South of Heaven: My Year in Afghanistan

Author's Summary

A memoir of an Army Apache helicopter pilots tour of duty in the Afghanistan war. The book follows the author's life from enlisting in the Army as an infantry soldier. Then continues as the author goes through flight school then incredibly survives a devastating crash only months after getting married. The author then continues his training until he is activated for the Afghanistan campaign, in the Global War on Terror. Believing that the only fighting is in Iraq he is then suprised and challenged at the resurgence of the Taliban and the escalating battles throughout the year, 2006. This memoir is a gripping insight to the incredible helicopter war going on in the rugged yet beautiful Hindu Kush mountains. The reader will finish this memoir with a first hand account of flying and fighting the Apache helicopter and the patriotic heroic decisions and challenges facing a husband, father and God fearing Christian in the war in Afghanistan. 

MWSA Review

Flores' has written a very good memoir of his service in Afghanistan, as an US Army Apache helicopter pilot.  Flores provides the reader with a compact, straight-forward account of the dangers he faced while supporting ground troops in some of the most dangerous parts of that troubled nation.  Flores’ descriptions of his flight missions are particularly well done, providing detail on how a pilot has to use the Apache to best advantage in different kinds of terrain and weather, and especially in combat.  Flores also does not stint in his reflections on how combat affected him, and how he and his fellow Army pilots reacted to the routines of serving in Afghanistan.  For contrast, each chapter opens with a brief paragraph by Flores’ wife, explaining how she and her children coped with his being overseas.  The book is well-written and illustrated with several very good photographs.  Flores gives the reader valuable insights into the ways in which the War Against Terrorism is being waged by US service personnel.

Reviewed by: Terry Shoptaugh (2012)