In Love and War/Ringo, the Robber Raccoon/This Giving Heart/Twilight Child [antikvár]

Jim and Sybil Stockdale were a devoted couple: devoted to one another and to the traditional values of God, country, and family. Over the years, while Jim pursued his career as a navy pilot the two of them had built an unshakable bond of love and trust. They brought four sons into the world. And by 1965 Jim's abilities as a flier had carried him to the very top of seagoing combat aviation.Then, in September 1965, Jim was shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. What followed were years of torment and of heroism. Despite torture and isolation, Jim was soon leading his fellow POWs in a campaign of resistance against their captors. Back home, Sybil was emerging as the leader of other POW families in a crusade to win better treatment for their imprisoned loved onesa crusade that may well have saved Jim's life."Absolutely smashing! An enchanting love stoiy and a wonderful reassurance that there's a right and a wrong in the world and that there are men and women willing to face both with superb courage."Ernest K. Gann Author of The High and the Mightychapter oneThree Days in AugustMy stateroom aboard the U.S.S. Ticonderoga was located three decks below the flight deck, starboard side. It was relatively large as officers' quarters go on an aircraft carrier. I enjoyed relaxing there on that Sunday morning, August 2, 1964, partaking of rare leisure at sea, reading the fresh wire-service news stories radioed from New York and Washington way out there to Vietnamese waters. I was bone-tired. I had been continuously at sea, flying fighter planes off this carrier and the U.S.S. Constellation every day since leaving the Philippine Islands in May.At that time I was a forty-year-old naval officer, the commander of Fighter Squadron 51. My squadron flew the single-seat, supersonic Crusader, just about the fastest and best all-around airplane in the navy in those days. In fact, it was our versatility that had kept us at sea. We were the only squadron with the speed and air-to-ground rocket capability required for some Washington-controlled secret missions we had been flying deep into Laos since early June.This was becoming the best flying summer of my life. I loved it. The Laos mission could be flown properly only if we operated our planes well outside their normal range and speed envelopes, and I was just the guy who knew how to shave the corners.9