| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-11-01 |
| Size | | Height: | 7.3 in | | Width: | 4.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 6.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Tom Smith didn't seem like the perfect candidate to fight for the United States in the Vietnam conflict, but being recruited for active duty gave him more than he bargained for. Chosen as an aero scout leading an elite squadron on combat missions, his job was to attract Viet Cong fire in order that the enemy be located and destroyed—a job with a fifty percent survival rate. From flying battle runs to rescuing wounded infantry to pulling off daring last-minute escapes, this is the incredible and unforgettable true first-hand account of the unlikeliest hero ever to survive a war.
Industry Reviews
During the Vietnam War, students who left college lost their student deferments and were reclassified as available for military service. Smith, a free spirit who was suspended from college for poor attendance, failed to report for induction when called and was facing likely jail time when his brother convinced him to enlist in helicopter pilot school. A natural storyteller with a good ear for dialog, Smith recounts his typically grueling experiences in basic training, the tough and proudly elitist atmosphere in fight school, and his arrival in Vietnam. Assigned to the First Air Cavalry Division, a unit known for getting into tough scrapes, Smith becomes a scout pilot operating primarily around Tay Ninh province, which borders on Cambodia. Smith skillfully evokes the frequently terrifying combat action and the close camaraderie among pilots, though some sections are overlong and tangential. Finally, Smith's luck ran out; he was shot down and seriously injured. An excellent, unpretentious narrative, though not quite as visceral and introspective as the classic Vietnam chopper pilot memoir, Robert Mason's Chickenhawk (LJ 7/83). Recommended for public libraries. Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Breitman
Flying scout helicopters in Vietnam was the aerial counterpart of walking point. Initially cast as target-spotters for gunships and air-assault forces, the scout pilots evolved into live bait as enemy weapons and tactics improved. Their small helicopters were vulnerable even to minor damage, and parachuting from a damaged bird was impossible. Casualty rates could be as high as 50%; a scout unit often resembled a WWI fighter squadron, with replacements dying almost before they could unpack. Yet fresh volunteers kept coming even if only to stay out of the infantry. In his visceral memoir, Smith tells the familiar story of a young man who flunked out of college, sampled the 1960s counterculture and found himself first in the army, then in Vietnam. For Smith, the war was a theater of the absurd whose only meaning was survival. His narrative of low-altitude, high-risk operations in 1969-70 replicates that of others: initial confusion giving way first to proficiency and pleasure in stalking and killing anonymous enemies, later to a sense that both his skill and his luck are running out. Gritty enough to appeal to adventure fans, this memoir makes a useful contribution to a subject American helicopter pilots in Vietnam whose recorded history is largely still in its anecdotal stage. Photos, not seen by PW. (Oct.)
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