"This is the war nobody told you about. These are the Americans who confronted peril every time they climbed into a plane. Far from home, in an alien and hostile setting, these men risked it all. Ned Thomas knows. Not an armchair historian, Thomas is a veteran who lived the dangers of the Himalaya and survived. Thomas’ story will grab you and keep you riveted page after page."
- Robert F. Dorr Mission to Tokyo
"Books on flying the Hump are rare, and just as I say in the Foreword, this is an important addition because the author combines hands-on-throttle insight to explain the complex and confusing events of the day. Highly recommended for buff, scholar, and new beginner in the field!"
- Walter J. Boyne Author/Historian/Former Director of the U.S. Air and Space Museum
“At the heart of this war story lives a love story. Briefly told, enduring, strong, sweetly remembered.”
-Naomi Sokel Zeavin Carmen’s Secret Diary aboard the USS Hornet in 1944
"The Hump is a line drawn across the eastern Himalayas and the forest of Burma by American blood and courage."
-Theodore White Life Magazine, September 11, 1944
Flying My Father’s War
AN AUTHOR CONNECTS WITH HER SUBJECT | By NEDDA THOMAS
What I need to know is how to steer the airplane.
Also how to take off under jungle conditions, navigate a narrow thread of skyway above the earth’s highest summits as the enemy wreaks havoc with the radio signals, then descend into a lantern-lit landscape and land along a jolting airstrip of dirt and rock. All in a non- pressurized, Depression-tech rattletrap, the C-46 “Flying Coffin.” To fly the treacherous Himalayas, the “Hump,” and not succumb to a crash, vertigo, oxygen deprivation, hellish turbulence or any of the tribes of cannibals lurking on the periphery.
Training for a suicide mission?
No, my father, Ned Thomas, was a World War II Hump pilot, and I’m writing his story.
American Veterans Center Interviews Ned and Nedda Thomas
Past Events
Glen L. Martin Aviation Museum Monday Night Series Speaker
When: Monday, August 1, 2016, 6:00 PM
Where: Glenn L Martin Aviation Museum, Martin State Airport, 701 Wilson Point Rd, Baltimore, MD 21220 (More Information available at the Glenn L Martin Aviation Museum website.)
Military Aviation Museum Book signing
When: Saturday May 21 & Sunday May 22, 2016
Where: Military Aviation Museum, Warbirds over the Beach, 1341 Princess Anne Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23457 (More Information available at the Military Aviation Musuem website.)
Book Signing at The National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
When: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 12:00 to 4:00 PM
Where: The National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly (Dulles), VA 20151
Vietnam Veterans of America VVA Chapter 227 Speaker
When: Thursday, March 17, 2016, 7:00 PM
Where: Neighbors Restaurant, 262 Cedar Ln, Vienna, VA 22180 (Info call 703-820-8118)
Commemorative Air Force Speaking Appearance
When: Saturday, March 12, 2016, 10:00 AM
Where: Capital Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, 12499 Beverly Ford Rd, Brandy Station, VA 22714
Historic Vienna Speaking Appearance
When: Monday, October 5, 2015, 7:30 PM
Appearance and Book Signing
When: Saturday, September 19, 2015, 12:00 - 5:00 PM
Where: National Air and Space Museum, 601 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20560
About the Author
Bringing years of writing and research experience to bear, if something of the poet she also is, Nedda R. Thomas flies her father’s war through his remembrance. In a readable, fast-paced narrative, she conveys the surreal beauty and deadly dangers of the high Himalayas – a story of courage and historical significance, told through the life of a brave man who takes our hearts into the sky.