I didn't even know about the part of the Vietnam air war the author talks about till I read this book. He talks about growing up briefly always wanting to fly. He joined the Air Force just for that purpose. Then he fought tooth and nail to get to fly the A-1. It was a throwback plane in Vietnam. Single engine, propeller driven, dive bomber. The A-10 of it's day. The author flew for a year in Laos (before we were officially fighting there) doing runs on the Ho Chi Minh trail trying to halt the traffic. This is his story. We see some of the same problem other people talk about with some bitterness. Ticket punching leaders who do minimal combat but put themselves up for high decorations, the fortress mentality, not fighting the war to win.

He had some poetical stuff about how awesome flying is. He also talks about some hair rising incidents including some pilot down rescue missions. A good book if you are interested in dive bomber type Vietnam missions or a glimpse of some of the challenges Vietnam aviators faced. ( )