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Vanished Hero

The Life, War and Mysterious Disappearance of America’s WWII Strafing King

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Vanished Hero

By: Jay A. Stout
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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About this listen

A hell-bent-for-leather fighter pilot, Elwyn G. Righetti remains one of the most unknown, yet compelling, colorful, and controversial commanders of World War II.

Arriving late to the war, he led the England-based 55th Fighter Group against the Nazis during the closing months of the fight with a no-holds-barred aggressiveness that transformed the group from a middling organization of no reputation into a headline-grabbing team that had to make excuses to no one. Indeed, Righetti's boldness paid off as he quickly achieved ace status and additionally scored more strafing victories - 27 - than any other Eighth Air Force pilot.

However, success came at a high cost in men and machines. Some of Righetti's pilots resented him as a Johnny-come-lately intent on winning a sack of medals at their expense. But most lauded their spirited new commander and his sledgehammer audacity. Indeed, he made his men most famous for "loco busting", as they put more than 600 enemy locomotives out of commission - 170-in just two days!

Ultimately, Righetti's calculated recklessness ran full speed into the odds. His aircraft was hit while strafing an enemy airfield only four days before the 55th flew its last mission.

©2016 Jay Stout (P)2017 Tantor Air Forces Military World War II War Transportation US Air Force Aviation
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Critic reviews

"Vanished Hero is a welcome addition to military biography collections, and highly recommended for both public library collections and personal reading lists." ( Midwest Book Review)

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Profile Image for C H.

Finally! A well narrated WW2 book!

Well done Mr Barrett. Well narrated and kept you listening for more.

The story is a sad one at the end, I won't be spoiling it by saying the "hero" isn't found. But his story lives on. Well written and researched. Well worth the listen.

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