Chapters 23-25 and Epilogue Summary and Analysis

Chapter 23. Gliders? The rescue planners had considered and dismissed dozens of options as to removing the survivors and paratroopers from Shangri-La. Finally one pilot who was experienced with gliders, Henry E. Palmer, suggested dropping gliders into the valley and using C-46s to snatch them back out with a hook. The United States began a glider program shortly after the attack at Pearl Harbor because of a raid the Germans successfully executed against a fort with the use of gliders. They trained more than a thousand pilots using what they called Waco's, large, box-like gliders made of steel, wood, and canvas. These gliders could land on difficult terrain much easier than a conventional airplane and were more maneuverable. However, no one had ever attempted to snatch a glider off the ground at more than a...