The spectator
Subtitle: a World War II bomber pilot's journal of the artist as warrior
By: David Zellmer ; forewords by Williamson Murray and Sir Michael Howard.
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Westport, Conn
Language: eng
Number of pages: 128
Subjects: Zellmer, David.; United States. Army Air Forces -- Biography.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, American.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific Area.; Bomber pilots -- United States -- Biography.
Description: From Greenwich village to Guadalcanal in just over a year, David Zellmer would find piloting a B-24 bomber in the South Pacific a far cry from his life as a fledgling member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. He soon discovered the unimagined thrills of first flights and the astonishment of learning that an aerial spin was merely a vertical pirouette which one spotted on a barn thousands of feet below, instead of on a doorknob in Martha's studio.

Reconstructed from letters home, this captivating account traces Zellmer's journey from New York to the islands of the South Pacific as the 13th Air Force battled to push back the Japanese invaders in 1943 and 1944. Spurred to action by encouraging letters from Martha Graham, who urges him to document his participation in the "great tragic play" of the Second World War, Zellmer struggles to come to terms with the fears and joys of flying, of killing and being killed.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [127]-128).