Download or read book Snake Pilot written by Randy R. Zahn and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2003 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flies the reader into combat with the same elite air cavalry unit portrayed in the film "Apocalypse Now"

Download or read book Low Level Hell written by Hugh L. Mills, Jr. and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2009-01-16 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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

Download or read book A Cobra Pilot in Vietnam written by Ira McComic and published by . This book was released on 2015-05-09 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Cobra Pilot in Vietnam: True Tales and Otherwise is a collection of narrative episodes from Ira McComic, an Army AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunship pilot and fire team leader who served with the 235th Aerial Weapons Company (the Delta Devils) in Vietnam. These firsthand accounts range from the tragically true to ones that reflect a tradition among those aviators whose philosophy is expressed as "Why bother to tell a story unless you can improve it?" A person who was curious once asked a Cobra pilot what it was like to fly these gunships in Vietnam, and he replied, "I got to fly around, shoot up things, and camp out a lot. What was there not to like?" It was another Cobra pilot who supplied the answer to that question: "All the other stuff." The reality of being a gunship pilot in Vietnam was contrary to a dime-novel notion of a shoot-em-up aerial gunslinger, and if you're curious about what it was like to fly Cobra helicopter gunships in Vietnam, ride along with A Cobra Pilot in Vietnam: True Tales and Otherwise.

Download or read book US Army AH 1 Cobra Units in Vietnam written by Jonathan Bernstein and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bell's AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated helicopter gunship to reach frontline service anywhere in the world. Developed as a private venture by the manufacturer, and based on the mechanics of the ubiquitous UH-1 Huey, the Cobra proved a huge success once introduced into combat with the US Army in 1966. Built as a key weapon in the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System concept of 1965, the AH-1 was one of the few aircraft to reach the combat zone after actual combat experience went into its design. The AH-1 helped reduce the losses being suffered by vulnerable troop transport helicopters by providing effective fire suppression during airmobile operations. This book explores its history, technology and crew.

Download or read book Palace Cobra written by Ed Rasimus and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-08-28 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Picking up where the acclaimed "When Thunder Rolled" leaves off, the author pens a riveting memoir of his service as an experienced combat pilot in the waning days of the Vietnam War. photos. Martins Press.

Download or read book Rattler One Seven written by Chuck Gross and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2006-06-13 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Price of Exit written by Tom Marshall and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2011-08-10 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The risk of a fatal catastrophe was constant. The NVA was the enemy, but the ultimate opponent was, quite simply, death. . . ." For assault helicopter crews flying in and around the NVA-infested DMZ, the U.S. pullout from Vietnam in 1970-71 was a desperate time of selfless courage. Now former army warrant officer Tom Marshall of the Phoenix, C Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne, captures the deadly mountain terrain, the long hours flown under enormous stress, the grim determination of hardened pilots combat-assaulting through walls of antiaircraft fire, the pickups amid exploding mortar shells and hails of AK fire, the nerve-racking string extractions of SOG teams from North Vietnam. . . . And, through it all, the rising tension as helicopter pilots and crews are lost at an accelerating pace. It is no coincidence that the Phoenix was one of the most highly decorated assault helicopter units in I Corps. For as the American departure accelerated and the enemy added new, more powerful antiaircraft weapons, the helicopter pilots, crew chiefs, and gunners paid the heavy price of withdrawal in blood. For more than 30 Percent of Tom Marshall's 130 helicopter-school classmates, the price of exit was their lives. . . .

Download or read book Snake Driver written by Bob Rosenburgh and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 1993 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the saga of the Cobra--the attack helicopter--its development and introduction into Vietnam during the summer of '67, and the stories of the men who flew it. For a Cobra pilot--a Snake Driver--every launch meant he was going headlong into combat. As key providers of fire support, Snake Drivers always had missions, and every mission was real war--flying into hot LZs or kill zones that were literally walls of lead and high explosives. These are their tales of bravery and skill in the hellfire that was Vietnam.

Download or read book Through the Valley written by William Reeder Jr. and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through the Valley is the captivating memoir of the last U.S. Army soldier taken prisoner during the Vietnam War. A narrative of courage, hope, and survival, Through the Valley is more than just a war story. It also portrays the thrill and horror of combat, the fear and anxiety of captivity, and the stories of friendships forged and friends lost. In 1971 William Reeder was a senior captain on his second tour in Vietnam. He had flown armed, fixed-wing OV-1 Mohawks on secret missions deep into enemy territory in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam on his first tour. He returned as a helicopter pilot eager to experience a whole new perspective as a Cobra gunship pilot. Believing that Nixon’s Vietnamization would soon end the war, Reeder was anxious to see combat action. To him, it appeared that the Americans had prevailed, beaten the Viet Cong, and were passing everything over to the South Vietnamese Army so that Americans could leave. Less than a year later, while providing support to forces at the besieged base of Ben Het, Reeder’s chopper went down in a flaming corkscrew. Though Reeder survived the crash, he was captured after evading the enemy for three days. He was held for weeks in jungle cages before enduring a grueling forced march on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, costing the lives of seven of his group of twenty-seven POWs. Imprisoned in the notorious prisons of Hanoi, Reeder’s tenacity in the face of unimaginable hardship is not only a captivating story, but serves as an inspiration to all. In Through the Valley William Reeder shares the torment and pain of his ordeal, but does so in the light of the hope that he never lost. His memoir reinforces the themes of courage and sacrifice, undying faith, strength of family, love of country, loyalty among comrades, and a realization of how precious is the freedom all too often taken for granted. Sure to resonate with those serving in the armed forces who continue to face the demands of combat, Through the Valley will also appeal especially to readers looking for a powerful, riveting story.

