Who are the only Air Force recipients in World War II to have been awarded the Medal of Honor for actions on the ground?
Who was the first enlisted Air Force Medal of Honor recipient?
Who was the only active-duty Air Force Medal of Honor recipient to achieve the rank of four-star general?
Which Air Force Medal of Honor recipient co-invented a pump that made the heart-lung machine possible?
Which Medal of Honor recipient stowed away on a combat mission to Germany, after being awarded the Medal, and ended up a POW?
What Medal of Honor recipient was descended from both Alexander Hamilton and financier J.P. Morgan?
Find the answers, and so much more, in
Bravest of the Brave
Vol. 1 (1918-1943)
Judging from the account relating to me, I believe that these tales have captured the true spirit of their personalities and has described events with complete candor and accuracy…
This list is so complete that I learned for the first time of an award to my unit to which I also was entitled but never received and never wore. I hope that reading this series will give the reader the same pleasure that it has brought to me.
Lt Col Jay Zeamer Jr.
Medal of Honor recipient
Since 1918, sixty-two members of the United States Air Force have been awarded our nation’s highest award for valor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Some of them became household names—Lindbergh, Doolittle, Rickenbacker. Most, of course, never did—their supreme acts of selfless bravery lost to newspaper archives and dusty bookshelves. Now in the 21st century, incredibly, even legends like the above are in danger of the same fate.
A meticulous Storyteller and researcher –
Though not the first to document Air Force Medal of Honor recipients, Joe Bowman is surely the first to undertake the exhaustive research necessary to tell the individual stories of each man whose wartime performance achieved that level of recognition.
…[A] remarkably detailed history of my father, his career and how the events of 5 January 1943 would cause him to be recommended for the Medal Honor.
Douglas Walker
Son of Medal of Honor recipient Brig Gen Kenneth Walker
Del Hayes Press is beyond proud to help reverse that trend by publishing MSgt (ret) Joseph P. Bowman's amazing Bravest of the Brave series, a three-volume set of biographies of all sixty-two U.S. Air Force Medal or Honor recipients.
We’re thrilled to announce that Volume I, covering the years 1918-1943, is available now on Amazon.
I remain in awe of [Mr. Bowman’s] diligent attention to detail in bringing forward such an amazing compilation of activities, some of which my own mother was not aware of.
Nicholas Craw
Son of Medal of Honor recipient Col. Demas T. Craw
WHAT'S INSIDE
30 Years of Research
Personal interviews with the recipients themselves, fellow crew, squadron members, and families
Scores of primary and secondary sources
Unprecedented, up-to-date archival research
Chronological by Medal of Honor Action
Dual recipients, like Bleckley and Goettler or Zeamer and Sarnoski, or all five Ploesti raid recipients, are grouped together. Men whose lives were tied together by action are tied together in print as well.
All awards & decorations, with supporting citations
Not content to merely tell their stories, Joe provides a list of all medals and decorations, domestic and foreign, awarded to every recipient—including the citation for every U.S. award. Add the hundreds of endnotes and extensive bibliography, and you have a reference for aviation and military historians and scholars alike.
This is one for the ages.
Brian T.
Former B-17 rag jockey and warbird enthusiast
We couldn't agree more. Joe’s work is an historic achievement, likely never to be duplicated, that will serve as a cornerstone to any military aviation enthusiast's bookshelf.
Want updates on Volume 2?
If you're sold—literally or figuratively—on Volume 1, and would like news about the future volumes, or related to the series in general, get on the BotB mailing list by completing the form below.