A very good book and Erich Hartmann did almost break. If the Russians had not let him read the letters from his wife, he certainly probably would have gone over to the Russian side or had died in a Russian camp. Those letters gave him the strength to go on, when his mental ability to resist came very close to the breaking point. The Russians thought that letting him read the letter would have brought him over to their side; unfortunately, they had the opposite effect.

If you want to talk about hatred long after an event like World War II was over, I recall watching a TV program about Franklin Roosevelt. One of his grandchildren or great grandchildren that appear on that program, and stated that rich and powerful people to this very day walk up to him and told him point blank to his face that they still hated Franklin Roosevelt because of his social and ecomonic reforms for the overwhelming majority of Americans which were bitterly opposose by the rich people. Seesm to me that rich people particularly Americans have a real crazy hate for anything that will benefit the nation as a whole instead of just for the few.

Another hate is contempt for the Bill of Rights, the Miranda Rights, labor unions, and the right to a lawyer by American police officers. They want it when they are in trouble; however, they feel that the rest of America should have those rights.

The authors take us from a boy-hood Erich Hartman to his military rebirth flying United States jet planes. Long forgotten in the annuls of history, this W.W.II German Luftwaffe pilot is the top fighter ace of all time, with 352 confirmed aerial victories. The authors do more than a biography of a man, but delve into the psyche of the human heart. We will discover Hartman was intelligent, strong willed, well educated, well spoken----a leader of men. Well written, poetic and surrounded by romance. There is no way the authors could have known all the details, but the fictional interpretation adds a splendid effect. Numerous quotes are interjected throughout. Journey to new heights (pun intended) of fighter tactics.

We meet the other aces Hartnam flew with and their unique code of conduct that all pilots shared----a respect for all (enemies)----a chivalry. It is experience that wins against a superior foe, for "the pilot who sees the other first already has half the victory". He ended up spending a decade in cold war Russia jails after the U.S. had captured him. Hartman remained defiant to the end; I can't help thinking how I would do. The other German prisoners looked to him for leadership. The saddest part of the story is seeing what war does to people----the Russian atrocities. The Russian leaders could not relinquish their hatred----they kept the war going. It is the complete disillusion that Communism is. There is an interesting (sorrowful) fact, that Russian and US fighters battled each other out of disdain. Even though Hartman's wife never truly new him, she waited expectantly for his return.

I can't help to think: would it have not been better for us if Hartman had been shot down and killed from the beginning, as he almost was? But then again, I am glad he was not.

I will leave you with this: "If a man cannot look evil in the face without illusion he will never know what it really is, or combat it effectually" ------George Bernard Shaw

Wish you well
Scott