Harness the Wind

About the Book

This book is based on the true story of an Oregon youth who surveyed on the West Coast and worked in the Detroit court system before following in the footsteps of his famous uncle on the University of Michigan football team. After college he worked on dam construction in California prior to joining the Army Air Corps, where he acquired the nickname "Crash" from his fellow cadets by surviving several crack-ups.

Released by the Army due to the Great Depression and unable to find work, he finally re-enlisted as a private and was sent to the Philippine Islands. Eventually he bought his way out of the military and flew for a small commercial airline in the Islands, experiencing many narrow escapes flying through typhoons and piloting mining engineers to remote areas, at times accompanying them in their treks deep into snake-and crocodile-infested jungles.

Returning to the States, he learned of Colonel Chennault's need for pilots in China and joined him there, instructing the Chinese to fly against the Japanese who were at the time conducting regular bombing on their cities.

About the Author

The author has himself lived a somewhat "soldier of fortune" life, albeit on a milder scale than the hero of his book. Born in central Illinois during the Great Depression, he worked on farms and in factories there and served in the U.S. Army before going to California, where he graduated from San Diego State University in 1968. He has since lived in Hawaii and Guam and traveled the Orient, and for fifteen years has resided in Pacific Palisades, California, where he is associated with an environmental consulting firm. For the last twenty years he has been writing, and in addition to Harness the Wind has completed two extensive genealogies, a true murder mystery, and is presently at work on a book related to the Pearl Harbor attack.