A memoir of a World War II aviator

When I visited Seattle earlier this year, I had the chance to see the Museum of Flight. It was the first time that I spent any time in museum focusing on airplanes.

There was one fighter airplane that people could crawl into. I watched several young children get into it and have their picture taken. I was amazed at how small the sitting space was. I had no desire to squeeze into the cockpit. I feel claustrophobic just sitting in the seat of a passenger plane.

That visit sparked my interest in World War II history. What type of person would actually volunteer to be a fighter pilot?

Samuel Hynes helps answer that question. I happened across his autobiography, Flights of Passage: Reflections of a World War II Aviator.

Samuel Hynes grew up in Minnesota, dreaming of flying airplanes. At eighteen, he left Minnesota and began his career as a Marine bomber pilot. He flew more than a hundred missions against the Japanese at Okinawa and Ulithi.

What surprised me about Hynes is how he seems to almost downplay his role in WW II.

If you have any interest in World War I and II, be sure to plan a trip to the Museum of Flight and check out this book.

Flights of Passage is on the second floor under the call number 940.5426 HYN.


c Waterloo Public Library 2007