Brian D. O'Neill
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Brian D. O'Neill
Brian D. O'Neill is an American author and attorney, best known for '' Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer'', a book about the U.S. Eighth Air Force and B-17 crews and missions in World War II. He is also the author of ''303rd Bombardment Group'', about the same subject. Born into a U.S. Air Force family in 1949, O'Neill's growing up years were spent on many Air Force bases throughout the United States, at a time when piston-engined aircraft a generation or two behind the B-17 were still in wide use. His Air Force upbringing fostered a lifelong interest in World War II aviation history. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1971, O'Neill served with the U.S. Navy for three years, first as a destroyer gunnery officer and then as a shipyard repair officer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Upon leaving military service he became an attorney and the General Counsel of Curtiss-Wright Corporation, the aviation company that had manufactured the P-40 Warhawk fighter ...
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Half A Wing, Three Engines And A Prayer
''Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer'', is a book about B-17 crews and missions in World War II, written by Brian D. O'Neill. He is also the author of ''303rd Bombardment Group'', on the same subject. During Vietnam, O'Neill served with the U.S. Navy as a destroyer gunner officer and shipyard repair officer. Since then he became an attorney and the General Counsel of Curtiss-Wright Corporation, the aviation company that had manufactured the P-40 Warhawk fighter and the Cyclone B-17 engines during World War II. The narrative relies heavily on crew diaries and Eighth Air Force registry. The author usually gives a brief description of the upcoming events and the event itself is shown through the tales of various crew members. Each downed Fortress or enemy fighter shot down was usually witnessed by various people, since each B-17 carried ten crew members, including four officers (pilot, co-pilot, navigator and bombardier) and six enlisted men (engineer, ball turret gunner, rad ...
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B-17
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II, used primarily in the European Theater of Operations. It is the third-most produced bomber in history, behind the American four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the German multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. The B-17 was also employed in transport, anti-submarine warfare, and search and rescue roles. In a USAAC competition, Boeing's prototype Model 299/XB-17 outperformed two other entries but crashed, losing the initial 200-bomber contract to the Douglas B-18 Bolo. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, which were introduced into service in 1938. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances but from its inception, the USAAC (from 1941 the United States Army Air Forces, USAAF) pro ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish NavySmith, Charles Edgar: ''A short history of naval and marine engineering.'' Babcock & Wilcox, ltd. at the University Press, 1937, page 263 as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War. Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unatte ...
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Attorney At Law
Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the United States. In Canada, it is used only in Quebec as the English term for . The term has its roots in the verb '' to attorn'', meaning to transfer one's rights and obligations to another. England and Wales and Ireland The ''attorney'', in the sense of a lawyer who acts on behalf of a client, has an ancient pedigree in English law. The Statute of Merton 1235 uses the Latin expression in a phrase rendered into English by ''The Statutes of the Realm'' as The term was formerly used in England and Wales and Ireland for lawyers who practised in the common law courts. They were officers of the courts and were under judicial supervision.A. H. Manchester, ''A Modern Legal History of England and Wales, 1750–1850'', Butterworths: London, 1980 ...
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Curtiss-Wright Corporation
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is an American manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and various supplier companies, the company was immediately the country's largest aviation firm and built more than 142,000 aircraft engines for the U.S. military during World War II. It no longer makes aircraft but still makes many related components, particularly actuators, aircraft controls, valves, and it provides surface-treatment services. It supplies equipment to the commercial, industrial, defense, and energy markets. It makes parts for commercial and naval nuclear power systems, industrial vehicles, and oil- and gas-related machinery. History Merger and expansion Curtiss-Wright formed on July 5, 1929, the result of a merger of 12 companies associated with Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company of Buffalo, New York, and Wright ...
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Wright Cyclone Series
Wright Cyclone was the name given to a family of air-cooled radial piston engines designed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and used in numerous American aircraft in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Background The Wright Aeronautical Corporation was formed in 1919, initially to develop liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza V8 engines under license. In 1923 the Wright purchased the Lawrance Aero Engine Company, and with the purchase Charles Lawrance came to Wright as the Vice-President. Later that year the US Navy awarded Wright a contract to develop two new air-cooled radial engines. The first, called the P-1, was a 9-cylinder single row design of displacement that was derived from an earlier Lawrence design, it produced . The second, the P-2, had the same displacement as the P-1, but was an improved design that produced . Neither engine entered production, with the Navy selecting the superior Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, so in 1926 work started on the improved design, which became t ...
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1949 Births
Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. * January 11 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, goes on the air, connecting east coast and mid-west programming in the United States. * January 16 – Şemsettin Günaltay forms the new government of Turkey. It is the 18th government, last One-party state, single party government of the Republican People's Party. * January 17 – The first Volkswagen Beetle, VW Type 1 to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought to New York City, New York by Dutch businessman Ben Pon Sr., Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his ...
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Living People
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American Male Writers
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ...
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