This are really three books in this one and each of them is good:
1) A compelling war story. The Misty's mission--to spot trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, then vector in jets to apply close air support and battlefield air interdiction was cutting edge stuff in 1968 (communicated in details like writing on the canopy with grease pencils and the back-seater juggling maps, a 35mm camera, and his...
more This are really three books in this one and each of them is good:
1) A compelling war story. The Misty's mission--to spot trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, then vector in jets to apply close air support and battlefield air interdiction was cutting edge stuff in 1968 (communicated in details like writing on the canopy with grease pencils and the back-seater juggling maps, a 35mm camera, and his lunch--great stuff!). There is a surreal, "Catch-22" vibe in the unwritten arrangements Misty pilots form with the air defense crews shooting at their aircraft, as well as a great "Flight of the Intruder"-type event about 3/4 of the way through that speaks very much to both the frustration of their mission and the spirit of "rugged individualism" we hear so much about today (John Wayne and Chuck Norris make interesting tall tales--the Mistys were reality, Brother). There is much in here about the support apparatus (guess what--these missions would have been way less effective if the USAF didn't have outstanding weather, comms, and intel guys and the authors prove this) and the Air Force's concept of "self-help" to enable airbase functions; and check out the stereotypical crusty old Crew Chief in Chapter Two--colorful if you've never met one, spot-on if you have. The descriptions from the cockpit of watching the Tet Offensive (Hue and Khe Sanh, i.e.) as well as the death of General Robert Worley as an RF-4C disintegrates around him convey the sense of awe and teeth-gritting frustration these Fast-FAC aviators experienced.
2) Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) was (and remains) huge in our air ops. If a pilot ejected over Route Pack I, all eyes in the theater shifted to the effort to get him located, on the phone, and safely aboard a Jolly Green. The enemy thought we were crazy, but CSAR was a priority for the morale and function in our Viet Nam air operations. The accounts of successful extractions, in the face of NVA air defense guns, and the coordination (downed pilot to coordinating pilot to CSAR helicopter to Skyraiders and CAS jets to ABCCC) that went into it are nail-biters and worthy of their own book.
3) It is the unhealed wound of the crews we couldn't save that ties the sack shut on this amazing book. It's true that Bud Day has his own book, but this one effectively communicates his shoot-down, capture, and heartbreaking attempt to escape and evade (he made it to within 2 MILES of a USMC base--starved, sick, and broken--in I Corps before re-capture). Colonel Day's homecoming, though, is also described here, and it's beautiful. Anyone who's served in the USAF has heard of Lance Sijan, and the book describes in detail the shoot-down and CSAR attempt, his capture, incarceration, and incredible bravery during his last days. Every airman should hear this story, and the authors do an admirable job telling it. The incredible pain is also conveyed in the comrades and families left behind to wait and ponder the fates of these brave men. Newman and Sheppard do an equally admirable job in their attempts to communicate the anguish of a wife writing letters to her deceased but "missing" husband, as well as the soul-searching and despair in choosing to declare a missing husband dead in order to let go of the pain and start a new life.
There is, therefore, something in this book for every Viet Nam and airpower history enthusiast; every military professional involved in launching aircraft; and every American citizen trying to understand the lingering pain and frustration of this war as well as the families who left something there. Bravo, gentlemen--this book is superlative.
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