With the 50th Anniversary of Victory in World War II comes PROTECT &
AVENGE: The 49th Fighter Group in World War II. After six years of
research, author and illustrator S.W. Ferguson, Along with 49ERS
Association historian William K. Pascalis, have recreated the war-year's
odyssey of the famous 49ERS, the most successful fighter group in the
war against Japan. Flyers' Paul Wrutsmith, Bob Morrissey, Ernie Harris,
Gerry Johnson, Bob DeHaven and leading American ace Dick Bong, are but a
few of the men who contribute to the 49ERS legend. From their desert air
strips of Northwest Territory, Australia, through their jungle camps of
New Guinea and the Philippines, to the final moment of victory on the
Japanese homeland, all are detailed in this new volume. Derived from the
diaries and logs of 49ERS veterans, the group's official USAF history
and the U.S. National Archives, the story chronicles more than thirty
aces and their crews who achieved over 600 aerial kills in three years
of continuous combat. The text is highlighted by more than 600 black and
white photos, six compaign maps, and twenty-four color profiles of
select P-40s, P-57s, and P-38s. S.W. Ferguson lives in Colorado Springs
where he has pursued his teaching, writing and art career for the last
ten years. His interests are American writers and history of the 20th
century, and swift waters that yield trout. Bill Pascalis is a veteran
aircraft mechanic of the 49ERS Selfridge AFB cadre and served through
the New Guinea campaign of mid-1943. After the war, he established a
long career with Tranworld Airlines. He now lives with his wife in
retirement in Florida, enjoying golf, his grandchildren and research in
the 5th Air Force archives.
