Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Brotherhood and Sacrifice - Tapa dura

Once again, Adam Makos demonstrates himself as a rising star in historical nonfiction. Getting the stories are only half the battle. Telling the story is where he thrives. * Colin Heaton, co-author of The Star of Africa * Adam Makos immerses you in a story so crisp that you'll forget you're reading a book. Prepare to be swept away. * Michael Tougias, co-author of The Finest Hours * My great respect for Tom Hudner knows no bounds. He is a true hero; and in reading this book, you will understand why I feel that way. * President George H.W. Bush * In this beautifully written book, Adam Makos reveals a long-lost story of heroism set in the frozen realm of North Korea. You won't be able to put this down. * Joseph L. Galloway, co-author of the #1 bestseller We Were Soldiers, Once and Young * Lovingly rendered and meticulously researched, here is a tale of true friendship from across the racial divide. Though it concerns a famously cold battle in the Cold War, make no mistake: Devotion will warm your heart. * Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice * At last, the Korean War has its epic, a story that will stay with you long after you close this book. * Eric Blehm, New York Times bestselling author of Fearless and Legend * This is aerial drama at its best. Fast, powerful, and moving. * Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake *

Devotion tells the inspirational story of the US Navy's most famous aviator duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper's son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy's first black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn't even serve him in a bar. While much of America remained divided by segregation, Jesse and Tom joined forces as wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32. Adam Makos takes us into the cockpit as these bold young aviators cut their teeth at the world's most dangerous job - landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier - a line of work that Jesse's young wife, Daisy, struggles to accept. Deployed to the Mediterranean, Tom and Jesse meet the Fleet Marines, boys like PFC 'Red' Parkinson, a farm kid from the Catskills. In between war games in the sun, the young men revel on the Riviera, partying with millionaires and even befriending the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor. Then comes the war no one expected, in faraway Korea. Devotion brings us along into the foxholes with Red and the Marines and soaring overhead with Tom and Jesse as they battle a North Korean invasion. As the fury of the fighting escalates and the Marines are cornered at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse fly, guns blazing, to try and save them. When one of the duo is shot down behind enemy lines and pinned in his burning plane, the other faces an unthinkable choice: watch his friend die or attempt history's most audacious one-man rescue mission.