Overview

In this posthumously published collection of letters and postal cards, William ""Bill"" Hanchett shares his candid experiences as a flight-school cadet, and later as an Army Air Forces pilot in command of a B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II. Through Bill's first-hand accounts, we learn that mastering the art of flying during wartime is about more than understanding engine throttle and airspeed. It's about wondering when you'll be called to fight and if you'll be asked to betray your ideals. It's about working hard and documenting the days, dreaming about the future, and longing for home. An extraordinary primary document, Disgracefully Easy offers us a rare glimpse inside the military in the 1940s, a time when Americans worried about the fate of their great country and looked to the brave and courageous to deliver them from fear. This unique collection will be long remembered as an important addition to the annals of aviation history.

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Reviews

""This is a superb compilation of wartime letters."" -Karl Zingheim, Historian, USS Midway Museum, and Adjunct Faculty, San Diego State University ""The combination of Tom Hanchett's research and his father's collected letters make this an interesting story, beautifully told..."" -​Dr. Paul Hoffman, Director, Air University Press, USAF Air Education and Training Command ""In Disgracefully Easy, [Bill's] thoughtful and perceptive letters to his parents open a window onto the feelings, frustrations, and experiences of 'those who also served, ' as well as a running commentary on how young men of his time felt about politics, duty, the war, and the postwar future to come."" -William C. Davis, Civil War Historian, prolific author, and recent co-editor of The Wharton's War. ""Disgracefully Easy is an important contribution to our understanding of World War II. This book tells the story of one of those greatest generation individuals, who felt the call to service. Bill returned to civilian life and rose to be one of the nation's leading scholars on Abraham Lincoln. His letters home provide insight into the war years and will be useful to scholars and history buffs alike."" - Dr. Brian D. Laslie, Command Historian at the United States Air Force Academy, and author of Fighting From Above: A Combat History of the U.S. Air Force ""As time progresses there continues to be an avalanche of books about World War II. But there are very few about the citizens who fought it, their sacrifices, lives and deaths, and the heart they gave up into it. Now along comes Disgracefully Easy, a true-to-life life book that uneasily tells it like it was. Here's your chance to see the war from the bottom up versus the top down."" -Peter Stekel, Author of Final Flight and Beneath Haunted Waters.

Author Information

The chapter introductions and notes in Disgracefully Easy were prepared by Bill Hanchett's son, Tom. Now retired from federal civil service, Tom has had a lifelong interest in history, and holds a bachelor's degree in government and two master's degrees, in History and Public Administration. He wrote a master's thesis on a World War II subject and subsequently wrote historical articles for a veteran's association newsletter and published an article in World War II magazine. In the late 1970s, Tom wrote news and feature articles for MAINSTREAM Magazine, a monthly periodical for people with disabilities.A native Californian, Tom resides in North San Diego County. Finding Bill's WWII correspondence was a fortuitous event, and given Tom's extensive military history interest and background, it was a natural undertaking for him to edit and present his father's correspondence.

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