1950s acceptance action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-fueled adrenaline-rush adventure aerial aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare air-combat air-force aircraft airplanes ambition american-literature atmospheric autobiography aviation aviators beautiful-prose bereavement betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie captivating catharsis character-driven character-study combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict coping courage danger dangerous-missions death desire destiny determination dogfights drama dreams duty elite emotion emotional emotional-journey emotional-turmoil emotions endurance escapism espionage excitement exhilarating exhilaration existential existentialism family fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilot fighter-pilots fighter-planes flying friendship grief grief-and-loss grief-journey grief-memoir grief-process grief-support grieving grieving-process gripping haunting healing heroes heroism historical-fiction honor hope hunters hunting illness intense intensity introspection introspective james james-salter korean-war life life-after-loss literary literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love love-affairs love-triangle loyalty male-bonding male-friendships marriage masculinity memoir memoir-genre memoir-literature memoir-writing memoirist memoirs memories memory mental-health military military-fiction military-life moral-dilemmas morality mortality mourning non-fiction nonfiction novel obsession passion perseverance personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative personal-reflection personal-tragedy pilot pilots poetic poignant post-war power-dynamics prose psychological psychological-exploration psychological-impact psychology pursuit redemption reflection relationship relationships resilience risk risk-taking rivalries rivalry romance sacrifice salter self-discovery self-reflection skill sorrow squadron storytelling strategy struggle success survival suspense suspenseful teamwork tension testosterone the-hunters thrill thrill-seeking thriller thrilling tragedy training trauma triumph victory vietnam vietnam-war vivid-imagery war war-fiction widowhood world-war-ii writing wwii