William Stewart grew up in the footsteps of Rear Admiral Leslie E. Gehres, the hero of Mr. Stewart's hometown of Newark, New York. As a boy he watched as the dashing naval aviator flew into town and landed his state-of-the-art pursuit plane in a field behind Dr. Stewart's home.As a young man he and millions of Americans throughout the country watched in horror, then growing pride, as Admiral Gehres sailed home the USS Franklin after the ship had endured a crippling attack from a Japanese warplane.And, near the end of his long and eventful life, Dr. Stewart decided to write a biography of Gehres, a book that would show the man, warts and all, at the bar of history.