SIGNED BY TOM BLACKBURN
BLACKBURN, Tom. The Jolly Rogers. New York: Orion Books, (1989). Octavo, original half blue cloth, original dust jacket.
First edition of this story of one of the Pacific's bravest fighting squadrons, signed by the leader of the Jolly Rogers, Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17, Tom Blackburn.
Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17—the Jolly Rogers—shot down 154 enemy planes in the 76 days they were in combat in the South Pacific, posting a kill-to-loss ratio of over 11 and earning 13 of its pilots—including Blackburn himself—the right to call themselves "ace" with five confirmed kills. Blackburn went on to become the skipper of the aircraft carrier Midway in the 1950s. Foreword by James Stockdale.
A fine signed copy.