ONE-MAN AIR FORCE - Captain Don S. Gentile - and Ira Wolfert

Sep 29, 2026

A wartime account centered on Captain Don Salvatore Gentile, described as “a one-man air force” during World War II, narrated through the perspective of Ira Wolfert. It frames Gentile’s reputation for exceptionally high aircraft victories alongside the physical and psychological intensity of air combat. The text introduces dogfighting as a rapid, team-backed system where formations, roles, and split-second decisions determine survival, while also emphasizing how combat reduces conscious thought to urgent action. The opening material sets personal stakes, explaining why his story matters beyond tactics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time1 h 20 min

AccessFree to download

EDITOR’S PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

# ONE-MAN AIRFORCETHE PERSONAL ACCOUNTOF A LEGENDARYWORLD WAR TWO ACE # ONE-MAN AIR FORCECAPTAIN DON S.GENTILEAS TOLD TO IRA WOLFERT First published by L.B.Fischer Publishing Corp.in1944. Copyright CDon S.Gentile. This edition published in 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS # EDITOR’S PREFACE4 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 210 CHAPTER315 CHAPTER420 CHAPTER 524 CHAPTER629 34 CHAPTER 7 39 CHAPTER 8 EDITOR’S PREFACE Captain Don Salvatore Gentile,a Piqua,Ohio,boy,twenty-three,the only son ofparents who emigrated to theUnited States from Italy,has been called by GeneralDwight D.Eisenhower“a one-man air force.”Comingfrom the Commander-in-chief of the Allied forces,this issomething a boy can put on his chest and strut behind forthe rest of his life. When the general said this to his face,Don blushed andlooked as embarrassed as his military posture wouldpermit.This boy who has destroyed thirty Germanairplanes —more than any other American has done intwo wars so far,and the equivalent nearly of two wholeLuftwaffe squadrons —is called“Gentle”by his mates atthe Eighth Air Force Fighter Base in England.He is soft-spoken and self-effacing,a rather naive and quiteunworldly boy,who has never done anything much orcared to do anything except fly.I moved in with himsometime in April about two weeks before he got histhirtieth plane.In those two weeks he lived a tragic,harrowing,prodigiously dangerous climax to his life.Itwas the peak few men ever attain and even fewer,onceattaining,survive. At such a time one can get to know a man very well,andthis,I think,I managed with“Gentle”We spent ourevenings and nights in beds separated by a radio whosesoft music he turned on to soothe the banging his beaten-up nerves take.He spent his days among the enemy's bullets,sometimes killing the enemy and sometimes seeingthe enemy kill his friends. Then he returned to the sheets and the mattress and thewindows that faced the night of a quiet Englishcountryside and the radio that sofily brought music fromhome.The music led him on,and the quiet of the nightoutside and the terrible excitements of the day and thethoughts of what awaited him next day or surely the dayafier—they all led him to talk more,he told me,than hehad talked in all his twenty-three previous years. He talked about his life to me,and I have tried to set itdown within the limits of space as truly as I could,for itseemed to me an important life for the rest of us tounderstand. For this is not only the story of“a one-man air force”against the Huns;nor is it only a story of the fluctuations,failures and successes of our air war against theLuftwaffe.It is also the story of a new type of American—one who has been growing up all around this oldergeneration of ours,sometimes,it seems,while we werehardly looking and who will be ready to take over andmake use of the air power that is predicted now to lie justbeyond the war “Gentle”is one of them,one of the best examples of thetype,I think—a boy who is shy,self-effacing and ratherunsure when he stands on the ground,but who comes intohis magnificent own when he becomes air-borne. Ira Wolfert CHAPTER 1 The theory of fight between fighter planes is verysimple.You see the enemy,grab for his coattails,hold onto them,put your guns up against his back pocket andpress the trigger.But while you are reaching for hiscoattails,he is reaching for yours.You make your graband he twirls out of the way and into position to make hisgrab.Whereupon you twirl with a twist that will put you ina fair way to grab him and so on and so on,grab-twirl-twist,grab-twirl-twist,sometimes for quite a long time—for ten minutes or maybe fifteen minutes —until at lastsomebody has grabbed hold for good and the other fellowstarts to die. That's the dogfight.It is rather a rare occurrence inmodern war.I don't suppose I had more than six or sevenof them in all the times in the last two years that I havemingled with the Huns. For the most part,the work is somethi

FAQs

Who is Captain Don Salvatore Gentile in the book’s opening?

He is presented as a celebrated World War II fighter pilot, called “a one-man air force” by General Dwight D. Eisenhower and nicknamed “Gentle” by his comrades.

How does the text define a dogfight?

It describes dogfighting as an intense, short-lived contest of pursuit and evasive maneuvers where pilots grab for advantage until one starts to die.

What role do formations and teamwork play in air fighting?

The narrative explains that day-to-day operations resemble a football team, with experienced pilots leading and others protecting “coattails” through coordinated positions and interference.

Sep 29, 2026

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