Description
Documents the events surrounding the heated 1920s trial of World War I army air service leader Billy Mitchell who helped establish the modern Air Force, describing his personality, the dissatisfactions that prompted him to accuse the president and other officers of treason and criminal negligence, and his sensational seven-week court-martial. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.
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A Question of Loyalty plunges into the seven-week Washington trial of Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell, the hero of the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I and the man who proved in 1921 that planes could sink a battleship. In 1925 Mitchell was frustrated by the slow pace of aviation development, and he sparked a political firestorm, accusing the army and navy high commands -- and by inference the president -- of treason and criminal negligence in the way they conducted national defense. He was put on trial for insubordination in a spectacular court-martial that became a national obsession during the Roaring Twenties.Uncovering a trove of new letters, diaries, and confidential documents, Douglas Waller captures the drama of the trial and builds a rich and revealing biography of Mitchell.
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