Stephan Wilkinson wrote:
The thing that always bothers me is that there is NO CATCH-22. If an aircrewman wanted to be relieved from flying duties during WWII (and I assume at other times), all he had to do was ask. Flight crew were all considered to be volunteers, and you could opt out anytime you wanted. You didn't have to paddle a rubber raft to Sweden,
You supposedly were able to do it without any opprobrium. They weren't allowed to demote a staff sergeant to PFC and send him to Attu. Yes, they could send you to the infantry and they certainly weren't going to send you back to the States to command a platoon of WACs, but your treatment was supposed to be fair and even-handed if you opted out of flight duty.
Joseph Heller's entire novel is based on a nonsense theory. The only catch-22 was in Heller's head.
Wow, great assessment, Mr. Positivity! You're right, I guess Heller should have never written the book. If he never wrote the book, the movie would not have been made. If the movie had not been made, the vast majority of flying B-25's would not exist and be flying. Yep, I see your point. This is a win-win situation for the warbird movement. Thanks for your insightful input on this historically accurate non-fiction piece of literature.