThis is a unique account of the ways in which British veterans of the Second World War remembered, understood, and recounted their experiences of battle throughout the post-war period. Focusing on themes of landscape, weaponry, the enemy, and comradeship, Frances Houghton examines the imagery and language used by war memoirists to reconstruct and review both their experiences of battle and their sense of wartime self. Houghton also identifies how veterans' memoirs became significant sites of contest as former servicemen sought to challenge what they saw as unsatisfactory official, scholarly, and cultural representations of the Second World War in Britain. Her findings show that these memoirs are equally important both for the new light they shed on the memory and meanings of wartime military experience among British veterans, and for what they tell us about the cultural identity of military life-writing in post-war British society.
Veterans' Voices: Coventry's Unsung Heroes of the Second World War
by Caroline Freeman-CuerdenTurning the focus away from the city itself, Caroline Freeman-Cuerden has listened to the memories of 23 veterans, just a few of the thousands of Coventry men and women who served and fought in World War II. Their stories are recounted here in their own words, interspersed with letters, documents, diary excerpts and photographs.
Veterans with a Vision: Canada's War Blinded in Peace and War
by Serge Marc DurflingerDurflinger (history, the University of Ottawa, Canada) chronicles advocacy by Canadian servicemen blinded in war, highlighting their efforts to help Canadian veterans and all blind citizens. The book begins with the establishment of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in 1918 by 200 Canadian servicemen blinded in WWI, then continues with the formation of the Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded, which advocated for government benefits, job retraining, and other social programs. Key figures are profiled, and issues such as physical and psychological rehabilitation are discussed. The book is based on archival material from both organizations.
Vets and Pets: Wounded Warriors and the Animals That Help Them Heal
by Barbara Bush Dava Guerin Kevin Ferris Andrea ArdenExperience firsthand the inspiring and heartwarming bonds between wounded veterans and their service and companion animals."Vets and Pets tells fifteen emotional and entertaining stories of the incredible bonds between wounded warriors, veterans, and other service members and their service and companion animals. Whether these special relationships are with dogs, cats, horses, pigs, or even birds of prey, readers will discover how these remarkable animals help veterans return to civilian life and live independently while simultaneously bringing joy and confidence into their lives. Tyler struggled to adjust to civilian life after losing both of his legs in Afghanistan, until he met his intelligent and willfully disobedient red European Doberman pinscher, Apollo. Vietnam veteran Patrick regained a sense of well-being and hope through the study of birds of prey. Max the horse has helped numerous veterans learn to trust, improve their communication, and increase their self-confidence and self-esteem. Mandi discovered that the intelligence and unconditional love of pigs were exactly what she needed to heal from an abusive past and a disappointing army-training injury. These are just a few of the uplifting stories that are featured in this striking collection. In addition to exploring the unique, lifelong bonds that can develop between veterans and their animal companions, Vets and Pets spotlights extraordinary nonprofits that unite wounded warriors with service and companion animals, including Pets for Patriots, Hooves Marching for Mercy, Horses Helping Heroes, and Avian Veteran Alliance, among others. A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to Pets for Patriots.
Vets Under Siege: How America Deceives and Dishonors Those Who Fight Our Battles
by Martin SchramA scathing exposé of the U.S. government's deplorable neglect of American servicemen and women—in the works before the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital scandal.After members of our armed forces bravely serve their nation, they sometimes come home to find themselves battling another enemy—within their own government. Using decades of case histories, statistics, and firsthand accounts, award-winning Washington journalist Martin Schram exposes a shocking culture of antagonism toward veterans by the very agency—the Department of Veterans Affairs—that was formed to serve them. Vets Under Siege reveals the shameless lack of care shown to our young servicemen and -women, from recruiters' deceptions and a lack of armor in battle to shoddy, disgusting conditions at Walter Reed and other medical facilities, and looks back to examine the innumerable postwar battles our veterans have had to wage for proper treatment, from World War II to today. Martin Schram's bold bugle call, sounded on behalf of our nation's beleaguered servicemen and -women, lays bare a chilling pattern of institutional negligence, delay, and denial, and points the way forward with definitive solutions to a national disgrace.
VF-11/111 'Sundowners' 1942-95
by Barrett Tillman Tom TullisFighting Squadron 11 was established at San Diego in August 1943, beginning a half-century record that spanned aerial combat in three wars from the piston to the jet age. First deployed to Guadalcanal, the 'Sundowners' flew Grumman Wildcats and completed its tour as the Navy's third-ranking F4F squadron in terms of aerial victories. Upon returning home, the 'Sundowners' transitioned to Hellcats in preparation for a second combat deployment. In 1944-45 the squadron flew from USS Hornet (CV-12), participating in the fast carrier strikes against the Philippines, Formosa and the Asian mainland. It finished the war as the Navy's 11th ranking fighter squadron with 158 credited victories. Redesignated VF-111 in 1948, the 'Sundowners' converted to F9F Panthers and scored history's first jet-versus-jet victory over Korea in 1950. After the armistice, the squadron flew FJ-3 Furies and F11F Tigers, before receiving the world-class F8U Crusader in 1961. During the long Vietnam War, the 'Sundowners' logged six deployments, scoring MiG kills in both F-8s and F-4 Phantom IIs. From 1978 to disestablishment in 1995, the 'Sundowners' flew F-14 Tomcats from USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and Carl Vinson (CVN-70), completing a record of 37 deployments from 17 flattops in its 52-year career. From World War 2 until after the Cold War, the 'Sundowners' established an unsurpassed record 'at the tip of the spear' in naval aviation history.