Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds

Robin Olds was a larger-than-life figure whose force of character matched his extraordinary accomplishments. A West Point graduate and a National College Football Hall of Fame inductee for his All-American performance with Army, Olds was regarded as one of the toughest athletes of his era.

During the Second World War, he quickly distinguished himself as a formidable fighter pilot and squadron commander, achieving ace status with 12 aerial victories by the age of twenty-two. Yet it was in Vietnam that Olds cemented his legendary status. Arriving in 1966 to find a demoralised fighter wing, he revitalised the unit by placing himself on the schedule beneath junior officers—insisting they train him rigorously, as he fully intended to lead them into combat.

Proving he was no relic of an earlier war, Olds commanded with boldness and precision, securing four additional confirmed kills and earning the rare distinction of triple ace. Retiring as a brigadier general, he remained a singular presence in American air-combat history until his death in 2007. His life and career have since been hailed as the aviation memoir of the decade and one of the finest military books in years.

Olds, Christina (Author) , Olds, Robin (Author) , Rasimus, Ed (Author)