Jayhawk

The vivid story of Philippine-born George Cooper, who flew 74 missions over the Pacific.Born in the Philippines to an American father and a Filipina mother, George Cooper was one of the few surviving veteran pilots who saw action over such fearsome targets as Rabaul and Wewak. Stout reviews Cooper's journey to the United States and his unlikely entry into the United States Army Air Forces. Not just another flag-waving story of air combat, Jayhawk describes the war as it really was--a conflict with far-reaching tentacles that gripped and tore at not only the combatants, but also their families, friends and the way they lived their lives.Stout examines the story of Cooper's growing up in gentle and idyllic pre-war Manila and how he grew to be the man he was.

Trained as a B-25 pilot, Cooper was assigned to the iconic 345th Bomb Group and flew strafing