Forgotten Hero: The Story of Jack Manch '38, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and the Self-Sacrifice of an American Warrior, by Charles Culbertson

At 6 feet 7 inches, Jack “Shorty” Manch, AMA '38, was the tallest of Jimmy Doolittle’s fliers and also one of the most colorful. This biography details his life as a rambunctious kid growing up in Staunton, Virginia, his pranks in military academies, and his incredible adventure as a member of the group who launched the first bombing raid on Tokyo. Manch died a hero, and his sacrifice over the skies of Las Vegas is explored in print here for the first time.

32 pages, including many pictures.

6 x 9 inches

About the Author:

In a career that has spanned nearly 50 years, Charles Culbertson has worked as a journalist, theater reviewer, historian, publisher, editor and public relations specialist. He is perhaps best known for his series of books focusing on the history of Staunton, Virginia, but he has also published a collection of his short stories (Siege at Fort Lyautey: And Other Stories).

Additionally, Culbertson has contributed to a variety of books that include War in the Pacific: End of the Asiatic Fleet, by Admiral Thomas Hart, My Childhood Recollections of the War, by Margaret Stuart Robertson, and Once a Marine, the World War I memoir of Levi Hemrick. He also finds and publishes long-lost historical works and creates anthologies of popular fiction -- the most popular of which is The Pulp Western Anthology series.

He retired from Bridgewater College in 2018, and today focuses most of his time on his publishing company, Clarion Publishing. In his spare time, Culbertson enjoys writing articles about classic films for Turner Classic Movies.

Culbertson has won writing awards from the Virginia Press Association, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and Writer's Digest.