Audiobooks by Don Keith

Richard Bong: America's #1 Ace Fighter Pilot of World War II

The heroic true story of Major Richard Bong, America's greatest fighter pilot of the Pacific War and the nation's top flying ace of World War II Arriving as a fresh US Army Air Forces pilot in New Guinea in late 1942, Richard Bong wasted no time taking on the Japanese, shooting down two planes in an early skirmish-an action that earned him a Silver Star. Over the next two years, Bong would amass the US armed forces' most impressive record of aerial victories of the entire war, surpassing even the great Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I tally and notching forty kills. In December 1944, he was personally awarded the Medal of Honor by General Douglas MacArthur. Now acclaimed author Don Keith recounts the remarkable saga of Bong's war years as well as his tragic death while serving as a test pilot.

Don Keith (Author), René Ruiz (Narrator)

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Chuck Yeager: World War II Fighter Pilot

For Dutton Caliber's American War Heroes series, the riveting true story of United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot Chuck Yeager. Bold, brash, and brimming with courage, Chuck Yeager burst onto the scene as a national hero in 1947, when he became the first to fly an airplane faster than the speed of sound. Yet even before his days as America's most famous test pilot, Yeager was a young fighter ace in the US Army Air Force, flying a P-51 Mustang over Nazi-occupied Europe. His exploits are the stuff of legend. Soon after downing his first enemy fighter, Yeager, too, was shot down, surviving thanks to the help of the French Resistance and his own skills as a bomb maker-and earned a Bronze Star for saving the life of a fellow American. Against regulation, and only with the approval of General Eisenhower himself, Yeager returned to duty as a fighter pilot. While fiercely protecting Allied bombers, he shot down eleven enemy planes, including a lightning-fast Messerschmitt Me 262, the world's first jet-powered airplane, and completed more than sixty missions. In Chuck Yeager, acclaimed author Don Keith tells the true story of the American icon during the war in which Yeager first proved he had the right stuff. Cover image courtesy of the San Diego Air & Space Museum

Don Keith (Author), Josh Robert Thompson (Narrator)

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Torpedo Run: The Story of WWII Submarine Hero Eugene B. Fluckey

The remarkable true story of Eugene Fluckey, the US Navy's most innovative-and aggressive-submarine commander of World War II Over the course of five combat patrols during the Pacific War, Commander Fluckey reinvented submarine warfare, pioneering audacious strategies to hunt and sink Japanese warships and merchant vessels. At the helm of the USS Barb, he directed his boat to attack warship convoys-never mind the lop-sided odds-and to slip into heavily defended enemy harbors to launch torpedoes at unsuspecting targets. "Lucky" Fluckey's submariners often attacked from the surface, brazenly sinking the enemy with the Barb's deck guns. Once, he even sent sailors ashore on one Japanese island on a perilous mission to blow up a Japanese train. Fluckey and his crew sent an astounding seventeen enemy ships, including an aircraft carrier, to the bottom of the sea. In Torpedo Run, acclaimed naval historian Don Keith dives into the most thrilling and dangerous tales of Fluckey's war, as he guides his gallant crew against the Japanese fleet. For his heroism and intrepidity, Fluckey earned four Navy Crosses and the Medal of Honor, and showed what a submarine-and he-was capable of.

Don Keith (Author), Vincent Caruso (Narrator)

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Warshot

When an unimaginable fortune is discovered at the bottom of the sea, the US Navy must navigate the treacherous waters of greed, corruption, and espionage to stop a worldwide catastrophe. The motherlode. Trillions of dollars' worth of gold. Enough to launch an ambitious nation to a position of global primacy ... permanently. It lies on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in hotly contested territory, and it's discovery might be the spark that finally ignites a powder keg of long-simmering political and military antagonism. China races to claim the territory and the gold, but corrupt leaders within the power-hungry nation commit increasingly brazen acts of violence; willing to risk destabilizing the region, and even a world war, for the chance at finally achieving world preeminence. Commodore Joe Glass and the US Navy move swiftly to intervene. Submarines and SEALs deploy with haste, bringing cutting-edge technology, naval assets, and highly advanced fighting units into an increasingly tense standoff. Their mission: to prevent a global war and to protect the sovereignty and safety of those caught in the middle of the historic power-grab. But the enormous treasure lies in some of the deepest waters on the planet. Laying claim is only the first step. The gold must be retrieved. And when disaster strikes, adversaries and enemies must come together for one of the most spectacular and dramatic deep-sea rescues ever attempted.

Don Keith, George Wallace (Author), Corey M. Snow (Narrator)

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Only the Brave: July 1944--The Epic Battle for Guam

For Dutton Caliber's American War Heroes series, a World War II narrative on the American liberation of Guam in 1944, focusing on the twenty days of intense combat as the Marine Corps took the island back from the Japanese. On July 21, 1944, a US Marine division landed on the beaches of Guam, a once sleepy island in the Pacific that had been seized from the Americans by the Japanese in the hours after Pearl Harbor. The Japanese would not be giving Guam up easily. The large enemy force defended the island viciously, punching holes through the American lines, attacking from the flanks, and eventually resorting to banzai suicide attacks. The fighting was bloody and brutal, every bit as deadly as Iwo Jima or Okinawa would be. Now, acclaimed author Don Keith offers up a compelling account of one of the toughest fights of the Pacific War, a battle that led to ten thousand American casualties and four Medals of Honor.

Don Keith (Author), Steven Kearney (Narrator)

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The Ice Diaries: The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Daring Mission

The greatest undersea adventure of the 20th century.The Ice Diaries tells the incredible true story of Captain William R. Anderson and his crew's harrowing top-secret mission aboard the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. Bristling with newly classified, never-before-published information and photos from the captain's personal collection, The Ice Diaries takes readers on a dangerous journey beneath the vast, unexplored Arctic ice cap during the height of the Cold War.'Captain Anderson and the crew of the USS Nautilus exemplified daring and boldness in taking their boat beneath the Arctic ice to the North Pole. This expertly told story captures the drama, danger, and importance of that monumental achievement.' ?Capt. Stanley D. M. Carpenter, Professor of Strategy and Policy, United States Naval War College'Few maritime exploits in history have so startled the world as the silent, secret transpolar voyage of the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine Nautilus, and none since the age of Columbus and Vasco da Gama has opened, in one bold stroke, so vast and forbidding an area of the seas.' ?Paul O'Neil, Life magazine

Captain William R. Anderson, Don Keith (Author), Roger Mueller (Narrator)

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The Ship That Wouldn't Die: The Saga of the Uss Neosho - a World War II Story of Courage and Surviva

Don Keith (Author), Arthur Morey (Narrator)

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War Beneath the Waves: A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine

Don Keith (Author), Stephen Hoye (Narrator)

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Gallant Lady: A Biography of the USS Archerfish

The Archerfish, a diesel powered Balao-class submarine crafted in the 1940s, won a unique, heroic place in military history and the memories of her crew members. Here is her story; from her assembly in New England and her dedication by Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal secretary, to her service in World War II, where she broke the back of the Japanese Navy, and her critical role in the Cold War. Here, too, is the story of her crew, who waited years to serve on the Archerfish. In their own words, these men tell how, against all odds, they sent a Japanese aircraft carrier to the ocean floor. Heroic actions, exotic ports, B-girls, perilous shore leaves, and the fascinating details of life aboard a sub—it’s all here. An extraordinary real-life odyssey, Gallant Lady is a vivid, unforgettable portrait of a submariner’s life.

Don Keith, Ken Henry (Author), Alan Sklar (Narrator)

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