Ace in Masquerade

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This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

The Author - James A. Winnefeld is a retired naval aviator and national security analyst. In his first operational squadron, he flew the Grumman "Avenger" torpedo bomber in the Pacific and went on to a distinguished naval career covering two wars. He is the author of To Maine With A Vengeance (Denlinger's 2001) and a co-author of "Joint Air Operations" (Naval Institute Press, 1994) and "A League of Airman" (Rand Press 1994). He splits his time between homes in Annapolis, MD and East Boothbay, ME.

The Book - Through a clever series of ruses and some luck, a disgraced young naval aviator in World War II assumes the identity of another (killed in a training accident) and goes on to build an air combat record so outstanding that it threatens exposure of his deception. Along the way he marries, by mail, the pregnant lover of the officer he impersonates. She, in turn, is engaged in her own deception. This double deception and its resolution in a court martial is the focus of the novel. The defense counsel for the young aviator is one of the Navy's first black lawyers and the court martial portrays some of the racism that existed in the armed services during the war. In the body of the novel there are several realistic scenes of air combat--involving types of aircraft flown by the author.
        The "engines" of the novel are the ever-present fear of exposure, the protagonist's growing maturity in the crucible of air combat, the mutual love that develops with his by-mail wife, and the perverse result of his air successes that leads to inevitable exposure. The dramatic high points of the novel are the initial scam, several air combat sequences, the protagagonist's first meeting with his by-mail wife (who until that point does not realize he is impersonating the man she believes she married), and the final court martial scenes.

FOREWORD - During World War II the Navy expanded from a total personnel strength of 200,000 in 1940 to some 5,000,000 in 1945. It is one of life's minor miracles that the Navy was able to keep track of all - or nearly all - of these millions of officers and sailors during a time of such great expansion and the millions of transfers of personnel from one duty station to another. The Navy personnel system had the obligation to order its sailors to and from training and to and from shore stations, ships, and squadrons, to see that they were paid, to look after their health and welfare, and to know where all were at any given moment. The Navy's personnel procedures - and customs - served it well during this hectic and often chaotic period. But this novel centers on a case where the process broke down and one officer with some connivance was able to assume the identity of another.
        To readers unfamiliar with the tremendous turnover and movement of personnel during the War the scenario that is described on these pages will appear incredible. There were - and are - too many checks and balances that serve to insure a person is who he says he is. But those who experienced the "fog of war" (not all of which occurred on the battlefield) will find believable most of the story that is told.
        Too often forgotten is the fact that World War II was fought largely by teenagers, or young men just out of their teens. Most of the Navy's pilots were in their very early twenties and some were in fact in their late teens. One need only recall former President George Bush's experience of becoming a naval aviator at the age of 19. These young men made mistakes in combat and in judgments in dealing with the Navy's system of organizing for combat. The protagonist in this story is such an individual. Placed at the interface between the Navy's peacetime system for managing its officer corps and the exigencies of a brutal war, he exploits the gaps for his personal survival. While his conduct is often not admirable, he somehow manages to serve his country and his Navy well. In sum, this novel is a story of human weakness and strength in the face of adversity and of courage in coping with the challenges of the chaos of war.

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