Elwyn G. Righetti remains one of the most unknown and controversial commanders of World War II. Arriving late to the war, he led the 55th Fighter Group against the Nazis with a no-holds-barred aggressiveness that transformed the group from a middling organization into a headline-grabbing team. Ultimately, Righetti's calculated recklessness ran full

Jay Stout is a native of Indiana and a graduate of Purdue University. He was commissioned into the Marine Corps and earned his designation as a naval aviator in 1983 with orders to fly the F-4 Phantom II. He later transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet. As a Hornet pilot, he flew 37 combat missions during Desert Storm. During his 20-year career, he logged more than 4,700 flight hours. The author of 14 books, he works as an operational expert in the defense industry, is a regular public speaker, and lives with his wife near Charlottesville, Virginia.