PAPPY GUNN
by
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Introduction:
Over the years and after World War II in the
Pacific, Paul Irvin “Pappy” Gunn, a
legendary pilot, mechanical genius, father and husband with, more than a
mission to help win the war, was extolled in books, magazine and articles
galore by people who knew, or purported to know, a portion of what this man was
all about.
I have had the honor of being in the “personal”
front lines of this remarkable man’s life and career as his youngest son, who
shared a love of flying at six and knew the personal side of what a heroic,
though contradictory, man he really was.
This story will be a labor of love and tears, but also laughter and
grandeur, being his son and sharing in many of the stories both told and
witnessed.
This “PERSONAL STORY” will put to bed many of the
myths and twisted assumptions to make the “myths” seem tame.
His rise from the tiny town of
His sudden opportunity to start up the Philippine
Airlines (PAL) as a partner was too good to be true for a young “really poor”
man from
That, unfortunately, was the year 1939. Two years later came
I was 11 years old and I haven’t forgotten. And the details still burn my memory as duty
to country came first, “Pappy” joined the only air
force available -- the U. S. Army Air Corps.
He was immediately ordered to fly out some of the dignitaries and his
family was left behind as
This predicament of his family interned in a
Japanese Prison Camp while he is embroiled in the Pacific Air War …. With no
wish of any publicity for fear of retribution to his family, a new twist to his
determined spirit arose to do more, win more, fly more and accomplish more ……
to the long remembered success of the flying machines during that period and
the undying admiration of his peers and many others.
In this book I wish to join the two - personal and
heroic - because they belong together and this book will, I hope, thrill you to
the fact that we have had a man so courageous among us at a time when we needed
him most.
This is the untold “Personal Story” of a man whose
story has not always been correctly told.
Therefore, combining my recollections …and many others’ recollections
passed to me personally through various people involved …. And, hours of
painstaking research through military fact finding … and to the best and most
loving thought -
I want to give an honest account of the man I knew
as “Daddy.”
Nathaniel Gunn,
Author
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Book Details
About the Book
The name--..oft heard and heralded during and
after World War II
PAPPY GUNN
ordinarily speaks for itself----------------------------however in this book, the
unforgettable, untold to this day, human story of the legendary “Pappy Gunn,”
hero of the Pacific Air War and to his family who knew and loved him ------.this
story is told with the understanding of one who had the foreknowledge and
burning determination to sort out the facts and myths about him, Nathaniel
Gunn, the author, fellow lover of flying, and his youngest son, who was with
him until his untimely crash in Civilian life doing what he loved to do -
flying, flying, flying!!
You’ll find the story intriguing in its discoveries, packed with
Pappy’s own personal original files, long forgotten letters, documents and photographs
spanning Pappy’s youth into the U.S. Navy, marriage, retirement in
Fighting 3 wars at once
- His family
imprisoned by the Japanese..
- The brass who
needed him to accomplish the impossible
- And, the
enemy who had the upperhand, but not for long !!
Thank God - his was a
triumphant battle in all three!!!!
About the Author
Nathaniel Irvin Gunn, was born on
At eleven years old, Nathaniel
and his family lived through the horrors of World War II in a Japanese Prison
Camp for three long years. His father,
fortunately or unfortunately, was called into the military battling his own three wars to free
them.
Nathaniel’s early life was in the
sunlight and shadow of his father, Paul I. “Pappy’ Gunn.
His own personality and love of
adventure and flying in a different context, left an
impression on Nathaniel and a unyielding desire to give his father this tribute
only he could relate. His writing
abilities put to the ultimate test, he hopes the reader will find the story one
long overdue and an enduring part of history it should be.
Nathaniel was educated in the
Philippine Islands after the war by his own choice where he was given an
insight into more than the everyday events that shaped not only their family
life but, also, the underworkings of governmental
decisions that sometimes shaped countries and world politics.