Wingmen (1979)

Wingmen is a war novel by American author Ensan Case. It was originally published on November 28, 1979, by Avon Books. The novel follows the lives and the relationship development between Ensign Fred Trusteau and Lieutenant commander Jack Hardigan, two United States Navy fighter pilots who are part of the fictional fighter squadron VF-20, during World War II.

After its original publishing, Wingmen soon went out of print and fell into obscurity. However, through the years, the novel started gaining a cult following and recognition as one of the first instances of gay protagonism in the genre, which led to its first republication in 2012, by Cheyenne Publishing. It's Case's first and most known of his two published novels.

Plot

The novel is set in the first half of the 1940s, during World War II. Unsatisfied with the squadron to which he belongs, Ensign Fred Trusteau, a United States Naval Aviator, offers to fill a vacant position in the Air Group Twenty's fighter squadron. He is then quickly transferred to VF-20 (the "Fighting Twenty"), which is led by Lieutenant commander Jack Hardigan, a man which Fred almost instantly considers more organized and well-mannered than his older commander. Right on his first day in the squadron, Fred breaks into a party held by his new fellow pilots and draws attention thanks to his trick of tying a knot in a cherry stem without using his hands, making him win the right to use the services of a female prostitute, to which he unwillingly agrees; after the event, he is given the nickname "Trusty" and is readily recognized among the group.

After a bridge match, Fred and some of his new friends are invited by Jack to play with him in his private room. There, both Jack and Fred have a good time, while the latter finds out they need someone to write the squadron's War Diary and proposes to fill the role, eager to impress the skipper. Jack, on the other hand, is constantly pestered by the commander of their air group (CAG), Buster Jennings, and so full of work on the ground he barely has time to fly. On a goodwill gesture, he goes to a party held by Eleanor Hawkins — a former shipmate's widow — with some other pilots, including the Executive Officer of Fighting Twenty, Duane Higgins, Jack's longtime friend and former wingman. At the party, Eleanor shows clear interest in Jack, but he is hesitant to show affection, puzzling Duane. Some days after another friendly conversation with Jack, Fred has a wet dream and discovers he fell in love with the skipper. VF-20 then leaves on the aircraft carrier Ironsides to its first mission, a wartime training cruise. While searching for the ready room, Fred, the first pilot to land on the carrier deck, accidentally collides with Admiral Berkey in a passageway, and the two have a friendly conversation before he goes his way. At that night, he decides to spend some time alone on the deck edge elevator and finds Jack there, in the first of a number of occasional meetings of the two in the place.

During a routine training flight, Fred intercepts a lost army trainer aircraft and is congratulated by Admiral Berkey, which raises his reputation in the squadron. Some days after, he and Jack squadron office have a chat in the squadron office, where they discuss their personal upbringings. Their newfound closeness starts to annoy Duane, who takes a dislike to Fred. The training cruise ends, and Fred goes on a night out in Honolulu with fellow pilots Brogan and Schuster. Brogan gets too drunk, and starts a fight with the officer of the deck on their return to Ironsides. Thanks to that, they're restricted to the ship for one week and have to receive an official reprimand; Jack, however, secretly removes Fred's one from his officer jacket. The squadron's first combat mission is revealed to be a training airstrike against the isolated Marcus Island. While destroying some enemy planes, Fred's Hellcat is hit by a blast and starts to malfunction. For a short time, much to Jack's dismay, Fred is presumed to be dead, but he manages to reach another carrier with his damaged aircraft. Afterwards, the two have a short talk and Jack realizes he's falling in love with Fred. Confused, Jack starts to avoid Fred's presence, while also having to deal with his father's sudden death. However, after their combat mission in Wake Island — in which Brogan is killed when they're rescuing Jennings — they reconnect with each other, now closer than ever.