By Robert Coram
A book about courage and endurance, about loyalty and commitment.
Air Force Colonel George "Bud" Day was a Marine first and stayed a Marine. He is said to be the most decorated living American (a distinguishment also assigned to others, by others), which includes the Medal of Honor.
Day was born and raised in Iowa. He joined the Marine Corps upon turning 17 years old in 1942. He was 5'2" and weighted 116. The recruiter sent him home to fill up on bananas and water to make the weight limit. . He still didn’t make the 120 pound minimum but the recruiter "grudgingly" gave him a waiver on the weight. He spent most of WW II on Johnson Island out in the Pacific Ocean.
After WWII he went to college on the GI Bill where he joined the ROTC. After graduation Day he attempted to get back into the Marine Corps and into OCS. He was denied re-entry due to a blemish on his record (He "borrowed" a Navy Jeep for a little joy riding while in HI at the end of the war.). He went into the Army National Guard where he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. From there into the Air Force and a regular commission and flight training.
Day flew the F84 "suicide ride" in Europe during the Cold War, and F86s in the Korean War and F100s in course Vietnam.
This book has several elements. First a biography of a man who would have succeeded in any endeavor. We see him in the Marine Corps and it’s early influence that lasts the remainder of the life of a unique individual. There are accounts of escapes from death under circumstances that few would care to try to match, like the only known no-chute bail out from a jet, and living. There is excellent detail about the skill and courage of fighting men in the air and on the ground. The book deals with the politics of Vietnam both in the United States government and military.
Day was the CO of a squadron of F100s used as FACs over North Vietnam. He was shot down and beame a POW for 67 months. There is more detail about what the POWs suffered in mental and physical torture than you might want to read at one sitting. It should be required reading for every so-called journalist in America. It is amazing that from more than 600 POWs that there were only 13 that agreed to the propaganda move by Hanoi to give "early release"in return for prepared "statements". That 13 of the POWs are now totally ostracized by the main group, although most of the 13 came back as "heros", made so by the leftist media. While the 13 were receiving these accolades the others suffered terribly for refusing to help with the same propaganda. I did not know that the human body could withstand the cruel and inhumane treatment administered to these men. Re-visiting the horrors that these men suffered adds to your realization just what garbage the POS like Jane Fonda and John Kerry were, and are! And just how abysmally ignorant most of liberals are.
Some significant comments excerpted from the book:
"..........great honors (through the years) would be showered on Bud Day. But at the top of the list of things that he was most proud was that he was a Marine. Not that he was once a Marine but that he WAS a Marine!"
One of Day’s efficiency reports, by his wing commander, while still a Air Force Captain had this quote, "...Day is one of the most capable and proficient officers I have ever known. He maintains a Marine Corps officer standard of discipline and military bearing."
Army General William Thorston, "There are two kinds of people who understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second opinion."