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American Olympic Gold Medalist and War Hero


Danger41

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I saw this on the NBC show "Rock Center" the other night and had never heard of this man. It was the story of Billy Fiske. He was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1932 (Olympian in 1928) who also carried the flag in the opening ceremonies of the '32 games.

He faked Canadian citizenship to fight for the RAF and was the first American born citizen to be killed in World War 2.

Link to a short version of the story:

http://video.msnbc.m...310493#48310493

Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Billy_Fiske

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Good stuff!

If you haven't read Unbroken, I highly recommend it. A book about Louis Zamperini, who was an olympian, that went on to be a Navigator. It tells an awesome survival story after going down in the Pacific.

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343484985&sr=8-1&keywords=unbroken

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I saw this on the NBC show "Rock Center" the other night and had never heard of this man. It was the story of Billy Fiske. He was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1932 (Olympian in 1928) who also carried the flag in the opening ceremonies of the '32 games.

He faked Canadian citizenship to fight for the RAF and was the first American born citizen to be killed in World War 2.

Link to a short version of the story:

http://video.msnbc.m...310493#48310493

Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Billy_Fiske

I saw that report! Pretty cool.

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He faked Canadian citizenship to fight for the RAF and was the first American born citizen to be killed in World War 2.

I forgot to mention, here is a good book about a guy who fought for the RAF, even before the Eagle squadrons. It has everything we all love...flying, fucking and drinking. It's really eye opening to see the loses those dudes experienced.

Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer: An American Fighter Pilot over Europe.

http://www.amazon.co...by+Philip+Caine

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You should also read "The Few" by Alex Kershaw. He writes about Billy Fiske and other Americans that went to England to fight in the Battle of Britain.

Excellent recommendation.

A guy in our squadron is related to Fiske, and passed on this book to me. Good story.

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You should also read "The Few" by Alex Kershaw. He writes about Billy Fiske and other Americans that went to England to fight in the Battle of Britain.

Agreed.

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You should also read "The Few" by Alex Kershaw. He writes about Billy Fiske and other Americans that went to England to fight in the Battle of Britain.

Great read. That's why we had Alex write the piece for the magazine.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 4 months later...

Louis Zamperini has died at 97. :salut:

LOS ANGELES -- Louis Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran who survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps, has died. He was 97.

Zamperini's death was confirmed by Universal Pictures studio spokesman Michael Moses. A family statement released early Thursday said Zamperini had been suffering from pneumonia.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/11171984/war-hero-olympian-louis-zamperini-dies-97

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  • 2 weeks later...

When a chaplain recommended "Unbroken" to me, I was pretty skeptical. I felt like I just didn't need to hear any more about all the brutality of WW2, and the whole notion of the book seemed like a snooze. Wow was I wrong. Please read this book if you get the chance.

You can tell I feel strongly about it, as I have sacrificed my vaunted "69 posts" status in order to recommend it.

Edited by DUNBAR
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