I sent my dogeared copy of Reach for the Sky to a legless hero who spoke a few years back at convocation here at Plymouth State College. He said he'd heard of Douglas Bader, but hadn't read the book.
Brickhill's masterpiece tells a tale of heroism without stooping to hero worship. It also tells Bader's side of the "big wing" tactical controversy during the Battle of Britain (Len Deighton's book "Fighter", tells Air Vice Marshall Dowding's side).
We need Reach for the Sky to teach new generations what it taught us, the War Babies, about the courage and values of our fathers. I'd buy it for my four sons and two daughters, all now facing life as young adults.