Publication: Air Power History
Publication Date: 22-MAR-05
Format: Online - approximately 1247 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Davis, Joseph R. ; O'Sullivan, Curtis H.
Article Excerpt
A Question of Loyalty: Gen Billy Mitchell and the Court-Martial that Gripped the Nation. By Douglas Waller, New York: Harper Collins, 2004. Photographs. Notes. Appendices. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 439. $26.95 ISBN 0-06-050547-8
Through an analysis of General Billy Mitchell's 1925 court martial, Time magazine writer Douglas Waller has examined Mitchell's role in developing American air power. Waller flashes back from 1925 to highlight Mitchell's privileged childhood as the son of a U.S. Senator, his Army enlistment during the Spanish American War, and successful early military career as a signal officer. But aviation, Mitchell's passion from 1915 (as a major serving a coveted General Staff tour, Mitchell paid $1,470 for his own flying lessons), ensured both his greatest success and his eventual downfall. Waller pulls no punches in telling of the headstrong Mitchell's insistence on "first billing" among U.S. World War I air leaders. Regarding the 1921 sinking of the captured German battleship Ostfriesland by Mitchell's Army bombers, Waller accurately relates Mitchell's disregard of the agreed rules but reminds the reader that the Navy was not enthusiastic about the test and did nothing to help Mitchell make his case.
While...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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