"Richard Eager" A Pilot's Story from Tennessee Eagle Scout to General Montgomery's "Flying Fortress"

"Richard Eager is a compelling account by a remarkable man. Few bomber pilots in World War II flew as many missions and survived to tell the tale, which makes Colonel Richard E. Evans' story all the more extraordinary. Serving first with the famed 99th Bomb Group in the Mediterranean and then as General Montgomery's personal pilot, his lengthy wartime flying career saw him not only meet many key commanders-and a King-but also brought him face-to-face with no small amount of danger and close shaves. The book also offers a rare and valuable insight into Monty's character - one that has often been vilified but which emerges as more sympathetic here. These adventures alone would have been enough to fill a book, but Evans then returned to combat operations and completed fifty-four combat missions with the 99th from Foggia in Italy, before finally retraining on the B-29 Superfortress at the end of the war. It's a vivid, engaging and utterly fascinating memoir of an extraordinary and unquestionably unique wartime career." -James Holland, WWII Historian, Author, and Broadcaster

"This is a phenomenal story of one aviator's experiences from World War II through to the jet age. Not only does Col Eager meet some of the major figures of the war, but he is present at many of its significant events. This book also covers the birth of the US Air Force during a time of great political, social, and technological change. Cole Eager had a front seat to all these events. I highly recommend this book for any aviation enthusiast!" -Dr. John Curatola PhD, Military Historian, The National WWII Museum, New Orleans

"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." -Dr. John Arnold, PhD, President, and Co-founder of NICOM, Inc