Book Reviews

Title: Stealth Patrol
Author: Bill Shanahan, Bill P. Bracken
Genre: Non-fiction, History
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0306813858

From Stealth Patrol:"He spoke in a sort of clipped cadence, his words tumbling out quickly, one on top of the other; and his voice was deep and throaty, the way a bear might sound, if he could talk, after a night of drinking. 'Basically I'm here recruiting guys for the Lurps.... We operate in teams of five, maybe six, members apiece. In the Lurps, every man counts-and that's why we only take the best.'"Just four months after he arrived in Vietnam in 1968, Bill Shanahan joined the LRPs (Long Range Patrol). The mission of the Lurps, as they were called, was dangerous: Five- or six-man teams were dropped into the dense forest behind enemy lines. With quiet stealth, they observed enemy troop movements and staged ambushes that often ended in fierce firefights. When their mission was accomplished, they called for quick helicopter extraction. Back on base, they debriefed and tried to sleep off the adrenaline. Two days later they were back in the brush. The missions changed from week to week, but every day the goal was the same-stay alive.

Title: Rattler One-Seven
Author: Chuck Gross
Genre: Non-fiction, History
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1574411780

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.
When Chuck Gross left for Vietnam in 1970, he was a nineteen-year-old army helicopter pilot fresh out of flight school. He spent his entire Vietnam tour with the 71st Assault Helicopter Company flying UH-1 Huey helicopters. Soon after the war he wrote down his adventures, while his memory was still fresh with the events. Rattler One-Seven (his call sign) is written as Gross experienced it, using these notes along with letters written home to accurately preserve the mindset he had while in Vietnam.

During his tour Gross flew Special Operations for the MACV-SOG, inserting secret teams into Laos. He notes that Americans were left behind alive in Laos, when official policy at home stated that U.S. forces were never there. He also participated in Lam Son 719, a misbegotten attempt by the ARVN to assault and cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail with U.S. Army helicopter support. It was the largest airmobile campaign of the war and marked the first time that the helicopter was used in mid-intensity combat, with disastrous results.

Pilots in their early twenties, with young gunners and a Huey full of ARVN soldiers, took on experienced North Vietnamese antiaircraft artillery gunners, with no meaningful intelligence briefings or a rational plan on how to cut the Trail. More than one hundred helicopters were lost and more than four hundred aircraft sustained combat damage. Gross himself was shot down and left in the field during one assault.

Rattler One-Seven will appeal to those interested in the Vietnam War and to all armed forces, especially aviators, who have served for their country.

Title: The Cave
Author: Same McGowen
Genre:
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1403302448

The story of an Air Force enlisted man shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War. A cave explorer and marksman, Samuel Tobin Carter discovers a cave and uses it as sanctuary from which to wage his own personal war.

Paste general book publication information here.

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1891555014

Author Tony Lazzarini takes your emotions on a roller coaster ride with his short stories and anecdotes. Readers will laugh out loud about a crazy million-dollar idea and shudder at a chilling rescue mission from the jungles of Vietnam. Find out about Albert Einstein's favorite bar or what people from another planet are really like. Sixteen short stories of various lengths make it a great gift or carry around book. Perfect for airports, waiting rooms, bathrooms, night stands or living room tables.

Title: A Walk in Hell
Author: Gregory A. Helle
Genre: Poetry, Book of Poetry

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1401075185

A powerful, emotion packed trip through the mind of a Vietnam Vet disabled with PTSD. As with too many other young boys, he was sent to an unpopular war and experienced many traumas. Even though more than thirty years have passed, the realities of the war remain. Even with the best counseling and medications, the war is only kept at bay. There is no cure. At best there is only coping. The war will never be far away. It invades his days and nights. His poetic journal is sometimes dark. It is the reality of his war.