The author was assigned to Viet Nam on 4 October 1968 as a C-123 co-pilot. He was a 24 year old 2nd Lieutenant recent graduate of USAF pilot training and on his first duty assignment. While there he participated in passenger flights, cargo delivery missions, air drops, and emergency resupply missions. He upgraded to aircraft commander and experienced many unique adventures in special forces camps, Phillipine Islands, and Austrailia.This book is a description of that year providing ...

Always wanting to be a fighter pilot, Bob Chappelear volunteered for a second tour of duty in Viet Nam. This is the story of that second tour. It is a telling of what it was like to fly the A-37 Close Air Support Fighter. This airplane was "the worlds smallest fighter, the fastest gun!" The airplane only weighted roughly 6000 pounds but the gun shot 6000 rounds a minute. The airplane quickly gained a reputation for superior accuaracy and so it quickly became a favorite of both the Forward ...

“I was always happy to see first light.By first light it was over . . . for a while.”–from Down SouthThere were a lot of ways to get killed in Vietnam. You could get “zapped,” “dinged,” “burned,” “popped,” “smoked,” or “wasted.” Marine 2nd Lt. William H. Hardwick was familiar with all of them because, unlike most USMC artillery officers–who waged their war from bunkers inside protected compounds–Hardwick as a forward observer fought ...