NEW - "First to Bomb the WWI Diary of Lt. Howard G. Rath

[historyguy]

Friends - I would like to announce the publication of "First to Bomb, the World War I Diary of Lt. Howard G. Rath, Bombardier, 96th Aero Squadron" now available at Amazon.

Michael J. O'Neal, Managing Editor, "Over the Front," the Journal of the League of World War 1 Aviation Historians wrote:
"First to Bomb, the diary of civilian turned soldier/squadron Operations Officer Howard G. Rath, provides an important and enlightening counterpoint to the often sanitized official histories of WWI US combat squadrons. it is a lucid, honest account of one man's war and an important, expansive artifact for historians."

This never-before published diary of Lt. Howard G. Rath shows the War through his eyes. Rath was the lead bombardier of the 96th Aero Squadron, which was the first American bomb squadron in World War I. He was the first American, in an American squadron, to drop bombs in combat.

World War I historian Gerald C. Thomas, Jr. has been called Lt. Howard G. Rath's diary a "most valuable source of unpublished material."