Download or read book USMC Vietnam Helicopter Association written by and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2001 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Gunship Pilot written by Robert F. Hartley and published by LifeRich Publishing. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was 1968 and Robert Hartley was on his first combat mission in Vietnam as copilot of a helicopter gunship. As he and his platoon leader flew over the A Shau Valley, a Chinook helicopter engulfed in flames suddenly came into view. Hartley noticed tiny black smoking objects exiting the tail ramp of the aircraft. Seconds later, he realized those objects were men escaping the flames and plunging to their deaths. It was in that moment that he silently wondered, How the hell did I get here? Mr. Hartley was still wet behind the ears when he was tossed into the cauldron of Americas most unpopular war as an attack helicopter gunship pilot. As he shares a gripping, birds-eye view of battles that took him from the Demilitarized Zone in the north to the Mekong Delta in the south, Mr. Hartley compellingly details how he learned to rely on his superior training and equipment to follow through with his mission to kill the enemy and save the lives of his fellow soldiers below. Gunship Pilot provides an unforgettable glimpse into two combat tours of duty in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot soaring high above rice paddies and jungles attempts to fulfill his duty of protecting Americas warriors on the ground.

Download or read book When Thunder Rolled written by Ed Rasimus and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2011-09-20 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ed Rasimus straps the reader into the cockpit of an F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber in his engaging account of the Rolling Thunder campaign in the skies over North Vietnam. Between 1965 and 1968, more than 330 F-105s were lost—the highest loss rate in Southeast Asia—and many pilots were killed, captured, and wounded because of the Air Force’s disastrous tactics. The descriptions of Rasimus’s one hundred missions, some of the most dangerous of the conflict, will satisfy anyone addicted to vivid, heart-stopping aerial combat, as will the details of his transformation from a young man paralyzed with self-doubt into a battle-hardened veteran. His unique perspective, candid analysis, and the sheer power of his narrative rank his memoir with the finest, most entertaining of the war.

Download or read book Chickenhawk written by Robert Mason and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-03-29 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A true, bestselling story from the battlefield that faithfully portrays the horror, the madness, and the trauma of the Vietnam War More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war in Vietnam. This is Robert Mason’s astounding personal story of men at war. A veteran of more than one thousand combat missions, Mason gives staggering descriptions that cut to the heart of the combat experience: the fear and belligerence, the quiet insights and raging madness, the lasting friendships and sudden death—the extreme emotions of a "chickenhawk" in constant danger. "Very simply the best book so far about Vietnam." -St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Download or read book Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association written by Bill Greenhalgh and published by Turner. This book was released on 2007 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ace written by REX. GOOCH and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-04-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sweeping low and fast, U.S. Army pilot Ace Cozzalio flies his OH-6 helicopter as he follows a long canal across the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. He is searching for his adversaries- the elusive Vietcong. Suddenly, he sees an enemy soldier dive into the water, seeking refuge from the heavily armed helicopter. A maverick by nature, Ace decides to do the unexpected- get out of his aircraft and take a prisoner. Swinging around, he lands next to the canal. After donning his white Stetson cavalry hat, he grabs his trusty cavalry saber and steps into the canal. After several minutes of poking the steely blade into the murky water, he finds the man and takes him prisoner- captured with a cavalry saber! This is only one of many stories of Ace's extraordinary deeds. In Cozzalio's eighteen-month overseas tour, he was shot down by enemy gunfire six times and received every medal of valor with the exception of the Medal of Honor- some multiple times. Ace is a high-speed, low-level flight through the fascinating life of Ace Cozzalio, focusing on his escapades, adventures, and mishaps in the Vietnam War.

Download or read book Fighter Pilot written by Christina Olds and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-04-13 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighter Pilot is the memoir of legendary ace American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force, Robin Olds. Robin Olds was a larger-than-life hero with a towering personality. A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—and an ace with 12 aerial victories. But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend. He arrived in 1966 to find a dejected group of pilots and motivated them by placing himself on the flight schedule under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. Proving he wasn't a WWII retread, he led the wing with aggressiveness, scoring another four confirmed kills, becoming a rare triple ace. Olds, who retired a brigadier general and died in 2007, was a unique individual whose personal story presents one of the most eagerly anticipated military books in recent memory. Please note: This ebook edition does not include the photo insert from the print edition.

Download or read book Hornet 33 written by Ed Denny and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-10-13 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combat helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War flew each mission facing the possibility of imminent death. Begun as a series of attempted letters to the Department of Veterans Affairs, this compelling memoir of an aircraft commander in the 116th Assault Helicopter Company--"The Hornets"--relates his experience of the war in frank detail. From supporting the 25th Infantry Division's invasion of Cambodia, to flying the lead aircraft in the 101st Airmobile Division's pivotal Operation Lam Son 719 invasion of Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail at LZ Hope, the author recounts the traumatic events of his service from March 1970 to March 1971.