Dr. John Arnold on “Richard Eager”
Working with historian Dr. John Arnold on the development of the “Richard Eager” book has been nothing short of a pleasure and an honor. We are grateful for his research guidance, careful editing, and also his kind words about the final publication, including below.
This chronicle of the life and career of USAF Pilot Colonel Richard Ernest Evans is the book I have been looking for throughout my career as a researcher, historian, academician, and book reader. It provides not only an exciting “jump seat” ride through the adventures of a World War II and Cold War pilot who flew bomber missions, met royalty and generals, and helped steer the Air Force from its beginnings in the 1940s to the world today but also offers the experiences that shaped him as a boy and young man, something you don’t often get with such narratives. We see his experiences as a bomber pilot during the Second World War, the command decisions he frequently had to make, his meeting with King George VI on the tarmac in Tripoli, his memorable days he had as a pilot flying British General Bernard Montgomery as his “personal pilot” flying his B-17 “Flying Fawtress” Monty had earned as payment of a bet with General Dwight Eisenhower, his role in the formative days of Strategic Air Command, and his friendship with General Curtis LeMay.
But we also see his early life at home with his loving mother and father imparting wisdom and guidance to him every step of the way, along with neighbors, teachers, friends, his dog, Judge—a panoply of memorable characters, many of whom leap right off the page into your imagination. Some of these will tear at your heart and if you can read through his chapters featuring Judge without crying, a check-up with your cardiac specialist will be called for. Too often memoirs only provide a brief, passing review of a person’s life before the circumstances he is most known for launched him into another orbit beyond everyday people’s lives, with not much attention to how his beginnings affected his later life. Not so with this book. For the truth is that long before a person has extraordinary experiences, he is an everyday person himself, having experiences that forge his personality and character that then forms his life and moral choices that, in Col. Evans’ case, would result in his taking his place among the Greatest Generation. And it is in the meshing of his childhood and adolescent experiences throughout this narrative with those of him as an esteemed pilot and war hero that we see how the early youth became the man. Indeed, we see that it is in his coming of age, facing head on the many moral choices he faced in the maelstrom of the Second World War—and those of so many others that served with him—that all of us were able to “come of age” ourselves in a land of peace and freedom. We hear of the “Greatest Generation” many times, but thanks to this book, we see precisely why men like Richard Ernest Evans were so great.
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About Dr. John Arnold
Dr. John Arnold, PhD, is the President and co-founder of NICOM, Inc. With over 25 years of experience in professional research and document retrieval, Arnold’s expertise and qualifications have made him a leader in the field of military research.
Further Articles
Barbara (“Bobbie”) Evans Kinnear, daughter of Colonel Richard Ernest Evans, joins historian and author, James Holland, on his podcast, “We Have Ways of Making You Talk”