{"id":8384,"date":"2025-06-09T11:34:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T17:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interestingauthors.com\/blog\/?p=8384"},"modified":"2025-06-09T11:34:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T17:34:58","slug":"disgracefully-easy-by-william-hanchett-with-thomas-hanchett-wwii-history-memoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interestingauthors.com\/blog\/books\/disgracefully-easy-by-william-hanchett-with-thomas-hanchett-wwii-history-memoir\/","title":{"rendered":"Disgracefully Easy by William Hanchett with Thomas Hanchett – WWII History Memoir"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A B-24 Pilot\u2019s Letters Home<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n Memoir\/WWII History<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Date Published:<\/span><\/b> May 27, 2025<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/b> Acorn Publishing<\/span>\n<\/p>\n


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\n In this posthumously published collection of letters and postal cards,
\n William \u201cBill\u201d Hanchett shares his candid experiences as a
\n flight-school cadet, and later as an Army Air Forces pilot in command of a
\n B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n Through Bill\u2019s first-hand accounts, we learn that mastering the art
\n of flying during wartime is about more than understanding engine throttle
\n and airspeed. It\u2019s about wondering when you\u2019ll be called to
\n fight and if you\u2019ll be asked to betray your ideals. It\u2019s about
\n working hard and documenting the days, dreaming about the future, and
\n longing for home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n An extraordinary primary document, Disgracefully Easy offers us a rare
\n glimpse inside the military in the 1940s, a time when Americans worried
\n about the fate of their great country and looked to the brave and courageous
\n to deliver them from fear. This unique collection will be long remembered as
\n an important addition to the annals of aviation history.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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Authors That Have Inspired Me
\nBy Tom Hanchett
\nI would like to\tshare with you a few authors who have inspired and influenced me.
\nS.L.A. Marshall was an army officer and journalist who wrote military history in a crisp, straight forward style. During World War II, as a military operations analyst, he developed an approach to interviewing soldiers shortly after they had participated in a battle to find out what had happened. This approach was used during the Korean and Vietnam wars and later, his work became controversial. In high school I had some correspondence with Marshall about his books and I think my later writing as a news reporter for a monthly magazine was influenced by Marshall\u2019s style.
\nCarlo D\u2019Este\u2019s biographies of Generals Eisenhower and Patton are excellent blends of description and analysis of military operations and personal details about the subject individuals and other people who played parts in the story.
\nRick Atkinson\u2019s three-volume history of World War II in the Mediterranean and Europe provides a view of the war, from how the overall grand strategy evolved, down to how that strategy affected individuals and their families at home.
\nIn a departure from military history, I am intrigued by historian Alan Taylor\u2019s recent books which have examined North American history, telling the stories of the United States, Canada and Mexico during the same timeframes, for example,1850-1873.
\nThe writings of Ronald C. White on Abraham Lincoln and Civil War figures like Ulysses S. Grant are inspirational as well. In one book, White describes the reflective Lincoln and how important it is to make time to just think without distractions.
\nThe works of D\u2019Este, Atkinson, Taylor and White reflect how diverse history is and how it can come alive for the reader. These author\u2019s books are all well written and carefully documented with primary and secondary sources. Through great writing, the reader can see the events described, from entering a fancy hotel lobby during the Civil War, to parachuting into Normandy on D-Day.
\nIn my book of edited correspondence, Disgracefully Easy, A B-24 Pilot\u2019s Letters Home, I had my dad\u2019s individual experiences in the Army Air Forces as the starting point. Using my self-study of World War II as background, in the chapter introductions and the endnotes I tried to describe the broader context of both the war and the aftermath of the Depression and its impact on the family. It is history from the bottom up rather than from the top down. <\/p>\n

About the Authors<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Thomas F. Hanchett<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Now retired from federal civil service, Thomas Forster Hanchett holds a
\n bachelor\u2019s degree in government and two master\u2019s degrees, one in
\n history and one in public administration. In 2016, after his father
\n Bill\u2019s death, he found over three-hundred letters Bill had written
\n during WWII. Given Tom\u2019s interest in military history, it seemed only
\n natural that he be the one to edit and present his father\u2019s letters in
\n manuscript form. Tom has also written historical and educational articles
\n for various publications. A native Californian, he resides in North San
\n Diego County.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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William Hanchett<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n William \u201cBill\u201d Hanchett (1922-2016) grew up in a wealthy family
\n in Evanston, Illinois. His father lost his municipal bond company business
\n during the Great Depression, changing their family\u2019s lifestyle
\n drastically. Bill attended Black Mountain College, but his time there was
\n cut short because of World War II. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces,
\n rising from private to second lieutenant, and then to airplane commander of
\n a B-24 Liberator bomber.  After the war, he continued his education,
\n worked as a civilian historian for the U.S. Air Force, and taught history
\n for over thirty years at San Diego State University. Bill authored numerous
\n articles and historical books, including The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies
\n (1983). He loved living in San Diego, California, where he spent time
\n sailing on the bay.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n Social Media Links<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Website<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Goodreads<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Instagram: @historiantom (Thomas Forster Hanchett)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n Purchase Links<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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B&N<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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a Rafflecopter giveaway<\/a> <\/p>\n

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