Tillman's most influential book to date is On Yankee Station (1987), written with John B. Nichols. It is a critical appraisal of naval aviation in the Vietnam War. According to Tillman, it was added to the US Air Force and Marine Corps professional reading lists, and at least one squadron took copies of the book with them to Operation Desert Storm as "a reality check on tactics".[1][2]
Biographyedit
Early lifeedit
Born a fourth-generation Oregonian, descended from American pioneers, American Revolutionary War Patriots, Pilgrims (i.e. Priscilla Alden) and Pocahontas, Tillman was raised on the family wheat and cattle ranch. His younger brothers include a breeder of exotic animals and a Rhodes Scholar. In high school he was an Eagle Scout,[citation needed] won two state titles as a rudimental drummer, and was a champion speaker and debater. Tillman was first published in 1964 at age 15 and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Like his father, a Navy trained pilot in World War II, Tillman developed an early passion for aviation and learned to fly at age 16. Over the next several years, he flew a variety of vintage and historic aircraft, including a pre-WW II Navy trainer and a restored dive-bomber. The latter became the subject of his first book, The Dauntless Dive Bomber of World War II, published in 1976. It established the format for many subsequent books, operational histories of U.S. Navy aircraft.
After college Tillman worked as a freelance writer until 1982 when he founded Champlin Fighter Museum Press in Mesa, Arizona, publishing out-of-print and new titles on military aviation.
In 1986, he moved to San Diego to become managing editor of The Hook, quarterly journal of the Tailhook Association. He remained in that position for three years before deciding to focus full-time to writing fiction. His first novel was published in June 1990. Warriors[4] depicted a Mideast air war and became an immediate best seller when Iraq invaded Kuwait two months later.
Tillman's next two novels appeared in 1992: The Sixth Battle, (written with his brother John) which captured a wide following among computer war gamers; and Dauntless, intended as the first in a trilogy. It was followed by Hellcats, nominated as military novel of the year in 1996. He has also published original fiction in the Stephen Coonts anthologies, Combat and Victory.
Tillman remains active as a magazine writer. He is a regular contributor to The Hook, Aviation History, and several firearms publications. He has also reported from Africa for Soldier of Fortune magazine.
Jimmy Doolittle: The First 80 Years (1976) OCLC 11192821
The Dauntless Dive-Bomber of World War II (1976) ISBN 0870215698
Hellcat: the F6F in World War II (1979) ISBN 0870212656
Corsair: the F4U in World War II and Korea (1979) ISBN 0870211315
On Yankee Station: the Naval Air War Over Vietnam (1987) (with CDR John B. Nichols, USN (Ret)) OCLC 18508310
TBF-TBM Avenger at War (1979, re-released 1991) ISBN 1557500401
MiG Master: Story of the F-8 Crusader (1980, second edition 1990) ISBN 0933852177
Wildcat: the F4F in World War II (1983, second edition 1990) ISBN 0933852320
Sun Downers: VF-11 in World War II (1993) ISBN 0962586080
The Marianas Turkey Shoot, June 19–20, 1944: Carrier Battle in the Philippine Sea (Phalanx Pub. Co., 1994) ISBN 1883809045
Pushing the Envelope: The Career of Test Pilot Marion Carl (1994) (with MajGen Marion E. Carl, USMC (Ret.)) Reissued in 2005 by Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557501165
Wildcat Aces of World War II (1995) ISBN 1855324865
Wildcats to Tomcats: The Tailhook Navy (1995) (with CAPTs W.M. Schirra, R.L. Cormier & P.R. Wood, USN (Ret.))
Carrier Air War: World War II in Original Color (1996) (with Robert L. Lawson.) Reissued as World War II U.S. Navy Air Combat, (2002)
Hellcat Aces of World War II (1996) ISBN 1855325969
Warbird Tech: Vought F4U Corsair (1997) ISBN 0933424671
U.S. Navy Fighter Squadrons of World War II (Specialty Press, 1997) ISBN 0933424744
Helldiver Units of World War II (Osprey, 1997) ISBN 1855326892
U.S. Navy Fighters of World War II (MBI Pub. Co., 1998) (with R.L. Lawson) ISBN 0760305595
SBD Dauntless Units of World War II (Osprey, 1998) ISBN 9781855327320
TBF/TBM Avenger Units of World War 2 (Osprey, 1999) ISBN 1855329026
TBD Devastator Units of the U. S. Navy (Osprey, 2000) ISBN 1841760250
TBF Avenger Units of World War II (2000)
The Complete Guide to AR-15 Accuracy (2000) (with Derrick Martin) ISBN 0967094852
U.S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers (MBI Pub. Co., 2001) (with R.L. Lawson) ISBN 0760309590
Above & Beyond: The Aviation Medals of Honor (2002) ISBN 1588340562
The Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to the U.S. Air Force (Alpha, 2003) ISBN 0028644948
Brassey's D-Day Encyclopedia (2004); (Second edition, Regnery, 2014) ISBN 1574887602
Clash of the Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II (2005) ISBN 0451216709
Heroes: Army Recipients of the Medal of Honor (2006) ISBN 0425210170
As of 2021 Tillman has received ten history and writing awards including the second Admiral Radford Award for Naval History and Literature and is an honorary member of three Navy squadrons. He has been honored by the Air Force Historical Foundation, the American Aviation Historical Society, and twice by the U.S. Naval Institute.[3] He received the Lifetime Achievement award from the Tailhook Association in 1998.[7]
Referencesedit
^Tillman, Barrett, Barrett Tillman: United States Navy Aviation Author and Researcher Archived November 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Pacific Wrecks (May 2, 2016).
^
Commandants Reading List Archived November 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
^ ab"Barrett Tillman: Enterprise". www.pritzkermilitary.org. Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
^Cohen, Roger (September 7, 1990). "Crisis in Iraq Inspires Spate of Books". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
^"Donald Blakeslee; led P-51 fighters, first to reach Berlin". Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
^"Enterprise: America's Fightingest Ship And The Men Who Helped Win World War II by Barrett Tillman". BESTSELLERSWORLD.COM.
^Awards Archived March 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Tailhook Association