Veteran's Passion for Air Force Continues Through His Books

For as long as he can remember, Robert F. Dorr has been fascinated with airplanes and the Air Force.

In the 10th grade, he wrote his first published article on the Air Force. He dreamed of being a part of the first class of the Air Force Academy, which was being built when he was in high school. But his hearing impairment prevented him from passing the requirements necessary to make it into the Academy or become a military pilot.

So, he found a different way in.

The day after he graduated high school, then 17-year-old Dorr enlisted in the Air Force where he studied Korean to help listen to North Koreans on the radio, a job that ironically does not require a hearing test.

His three-year tenure, from 1957 until 1960, led to a job with the State Department as a foreign service officer.

His passion for the Air Force has never wavered, and the 72-year-old Oakton resident has now written 70 books about the Air Force and other military affairs, along with the thousands of articles he has written for publications such as Air and Space Smithsonian, Aerospace America, Flight Journal and many more.

"My interest was initially about air planes and flying, then over time I became interested in military affairs. I don't know if I can explain why, I've just been interested in it all my life," Dorr said.

Dorr's latest book, "Mission to Berlin: The Amerian Airmen Who Struck the Heart of Hitler's Reich," tells the story of the Eighth Air Force's effort that launched Feb. 3, 1945, with the mission of striking Hitler's Third Reich. In the book, he often uses the veterans' own words to describe the mission to give the reader an insight into the minds of the men behind the mission.

"The things that they're talking about are part of our history. It's part of what brought us to where we are here today," Dorr said.

For Dorr, understanding history is of utmost importance "because the alternative, basically, is ignorance, and we've got enough problems caused by that," he said.

In promotion of his book, Dorr spoke at the on Thursday with a focus on the conditions — physically, mentally and militarily — surrounding the mission of attacking the capital of the Third Reich, a theme that starts his book: "It was always cold," the first line reads.

To purchase a copy of "Mission to Berlin," contact Dorr directly through his "Mission to Berlin" Facebook group.