As part of the Vigo County Public Library's brown-bag discussion series, I will be talking about the life and times of famed Hoosier World War II fighter ace Alex Vraciu at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday, January 20, 2011, at the library's main branch at One Library Square in Terre Haute, Indiana.My book Fighter Pilot: The World War II Career of Alex Vraciu, copies of which will be available for sale at the talk, examines how Vraciu, possessed with keen eyesight, quick reflexes, excellent shooting instincts, and a knack for finding his opponent's weak spot, became skilled in the deadly game of destroying the enemy in the skies over the Pacific Ocean. For a period of four months in 1944, Vraciu stood as the leading ace in the U.S. Navy. He shot down nineteen enemy airplanes in the air, destroyed an additional twenty-one on the ground, and sank a large Japanese merchant ship with a well-placed bomb hit.
For more information on the program, call the library at (812) 232-1113.
