{"product_id":"gabby-a-fighter-pilots-life-schiffer-military-history-9780764304422","title":"Gabby: A Fighter Pilot's Life (Schiffer Military History)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf ever a man has earned his place in the annals of military history  that man is Francis Gabby Gabreski. His exploits as a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea are legendary; his rise from humble beginnings to success in military and business careers is inspiring. This is the full story of Gabby Gabreski  told in his own words. Gabreskis life is a classic American success story. Born to Polish immigrant parents in 1919  he nearly washed out of Notre Dame and then flight school. He was down to his last chance  and he made the most of it. A witness to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor  Gabby had his own first taste of air combat flying with a Polish RAF squadron. Shortly thereafter he joined the 56th Fighter Group of the U.S. 8th Air Force  and in seventeen months he shot down twenty-eight German planes  the highest total of any 8th Air Force pilot in Europe. He became a hero whose name was splashed across newspaper headlines from coast to coast. And then  on the very day he was to fly home to his fiancee and a heros welcome  he took one last combat mission  crashed and  after a daring attempt to avoid capture  finished the war in a POW camp. Gabreski returned to combat in 1951  flying F-86 Sabrejets over Korea. He scored 6.5 more victories there  making him one of the few pilots ever to achieve ace status in two wars and in both propeller and jet aircraft. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1967 and spent the next twenty years working in the aviation industry  sustained  as always  by his devout religious faith and his deep love for his family. Now  drawing on his private documents and photographs  Gabby  along with writer Carl Molesworth  tells his thrilling eyewitness story with a candor and a vivid style that should earn this brave pilot a whole new generation of admirers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45665800093749,"sku":"ByrdShop_0764304429","price":63.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780764304422.jpg?v=1782407800","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/gabby-a-fighter-pilots-life-schiffer-military-history-9780764304422","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}