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James Michener wrote The
Bridges at Toko-Ri based on his observation of naval aviation
operations during the Korean War. Michener, already a noted war
correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, went aboard the carrier
USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Valley Forge (CV-45) in late 1951 to write essays
and short stories, including "The Forgotten Heroes of Korea", "An Epic in
Failure" and "All for One".
These stories became the basis of
The Bridges at Toko-Ri. The novel first appeared in a July 1953
edition of Life magazine, then in book form and finally, in 1955, as a
movie starring William Holden, Grace Kelly and Mickey Rooney In the
closing pages of The Bridges at Toko-Ri, George Tarrant, a gruff carrier
task group admiral, marveling at the heroic and selfless efforts of his
aviators and sailors asks: “Where did we get such men?” |
