Rattler One-Seven

Rattler One-Seven
Author: Chuck Gross
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2006-06-13
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1574412213

Rattler One-Seven puts you in the helicopter seat, to see the war in Vietnam through the eyes of an inexperienced pilot as he transforms himself into a seasoned combat veteran. At the age of twenty, Chuck Gross spent his 1970-71 tour with the 71st Assault Helicopter Company flying UH-1 Huey helicopters. He inserted special operations teams into Laos and participated in Lam Son 719, a misbegotten attempt to assault and cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, during which his helicopter was shot down and he was stranded in the field.

The Longest Rescue

The Longest Rescue
Author: Glenn Robins
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2013-09-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 081314325X

While serving as a crew chief aboard a U.S. Air Force Rescue helicopter, Airman First Class William A. Robinson was shot down and captured in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam, on September 20, 1965. After a brief stint at the "Hanoi Hilton," Robinson endured 2,703 days in multiple North Vietnamese prison camps, including the notorious Briarpatch and various compounds at Cu Loc, known by the inmates as the Zoo. No enlisted man in American military history has been held as a prisoner of war longer than Robinson. For seven and a half years, he faced daily privations and endured the full range of North Vietnam's torture program. In The Longest Rescue: The Life and Legacy of Vietnam POW William A. Robinson, Glenn Robins tells Robinson's story using an array of sources, including declassified U.S. military documents, translated Vietnamese documents, and interviews from the National Prisoner of War Museum. Unlike many other POW accounts, this comprehensive biography explores Robinson's life before and after his capture, particularly his estranged relationship with his father, enabling a better understanding of the difficult transition POWs face upon returning home and the toll exacted on their families. Robins's powerful narrative not only demonstrates how Robinson and his fellow prisoners embodied the dedication and sacrifice of America's enlisted men but also explores their place in history and memory.

Cheating Death

Cheating Death
Author: George J. Marrett
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2016-12-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1588345521

They flew low and slow, at treetop level, at night, in monsoons, and in point-blank range of enemy guns and missiles. They were missions no one else wanted, but the ones all other pilots prayed for when shot down. Flying the World War II-vintage Douglas A-1 Skyraider, a single-engine, propeller-driven relic in a war of “fast-movers,” these intrepid US Air Force pilots, call sign Sandy, risked their lives with every mission to rescue thousands of downed Navy and Air Force pilots. With a flashback memory and a style all his own, George J. Marrett depicts some of the most dangerous aerial combat of any war. The thrilling rescue of “Streetcar 304” and William Jones's selfless act of heroism that earned him the Medal of Honor are but two of the compelling tales he recounts. Here too are the courages Jolly Green Giant helicopter crews, parajumpers, and forward air controllers who worked with the Sandys over heavily defended jungles and mountains well behind enemy lines. Passionate, mordantly witty, and filled with heart-pounding adrenaline, Cheating Death reads like the finest combat fiction, but it is the real deal: its heroes, cowards, jokers, and casualties all have names and faces readers will find difficult to forget.

Low Level Hell

Low Level Hell
Author: Hugh L. Mills, Jr.
Publisher: Presidio Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2009-01-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307537927

The aeroscouts of the 1st Infantry Division had three words emblazoned on their unit patch: Low Level Hell. It was then and continues today as the perfect concise definition of what these intrepid aviators experienced as they ranged the skies of Vietnam from the Cambodian border to the Iron Triangle. The Outcasts, as they were known, flew low and slow, aerial eyes of the division in search of the enemy. Too often for longevity’s sake they found the Viet Cong and the fight was on. These young pilots (19-22 years old) “invented” the book as they went along. Praise for Low Level Hell “An absolutely splendid and engrossing book. The most compelling part is the accounts of his many air-to-ground engagements. There were moments when I literally held my breath.”—Dr. Charles H. Cureton, Chief Historian, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Command “Low Level Hell is the best ‘bird’s eye view’ of the helicopter war in Vietnam in print today. No volume better describes the feelings from the cockpit. Mills has captured the realities of a select group of aviators who shot craps with death on every mission.”—R.S. Maxham, Director, U.S. Army Aviation Museum

