Excerpt from my son's foreword: Close Calls starts out with a bang in chapter one, “The Hits Kept Coming.” If this story doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat, I don't know what will. The fact that it's a true recollection of a fighter mission during the Viet Nam war and is riddled with multiple obstacles in the span of one night should keep you turning the pages in anticipation of how this man and his other fighter pilot brothers survived. This one story alone could be a major motion picture blockbuster—coming soon. Don’t get me wrong, this book is more than a few tales of a decorated fighter pilot, they are chapters in the life of a man who was raised on solid principles and held himself to a high standard. He was always eager to learn and never afraid to push himself to his limit…no matter what stage of his career, or where the target was. He may have taken risks at times but was able to rely on his ability to think quickly (useful when flying supersonic jets), analyze and assess the situation, maybe have a few seconds to consider a few options and then execute his plan successfully (he may refer to it as being lucky). What makes some of these stories more interesting is knowing that the man who wrote them usually came out of the other side calm as a cucumber, as if it were part of the job. What you will also glean from some of these stories is that my dad had a soft spot for children and knew that the faces of today’s youth were the leaders of tomorrow. Throughout my life, I’ve always seen my mother and father treat every man, woman, and child from anywhere in the world with the same amount of respect and dignity. In a career where you are fortunate to work with people from all over the nation and around the world, you sometimes get to do and experience some incredible things. As an officer just starting his military career in a fighter squadron in France, many of his supervisors and commanders had experience flying missions in WWII and Korea. Being able to tap into their experiences and learn from their leadership was a huge asset for a young fighter pilot. Working alongside and becoming close friends with a foreign military is a treat and an honor, especially in a country like Libya going through a major regime change and presenting many challenges as a result. Who would have guessed that a guy from Brooklyn, New York (accent and all) would teach himself Arabic in order to better communicate with his Libyan students; or that he could create a relationship between a man in his jet and a school yard full of young students tucked in a Turkish valley? Those students and their teachers may never know the lengths one man went to in order to establish a bond and hopefully brighten their day by putting a smile on their faces—but you will. These are just a few examples of the relationships made along the way through a storied career in the U.S. Air Force. Close Calls should, no, will amaze you with the many situations my father faced in his career. Once these stories were put to paper, the details were nothing short of amazing; or as Dad puts it, neat. I don't know of another book that puts the reader in the cockpit of an F-100 during a combat mission in Viet Nam, in the trenches during the end of the Korean War, survival training in the forests of West Germany, or in a flaming F-111 during a test sortie in Northern California—to name a few. I have no doubts you'll enjoy this newly revised and expanded edition of his original manuscript, aptly named Close Calls (Revisited)—so kick the tires, light the fire, and enjoy the ride. His son, Robert “Bert” Tomasino Lt Col, USAF (ret.)