From the Prairie to the Pacific
A Blue Angel's Story
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From the Prairie to the Pacific
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Narrated by:
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Capt. USN (Ret.) Gil Rud
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By:
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Gil Rud
About this listen
From the Prairie to the Pacific is the story of one man's journey from rural North Dakota to the cockpits of U.S. Navy jet fighters and ultimately Captain of a flagship aircraft carrier. Gil Rud flew combat missions over Vietnam in A-7 Corsair II aircraft before taking command of his own squadron. His success as a Naval aviator led to the ultimate reward—"Boss" of the world-famous Blue Angels aerobatic display team, overseeing their successful transition to the F/A-18 Hornet. Gil Rud reflects on his experiences and emotions as a husband and father, as well as a pilot, and an "officer and a gentleman". His stories of triumph and tragedy, from nights on the flight deck to nights on the town and the loss of close friends, reveal deep feelings, great insight, and a wonderful sense of humor, as well as meticulous attention to detail.
©2022 Gil Rud (P)2022 Gil RudListeners also enjoyed...
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Story5 out of 5 stars 852
Dan Pedersen takes listeners on a colorful and thrilling ride - from Miramar to Area 51 to the decks of aircraft carriers in war and peace - through a historic moment in air warfare. He helped establish a legacy that was built by him and his "Original Eight" - the best of the best - and carried on for six decades by some of America's greatest leaders. Topgun is a heartfelt and personal testimonial to patriotism, sacrifice, and American innovation and daring.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I loved it!
- By "airplane_cfii" on 10-09-19
By: Dan Pedersen
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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
- Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot
- By: Steven K Ladd
- Narrated by: Jeff Bolton
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
You do not have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s fascinating personal tale, woven around his 28-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through the narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia; Europe to the Middle East; linking the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A 28 year history of Air Force fighter duty.
- By David H Milton on 07-09-22
By: Steven K Ladd
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Before Topgun Days
- The Making of a Jet Fighter Instructor
- By: Dave Bio Baranek
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
Before becoming an instructor in the Navy's Topgun program, Dave "Bio" Baranek was just another kid with a dream. Upon graduating from college, he joined the Navy with the goal of becoming a fighter pilot. But, his eyesight waning, he knew that he would never be able to reach that goal. Undaunted, he plowed ahead and found his niche as a radar intercept operator in the backseat of the sleek, new Grumman F-14 Tomcat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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SHB
- By Kindle Customer on 06-10-23
By: Dave Bio Baranek
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Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II
- By: Philip Ardery
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 88
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
"The sky was full of dying airplanes" as American Liberator bombers struggled to return to North Africa after their daring low-level raid on the oil refineries of Ploesti. They lost 446 airmen and 53 planes, but Philip Ardery's plane came home. This pilot was to take part in many more raids on Hitler's Europe, including air cover for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This vivid firsthand account records one man's experience of World War II air warfare.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating...and true story
- By Loretta on 06-24-15
By: Philip Ardery
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This Is Minuteman: Two, Three...Go!
- Memoirs of a Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan
- By: Wayne Chasson
- Narrated by: Rodney Miles
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story5 out of 5 stars 32
Relive six decades of flying helicopters, including an extended tour in Vietnam and the mountains of Afghanistan, with a little Iraq, Kuwait, and National Guard thrown in. This is Minuteman: Two, Three…Go! recounts Wayne Chasson’s times, from the early, young, and dumb days to becoming a more seasoned pilot of Huey and other helicopters in three American wars and the National Guard here at home. Chasson relives it all for us in this gritty and honest memoir — with humility, humor, and gratitude — as he himself is still trying to figure out how he made it through alive.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story
- By Amazon Customer on 04-20-24
By: Wayne Chasson
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Razor 03
- A Night Stalker’s Wars
- By: Alan C. Mack
- Narrated by: Alan C. Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 191
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Story5 out of 5 stars 191
The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission–Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The honesty of the author
- By Daniel on 06-10-24
By: Alan C. Mack
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Inside Marine One
- Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine, and the World's Most Amazing Helicopter
- By: Lee Kelley, Ray L'Heureux
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
Inside Marine One is Colonel L'Heureux's inspiring story of a young man who dreamed of flying, trained, studied, and worked hard to become the pilot who ended up serving four US Presidents - George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. It's also a personal guided tour inside the world's most famous helicopter by a man who knows that flying machine better than any other. Inside Marine One is a great American success story of a young boy who dreamed big, worked hard, and finally flew the President of the United States as his number one passenger.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great book
- By John A. on 01-05-23
By: Lee Kelley, and others
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The Vietnam Air War
- From the Cockpit
- By: Colonel Dennis M. "Mike" Ridnouer
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 129
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Story5 out of 5 stars 126
The Vietnam War is one of the most misunderstood military conflicts in 20th-century America. Showcasing 72 true stories told by American servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the air war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Overall worthy and perspective broadening
- By Clayton Cartier on 11-03-20
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Fighter Pilot
- The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
- By: Robin Olds, Christina Olds, Ed Rasimus
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,075
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,615
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Story5 out of 5 stars 2,610
A larger-than-life hero with a towering personality, Robin Olds was a graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army. In World War II, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—a double ace with twelve aerial victories. But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Top Notch Audiobook
- By R. A. Frank on 10-08-10
By: Robin Olds, and others
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Pathfinder Pioneer
- The Memoir of a Lead Bomber Pilot in World War II
- By: Raymond E. Brim
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
In this engaging audiobook, we see how an 18-year-old miner shoveling ore from deep in the ground in Utah suddenly found himself, only two years later, 30,000 feet in the air over Nazi Germany, piloting a Flying Fortress in the first wave of America's air counteroffensive in Europe. Pathfinder Pioneer gives us vivid insights into the genesis of the American air campaign, told with the humor, attention to detail, and humility that captures the heart and soul of our Greatest Generation.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Good Recounting of WW2 Bomber Missions
- By Sean on 07-25-17
By: Raymond E. Brim
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Harrier Boys, Volume 1
- From the Cold War Through the Falklands, 1969-1990
- By: Robert Marston
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
In Harrier Boys, Volume One: Cold War Through the Falklands, 1969-1990, Robert Marston, who flew Harriers for many years, draws together accounts from others who worked with this unique jet through its history. The excitement, camaraderie, and pride of Harrier operators shine through in the personal stories of those whose lives were changed by their experience of this iconic aircraft, both on land and at sea.