Mended Wings

Mended Wings
Author: Colin Cahoon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2021-06-22
Genre:
ISBN: 9781733170727

The Rescue of Bat 21

The Rescue of Bat 21
Author: Darrell D Whitcomb
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2014-07-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612515835

When his electronic warfare plane--call sign Bat 21--was shot down on 2 April 1972, fifty-three-year-old Air Force navigator Iceal “Gene” Hambleton parachuted into the middle of a North Vietnamese invasion force and set off the biggest and most controversial air rescue effort of the Vietnam War. Now, after twenty-five years of official secrecy, the story of that dangerous and costly rescue is revealed for the first time by a decorated Air Force pilot and Vietnam veteran. Involving personnel from all services, including the Coast Guard, the unorthodox rescue operation claimed the lives of eleven soldiers and airmen, destroyed or damaged several aircraft, and put hundreds of airmen, a secret commando unit, and a South Vietnamese infantry division at risk. The book also examines the thorny debates arising from an operation that balanced one man’s life against mounting U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties and material losses, the operation’s impact on one of the most critical battles of the war, and the role played by search and rescue as America disengaged from that war.

The Lucky Few

The Lucky Few
Author: Jan Herman
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612513352

As the Vietnam War reached its tragic climax in the last days of April 1975, a task force of U.S. Navy ships cruised off South Vietnam's coast. Their mission was to support the evacuation of American embassy personnel and military advisers from Saigon as well as to secure the safety of the South Vietnamese whose lives were in endangered by the North Vietnamese victory. The Lucky Few recounts the role of the USS Kirk in the rescue of remnants of the South Vietnamese fleet and the refugees on board. The story of the Kirk reflects one of America's few shining moments at the end of the Vietnam War. Now in paperback in time for the 40th anniversary of the end of the war, The Lucky Few brings to life the heroism of Captain Paul Jacobs and the crew of the USS Kirk.

Black Cat 2-1

Black Cat 2-1
Author: Bob Ford
Publisher: BrownBooks.ORM
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2015-01-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612542441

“This moving memoir about the gritty life of a military helicopter pilot fills a gap in the genre of Vietnam literature.”—Foreword Reviews In the Vietnam War, 2,197 helicopter pilots and 2,717 crew members were killed. Black Cat 2-1 is the story of one pilot who made it home and the valiant men he served with who risked their lives for the troops on the ground. Bob Ford invites readers into the Huey helicopters he flew on more than 1,000 missions when he and his men dared to protect and rescue. For those whose voices were silenced in that faraway place or who have never told their stories, he creates a tribute that reads like a thriller, captures the humor of men at war, and resounds with respect for those who served with honor. An Oklahoma Book Award Finalist “Bob Ford’s account of his year in the command seat of his ship of salvation is a priceless contribution to the literary canon of that war.”—David A. Maurer, Special Forces veteran, author of The Dying Place “[Ford] brings to life his story so the reader can experience what it may have been like—and how the troops felt at the time. With moments that feel like they were written for a movie, Black Cat 2-1 will take you in the air over Vietnam and through some of the hardest missions you could expect.”—Week99er “This memoir is hard to beat.”—Air & Space/Smithsonian “Capably written.”—Publishers Weekly “Refreshing . . . evocative descriptions of combat flying.”—The VVA Veteran

Dustoff and Medevac Vietnam

Dustoff and Medevac Vietnam
Author: Phil Marshall
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2014-12-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9781502754554

Twenty two Vietnam helicopter rescue missions as told by the men who flew them, all are absolutely true with no embellishments. Laugh with them, cry with them, experience as best you can what they experienced. These are the real stories of the helicopter crewmen who sometimes sacrificed all...so that others may live.