Journey of the Giants

by Maj. Gene Gurney

Overview

The story of the B-29 Superfort—the weapon that won the war in the Pacific.
Major Gurney writes about B-29 operations in the Pacific, asserting that this aircraft was instrumental in forcing the Japanese to surrender.
Much has been written about this great airplane, because any account of the devastating fire raids on Japan or of the dramatic beginnings of atomic warfare would be incomplete without telling the story of the B-29s which figured so prominently in these missions. But there is also an exciting story behind that story—the story of the giant bomber's journey from the drawing boards of its designers to the day when out of the bomb bay of the "Enola Gay" tumbled the fantastic new weapon that, with a blinding flash and unprecedented power, brought about the dawn of the nuclear age. That is the story which Gene Gurney tells in Journey of the Giants, and he tells it well.
The book ends with the historic scene on the battleship Missouri which signified the end of the war in the Pacific and, with it, the end of World War II. But while this was the climax in the B-29's long journey, it was by no means its end. B-29s continued to serve a variety of important peacetime missions; they did their share in the development and testing of advanced nuclear weapons and, in the Korean War, added new battle honors to those gained in the Pacific.—Thomas S. Power, General, USAF, Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787207097
Publisher:	Valmy Publishing
Publication date:	07/19/2017
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	234
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Gene Gurney (July 5, 1924 - February 27, 2011) was a Major in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, an author of military books, and a public information officer.
Born in Freemont, Ohio to Jacob and Josephine Gurney, he earned a BS in military science from the University of Maryland, an MS, and Ph.D. in Government Administration from George Washington University and from Pacific Western University. He served in the Air Force for 30 years as command pilot with Strategic Air Command. His military career included arresting a German spy after WWII. He was awarded two Legion of Merit awards and two Bronze Stars.
He retired in 1973 as Lieutenant-Colonel and started his next career at NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He retired in 2005 after 30 years of service, making 60 years' service in total during his lifetime.
He published 59 non-fiction books on various subjects such as military and aviation history, as well two encyclopedias entitled "Kingdoms of Europe" and "Kingdoms of Asia." He was married three times and had two daughters, Patricia Schmidt and Jeanne Bauer
He resided in Arlington, VA and died in 2011 in his winter home in Kissimmee, Florida, at age 86.

Born in Freemont, Ohio to Jacob and Josephine Gurney, he earned a BS in military science from the University of Maryland, an MS, and Ph.D. in Government Administration from George Washington University and from Pacific Western University. He served in the Air Force for 30 years as command pilot with Strategic Air Command. His military career included arresting a German spy after WWII. He was awarded two Legion of Merit awards and two Bronze Stars.
He retired in 1973 as Lieutenant-Colonel and started his next career at NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He retired in 2005 after 30 years of service, making 60 years’ service in total during his lifetime.
He published 59 non-fiction books on various subjects such as military and aviation history, as well two encyclopedias entitled “Kingdoms of Europe” and “Kingdoms of Asia.” He was married three times and had two daughters, Patricia Schmidt and Jeanne Bauer
He resided in Arlington, VA and died in 2011 in his winter home in Kissimmee, Florida, at age 86.