By Ed Shannon, staff writer

To list the authors of the new book, &8220;Marine Wings,&8221; requires 24 names. And of these authors, two have strong Albert Lea connections. They are former Marine Air Reserve officers and pilots Sherman P. (Sherm) Booen and Carlyle Lageson.

This book is published by DeForest Press of Rogers and consists of the memories of Marine Corps service during both wartime and more peaceful years. The era covered in this book goes from 1938 to 1988 and has sections for World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, and recollections of military service between the wars. There are also sections based on flight training, the Corsair aircraft, and short biographical sketches of the book&8217;s authors.

One of the authors, Booen, wrote the introductory section based on the history of the Minnesota Marine Air Reserve.

Booen may be best known locally for his association with aviation and especially Radio Station KATE. His was the first voice officially heard on this station when it went on the air on Oct. 27, 1937. He&8217;s a 1931 graduate of Albert Lea High School and took his initial pilot training at the local airport.

(Booen&8217;s public service at KATE and his amateur radio work during the infamous Armistice Day Blizzard which started on Nov. 11, 1940, is featured in his contribution

to the 1985 book, &8220;All Hell Broke Loose,&8221; by William A. Hull.)

During World War II Booen served as a technical representative with the U.S. Army Air Corps in Europe. He became an officer in the Marine Air Reserve in 1946 and served on active duty in the Orient during the Korean War.

Booen was the founder and producer of the television program, &8220;World of Aviation,&8221; on WCCO-TV for 28 years. He was also the founder and editor/publisher of the Minnesota Flyer magazine. Booen has been elected to both the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Lageson was born in Albert Lea, graduated from high school in 1935, and later attended St. Olaf College in Northfield. He completed his Civilian Pilot Training at the Albert Lea Airport in December 1940.

Lageson joined the U.S. Navy in July 1941 and later was accepted in the U.S. Marine Corps to become a pilot. He served in the South Pacific as a combat pilot and as a flight instructor overseas and in the U.S. during World War II. After the war Lageson returned to Albert Lea and became a co-owner of Northern Valley Packing Corp., a firm which specialized in shipping potatoes from the Red River Valley through Hollandale on railroad transit privileges to eastern markets.

Both Booen and Lageson became members of the Marine Air Reserve and retired with the rank of colonel.

Lageson now lives part of the year in Mesa, Ariz., and in Albert Lea. Booen has been a resident of Minneapolis for many years.

The book they helped to write is based on the personal memories of the Marine pilots from Minnesota who flew their aircraft in times of war and peace.

Several of these Marines had to contend with Japanese aircraft and especially with kamakazi (suicide) pilots. Other pilots flew their aircraft to provide close support for Marine infantry units in combat with Japanese and later North Korean and Chinese Communist forces.

These pilots served overseas in the Solomon Islands, and on Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Peliliu and Eniwetok Islands in the Pacific Ocean, over North and South Korea and later Vietnam.

Two men who wrote reviews of this book are former astronaut, U.S. Senator and retired Marine Col. John Glenn, and Tom Brokaw, former anchor of NBC Nightly news and author of &8220;The Greatest Generation.&8221; Both gave this book a high recommendation. Brokaw said &8220;Marine Wings&8221; had &8220;stories of courage, daring and good time.&8221;

This book is available at Book World in Northbridge Mall, at the American Legion, 142 N. Broadway Ave., and from Lageson (373-0796).