Hi, Going on a holiday to Vietnam in next feb. I am intrested in military history, and have a pretty good knowledge abot WWII european theatre, I don´t know much about much about Vietnam, air or ground war. Do you guys have any recommendations for good books to read? P.s. I am assuming that the "Apocalypse Now" was not a documentary film..
It's a novel, but very good: "Flight of the Intruder" by Stephen Coonts. About an A-6 pilot in the Vietnam war. Coonts actually was an A-6 pilot in Vietnam. Met him a number of years ago.
Just checked it from the wikipedia. Sounds intresting.. Thank you, I think I´ll get it. Keep them coming, I just broke my ankle, so plenty of time to read..
I was thinking more along the lines of non-fiction, but I´ll have to think about it. My wife gives me hell about not reading fiction, so maybe this could be a way to get a break from that!
"Bury Us Upside Down" by Dick Rutan is about his times as a Misty Pilot doing forward FAC and it is not bad.
I am far from an expert, but I read Harold Moores book We were Soldiers Once and Young after seeing the movie and really enjoyed it. http://www.amazon.com/We-Were-Soldiers-Once-Young/dp/034547581X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355941390&sr=1-1&keywords=we+were+soldiers+once+and+young
An excellent recent book about a particular aspect of the air war, the aeroscouts that flew low and slow in OH-6 helicopters, is Wayne Mutza's Combat Chronicle. Gritty first hand accounts punctuated with some dramatic photos. http://www.amazon.com/Aeroscouts-Vietnam-Combat-Chronicles-36003/dp/0897476743/
Since the "air war" is a very broad area, there are many excellent books covering the bombing campaigns, the helicopter role/Air Cav, the air-to-air/MiG sweeps, the FAC missions, the Navy air campaigns, pilot POW stories, the SAM threats, development of command and control, etc. Two of my favorites: Sierra Hotel, by Anderegg is about the decade AFTER Vietnam and how those young pilots (now colonels and generals) used the lessons learned flying FAC missions to shape the Air Force before the Gulf War. Not the Vietnam air war, but the people who flew it. Fighter Pilot - Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus put together triple ace Robin Olds (auto)biography. Though it covers his whole life, the shaping of the Air Force up to the Vietnam air-to-air war, politics, tactics, aftermath, lessons learned, etc are all well covered. Great aviation book on all levels. Also Wolfpack by Jerry Scutts is good, though very narrow in the MiG air-to-air only story. Palace Cobra (and When Thunder Rolled) and Bury Us Upside Down get a second vote from me also.
Excellent recommendations, guys! I´ve read the Chickenhawk years ago, and was thinking about reading it again. A question: Is the "Wolfpack" about navy or air force operations? What would be a good book for the general history of the war?
Wolfpack is about the Air Force 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, who scored more aerial MiG kills than any other wing. Like I said, it is a very narrowly focused book, but very detailed on the air-to-air war of the F-4s in that wing.
The reason I asked was that I just read a book about the formation of the Navy´s Top Gun program, and as most of these recomendations are from the Air Force perspective, I´d like to get a few books from both services.
An excellent read is 'The Rescue of Streetcar 304'. Story of a Navy type shot down in his A-7 and on the run for 48 hrs.
I know this is slight of topic concerning recommandation for readings. Coming from Europe our famly visited New York the week before Sandy. Beatufull weather, clear bue sky and warm temparature. We had booked a guided tour on the carrier Intrepid. 90 minutes story telling of how it was serving on Intrepid during the Vietnam war. The guide had studied history at University and told very interestingly on the actual mission, the conditions, the constraints of using flighters/bombs from the 2nd world war and much more. if you are interested in history, this is highly recommendable.
"AND KILL MIGS" by Lou Drendel................or Col. Robin Olds autobiography...............the title of which escapes me.
My old buddy, Larry Blumer could have written a book about his escapades in his P-38 "Scrap iron" but he liked to tell it instead. He was knocked down by flak somewhere just inside the German lines and escaped capture for 8 days and made it back to British lines. He trashed 5 P-38's while he was in the 9th AF.
All of Squadron/Signal's books on the Vietnam air war are worthwhile. They even have one from the other side's viewpoint.
"When Thunder Rolled: An F-105 Pilot over North Vietnam" was Ed Rasimus's first book and i found it to be a lot better then "Palace Cobra". "100 Missions North: A Fighter Pilot's Story of the Vietnam War" by Ken Bell is good. If you like WW2 aviation books i just finished "Stuka Pilot" by Hans Ulrich Rudel. It's a great read.
Yep. good book finlandese would enjoy it also (very factual) if he could get over the non-fiction bump.
