Into the Teeth of the Tiger

In this book, the author presents part of his biography, giving a brief glimpse into his early years, followed by a more detailed look into his training as a fighter pilot in the USAAF, and then presenting his war service in China from late 1943 until early 1945, when he returned to the US.Overall, the book is written in an autobiographical and rather understated style, which makes it easy for the reader to follow Don's path becoming an Army Air Force pilot and his operational flying in China. We hear of so many of his pilot colleagues being killed (in combat, training and even simple non-flying accidents) that it makes one wonder how this high casualty rate would be handled in today's world...it is a testimony to the incredible war effort in the US during WWII. The author's little detached writing style may be explained by his advanced age when he wrote this book and the many years that had passed since the events happened, although this does not mean that the book is lacking interesting details. Unfortunately, the book rather abruptly ends with a chapter about his next assignment once back in the US as an aspiring test pilot, which happens to be the first chapter of his other book,  Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets . In other words, the second half of his memoirs are in another book that you will have to buy to read what happened next! Considering the somewhat short page count of both books, they could have easily been kept together as one volume.There are some very interesting and rare photographs included in the book, representing a fitting complement to the easy-reading text.If it would be possible I would rate the book 3.5 stars, considering the informative text and that there is not such a wealth of books dealing with CIB theater of war, as well as the somewhat isolated time period in the author's life included in it. I just wish the author would have compiled a complete autobiography in one volume, but in any case you will find a lot of interesting information in this book.

Since this is written much as a diary of a young WW2 fighter pilot there are some sections that, like life, are a little tedious. That fact aside I found Mr. Lopez's work an interesting and inciteful view of the famous Flying Tiger unit after it was absorbed into the Army Air Force after the US officially entered the war. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the China theater of the war and how it was used to get the Japanese to attack us and get us involved in WW2. The vivid air combat descriptions are great insights into what pilots of that era were up against as opposed to the "video game-like" air battles of today.

My grandfather was part of the Flying Tigers so I thought this would be a great book for my history loving son. He devoured the book in an afternoon and has started it again.

A chronology of of the WWII Burma area and air war. Well told by a survivor. I had a relative who was a doctor with the Flying Tigers 1939-40 , mainly stationed in Kunming. His tales of jungle rescues of flyers going down flying the Hump dovetailed right into this accounting. The details of the P40 and P-51's is really interesting.Thank you for providing this insight to a little known segment of this dangerous period.

Firstly I must say I love the Curtiss P-40, which I believe was a much underrated aircraft, but the icing on the cake for me was the way it was written, by one of the men who fought in the battle in China. The damage that was caused by just a few 'planes, (there was never more than 10 in the air at any one time). Was amazing.

A great book by one of our countries hero's . Don Lopez writes about his war experiences through the eyes of a 20 yer old. Don uses humor to explain the spirit of young men in terrible times. A must read for those who want to learn about the real deal, the American fighting man.

One of the better fighter pilot memoirs covering the often neglected CBI theater. I recommended it. Written by an individual that went on to other strong achievements in life.

It's post AVG so there is not the same swagger as the original fliers who made the Tigers famous. It is a very good insight into daily life around the airfield. Pilot/Author seems like a good guy doing his best in a difficult situation. Not a bad book. Pro: It's one man's story. Con: The man is more Boy Scout than Boyington.

Excellent book good value too