By: Robert Marston
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An Officer, Not a Gentleman
- The Inspirational Journey of a Pioneering Female Fighter Pilot
- By: Mandy Hickson
- Narrated by: Mandy Hickson
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Flying a multi-million pound fighter jet in hostile territory is not an everyday career, and it comes with a high degree of pressure and responsibility. It’s a dream job that takes years of ambition, training and commitment, but for Mandy Hickson, it was a dream that became reality. Find out about Mandy’s incredible journey to become one of the UK’s first female, fast-jet pilots and how she overcame many obstacles to develop the skills to succeed in such a demanding career.
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2 out of 5 stars
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These reviews are getting hard to trust
- By Justin Campbell on 02-18-22
By: Mandy Hickson
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Skybreak
- The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm
- By: Mike Guardia
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
August 1990: Iraqi forces under the command of Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. In response, the US military led a coalition of thirty-four nations in what became known as Operation Desert Storm—a violent air and ground campaign to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. At the tip of the spear were the men of the US Air Force’s 58th Fighter Squadron. Based on hours of interviews and archival research by author Mike Guardia, this book reveals an intimate, no-holds-barred account of modern aerial combat…as told by the men who lived it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Desert Storm Fighter Action
- By David T. Gato on 07-23-24
By: Mike Guardia
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Topgun Days
- Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks
- By: Dave "Bio" Baranek
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 344
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 300
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 298
Dave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the Cold War, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the navy's and Marine Corps' best fighter pilots how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Top Gun or Topgun
- By Randy on 02-19-13
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Come Up and Get Me
- An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger
- By: Joe Kittinger, Craig Ryan
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
A few years after his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, in 1973, Colonel Joseph Kittinger retired from the Air Force. Restless and unchallenged, he turned to ballooning, a lifelong passion as well as a constant diversion for his imagination during his imprisonment. His primary goal was a solitary circumnavigation of the globe, and in its pursuit he set several ballooning distance records, including the first solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1984. But the aeronautical feats that first made him an American hero had occurred a quarter of a century earlier....
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4 out of 5 stars
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A rewarding read
- By Andrew Braddick on 03-25-13
By: Joe Kittinger, and others
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Pucker Factor 10
- Memoir of a US Army Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 172
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 153
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Story5 out of 5 stars 153
The author was drawn into the United States Army through ROTC, and he went through training to fly helicopters in combat over Vietnam. His experiences are notable because he flew both Huey “Slicks” and Huey “Gunships”: the former on defense as he flew troops into battle, and the latter on offense as he took the battle to the enemy. Through this book, the author relives his experiences flying and fighting, with special attention given to his and other pilots’ day-to-day lives.
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4 out of 5 stars
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gunship crew chief point of view.
- By Anonymous User on 02-12-20
By: James Joyce
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The Wild Blue
- The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 877
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 780
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 780
The very young men who flew the B24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds were an exemplary band of brothers. In The Wild Blue, Stephen Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship. Stephen Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and chose those few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Required Reading
- By Lyle on 11-22-11
What listeners say about From the Prairie to the Pacific
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DANIEL ONEILL
- 02-19-23
Great Naval aviation book
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was actually there when he flew over the Statue of Liberty for the anniversary.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Judy Struett
- 07-03-24
Captain Rud
My husband and I had the pleasure of meeting Captain Rud and touring the aircraft carrier Constellation in San Diego. Our son and Ryan Rud, a charming young man,were college room mates at the time. It was a pleasure reading about the amazing life and service of Captain Rud. From the Prarie to the Pacific is an informative oral history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- nofty
- 04-02-23
Authentic autobiography by Key Blue Angels Leader
An honest, insightful and enjoyable account of a North Dakota farm boy who through timing, luck, skill, and common sense intelligence had a consequential Naval Career, including Leader of the World Famous Flight Demonstration Team, The Blue Angels. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in aviation, the Navy/Military and flight demonstration teams. You will gain a rare, honest insight into how things really work and how things really get done. Bravo Zulu Captain Rud!!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christina Day
- 01-31-24
Great story from the horses mouth
This book was amazing! Loved hearing the story of this amazing man’s life. What it was like to be a naval aviator during Vietnam and transitioning to the blue angels. It was made even better by the fact it was read by the author. Well worth the read. I found my self taking the long road just to listen to more of this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-07-24
A great listen
A great story told well by a true patriot. if you like flying and stories of pushing limits then this story is for you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeff Marsh
- 07-02-24
A Compilation of a great Naval Career
Very well articulated! A lot of the stories recalled by the author I can pin point on my own Naval timeline. He was my skipper on the Constellation. His recollection of names, places, and events triggered a sense of pride that I have not felt in a long time.
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