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Summary
Summary
During the course of his military career, Bud Day won every available combat medal, escaped death on no less than seven occasions, and spent 67 months as a POW in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, along with John McCain. Despite sustained torture, Day would not break. He became a hero to POWs everywhere -- a man who fought without pause, not a prisoner of war, but a prisoner at war.
Upon his return, passed over for promotion to Brigadier General, Day retired. But years later, with his children grown and a lifetime of service to his country behind him, he would engage in another battle, this one against an opponent he never had expected: his own country. On his side would be the hundreds of thousands of veterans who had fought for America only to be betrayed. And what would happen next would make Bud Day an even greater legend.
Author Notes
Robert Coram lives in Atlanta.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
A modern warrior's achievements and heroics culminate in opposition to a U.S. government viewed as breaking trust with military veterans. Coram (Boyd, 2002, etc.) confesses in the preface to an "unbounded admiration" of Colonel (USAF) George "Bud" Day. His subject goes from a roughshod, undisciplined--even court-martialed--Marine recruit in WWII to the military's most decorated veteran (his awards include the Medal of Honor) as a result of action as both an Air Force flying officer and POW in Vietnam. Indeed, the bulk of the narrative flits frequently into outright homage. It's somewhat understandable when dealing with a military pilot who compiles an exemplary service record, gets a law degree in his spare time, hones legendary flying skills, survives two accidents of a type that killed all others known to be involved in them, leads a crucial combat squadron in Vietnam, then is shot down and not only attempts a nearly successful escape but becomes a notorious (to his captors) "hard resistor" surviving torture in the company of his fellow POW, now Senator, John McCain. Coram's extended take on Day's career pre-Vietnam tracks with steady military-family-man allegiances and no-B.S. character testimonials, and it's certain to be more appreciated by fellow vets. An interesting theme does emerge post-Vietnam: an on-again, off-again association with McCain, who adopts a softer attitude than Day on POWs who did not actively resist and took an early release others declined; they also part on the Swift-boat veterans attack (denounced by McCain) on John Kerry. There are some blunt personal references to McCain in the book, particularly unflattering in the context of presidential ambitions. After two decades in retirement, Day leads an assault against the Clinton administration's cutback of veterans' promised medical benefits, characterized by Coram in a final, redundant reference, as "the mission God saved him for." The record speaks for itself; alienation and politicization lurk between the lines. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Coram's superb biography of the most decorated living American veteran begins with Bud Day's Great Plains childhood and takes him through joining the air force, marrying his high-school sweetheart, and flying ever-more-demanding missions in Vietnam. After his luck ran out, he escaped from the first POW camp in which he was interned but was recaptured and endured five years of torture in a second. Retiring with the Medal of Honor, he returned to public life a generation later, launching breach-of-contract suits against the Clinton administration for what he perceived as its bad faith in dealing with Vietnam veterans. Although partially disabled and an ongoing sufferer from PTSD, Day remains active in veterans' affairs and Republican politics. Coram's motives for writing the book--see the preface--may raise some eyebrows, but as he did for his previous fighter-pilot biography, Boyd (2002), he has researched thoroughly and written fluently and with sympathy for his subject, an authentic hero worthy of many books. --Roland Green Copyright 2007 Booklist
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. vi |
| Preface | p. vii |
| Prologue | p. 3 |
| 1 Siouxland | p. 13 |
| 2 War and Peace | p. 29 |
| 3 Preparation | p. 43 |
| 4 The Wild Blue Yonder | p. 63 |
| 5 Sporty Flying | p. 83 |
| 6 Building Time | p. 101 |
| 7 Hit My Smoke | p. 119 |
| 8 South Toward Freedom | p. 135 |
| 9 North Toward Hell | p. 151 |
| 10 The Bug | p. 177 |
| 11 Another Summer of Love | p. 205 |
| 12 The Years of the Locust | p. 223 |
| 13 The Freedom Bird | p. 241 |
| 14 Three's In ... With Unfinished Business | p. 255 |
| 15 Over the Side | p. 273 |
| 16 Good-bye Yellow Dogs | p. 289 |
| 17 Once More unto the Breach | p. 305 |
| 18 The Fat Lady Never Sings | p. 325 |
| 19 One More Mission | p. 345 |
| Epilogue | p. 363 |
| Sources | p. 378 |
| Bibliography | p. 379 |
| Index | p. 383 |
