No Trophy, No Sword: An American Volunteer in the Israeli Air Force During the 1948 War of Independence

They called themselves the Bagel Lancers, a handful of American Jews who volunteered to fly military supplies through the British blockade to Palestine. The Air Transport Command, as they were officially designated, hauled machine guns and disassembled fighter planes to the people who would soon be defending themselves against five Arab armies. An Army Air Corps veteran of WW II, Livingston ( Star Trek: The Movie ) here presents a lively but helter-skelter account of his experiences as one of the 1948 volunteers. He recalls the tense flights in overloaded planes, the attempt of an Egyptian agent to recruit him for the Arab side and the squabbling between the Irgun and Haganah (``It was so typical: show me two Jews and I'll show you five political parties''). The final section of this lighthearted memoir is the most focused. Livingston relates that the Israeli Army required the American volunteers to renounce their U.S. citizenship. Objecting vociferously at being presented with such a dilemma, the author decided to remain an American. Photos. (May)