Flyboys: A True Story of Courage

Nine American Navy and Marine pilots were shot down over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima while on a bombing mission to destroy Japanese communications towers. One pilot was rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine, but the other eight were captured by Japanese soldiers and subsequently disappeared. After the war ended, both the American and Japanese governments concealed what had occurred on Chichi Jima, sealing military tribunal records and leaving the families of the eight men without answers. Flyboys reveals the story of these men for the first time. James Bradley's investigation led him through American archives, classified government documents, Japan, and to Chichi Jima itself. He uncovered connections to events 150 years prior, tracing back to America's westward expansion and Japan's early encounters with the Western world. The book examines the Japanese warrior mentality that enabled brutal treatment of prisoners and U.S. military strategy that resulted in civilian casualties, presenting the complexity of the Pacific war without simplified moral judgments. Bradley ultimately discloses the fate of the eight captured flyboys and their final moments. The narrative includes the story of one pilot who escaped capture—George H. W. Bush, who later became president of the United States.