Vietnam War Bibliography:

The Air War

Lt. Col. Darrell H. Ahrens, Turn and Burn: A Fighter Pilot's Memories and Confessions. Wise Media Group, 2021. 251 pp. I can't tell from the description on Amazon when Ahrens served or how much of the book is devoted to the Vietnam War.

Air Force Magazine. The monthly journal of the Air Force Association. Up to January 1971 (Volume 54, no. 1), it was titled Air Force and Space Digest. Texts of some but not all articles going back at least as far as 1983, and tables of contents as far back as 1990, have been placed online at the Air Force Magazine Archive. There is a separate web page "Vietnam War Collection" that lists, and gives links to, more than sixty items from Air Force Magazine specifically on the topic of the Vietnam War. A few articles are listed here, and some others under topical sections below.

Air Power History. Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland: Air Force Historical Foundation. Issues since 1999 are available online if you are browsing the Internet through an institution that has paid the fee to EBSCO for access to the Military and Government Collection.

Air War--Vietnam. New York: Arno Press, 1978. A combined reprint of four studies originally written by historians working for the U.S. Air force: A Tale of Two Bridges (story of U.S. bombing of what were probably the two most important bridges in North Vietnam--the Paul Doumer Bridge over the Red River in Hanoi, and the Ham Rong or Dragon's Jaw Bridge over the Song Ma in Thanh Hoa province), Airpower and the 1972 Spring Invasion, The Battle for the Skies over North Vietnam, and The Mayaguez Incident.

David Axe, Drone War Vietnam. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021 (forthcoming). 232 pp. Illustrated.

Charles Banks, Low and Fast: Memories of a Cold War Fighter Pilot. Oak Hill, VA: Taxiway Publishing, 2020. 199 pp., of which pp. 46-76 deal with the Vietnam War. Banks flew F-4s based at Korat, Thailand, May to October 1972.

Bill Barry, A Trash Hauler in Vietnam: Memoir of Four Tactical Airlift Tours, 1965-1968. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008. vii, 207 pp. Barry first went to Vietnam as a C-130B navigator in May 1965.

Dana Bell, Vietnam Warbirds in Action. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1986. 64, 68, 68 pp. Combines three volumes, still paginated separately, originally published as Air War over Vietnam, vols. I, II, and IV (Lionel Leventhal Ltd., 1982, 1983, 1984). Picture book with captions.

Don Bell, The Tiger FACs: A Dance with the Devil. Outskirts Press, 2014. Forward Air Controllers flying F-4E Phantoms, bast at Korat in Thailand. (I am not aware of a print edition; it may have been published only for Kindle.)

Bi mat cac chien dich khong kich cua My vao Bac Viet Nam. Hanoi: NXB Cong an nhan dan, 2007. 519 pp.

Maj. Gen. Frederick C. Blesse, Check Six: A Fighter Pilot Looks Back. Original 1987; pb New York: Ballantine, 1992. Blesse devotes several chapters to his two tours in Vietnam, the first flying F-4s out of Danang 1967-68, the second (brief) onthe staff of 7th Air Force in early 1971. Pretty good.

Nik Boldrini, Sitting Duck. Boldrini was a USAF aircraft radar technician at Tan Son Nhut, 1967-68.

Roger Boniface, Aces of North Vietnam: Pilots - Units - Operations - Aircraft - Statistics, 1965-1975. Schiffer, 2001. 220 pp.

Roger Boniface, MiGs Over North Vietnam: The Vietnamese People's Air Force in Combat, 1965-1975. Hikoki, 2008. 176 pp. Crecy, 2015. 224 pp. Also published in the United States with a slightly altered subtitle:

Larry Booda, "South Vietnamese Raiders Extending War." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 80:14 (April 6, 1964), pp. 16-19. Speaks of extending the war outside South Vietnam as if this were a policy already decided upon, exaggerates RVN forces available to do it, gives numbers of particular aircraft types in South Vietnam, optimistic about winning the war soon.

Larry Booda, "DOD,Industry Facing Vietnam Challenge." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 80:15 (April 13, 1964), pp. 93-103. Weapons and technology developments. Gives the impression that the U.S. is still complying with Geneva Accords limitations on weaponry, which prohibit use of jets. Two unsigned companion pieces on p. 103, "Quang Long Battle Typifies Aircraft Use" and "Viet Cong Fire Takes Higher Aircraft Toll," may or may not be by Booda.

Larry Booda, "USAF Pushes Vietnamese Pilot Training." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 80:16 (April 20, 1964), pp. 94-103. An unsigned companion piece on pp. 104-6, "Vietnam War Proving Helicopter's Value as Weapon," may or may not be by Booda.

Heath Bottomly, Dishonored Glory: Colonel Bo's Vietnam War Journal. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2008. vii, 269 pp. Five vignettes: three from 1967, when Bottomly was commanding a unit testing the A-37 Dragonfly in Vietnam, and two from 1970, when he was commanding an F-105 fighter wing based at Takhli, in Thailand. I have read only the Introduction, which did not impress me.

Samuel Brantley, Zero Dark Thirty. Central Point, Oregon: Hellgate, 2002. xiii, 270 pp. Brantley initially served as an A-4 pilot with VMA-21 ("December," "Green Knights," "Brand X"), based at Chu Lai. Later he became a Forward Air Controller for the 1/7 Marines, not far from Danang; he was there when the Tet Offensive hit.

Rick Burgess and Zip Rausa, A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey.

Dennis Busch, Psywarrior: The Misadventures of an Insolent Warrior. Parker, Colorado: Outskirts Press, 2009. 304 pp. Humorous memoir. The author was a pilot flying low-risk missions in South Vietnam, 1970-71. The publicity for the book does not identify a unit, an aircraft type, or a mission, but the title implies psychological warfare.

Daniel Byman, Matthew Waxman, and Eric V. Larson, Air Power as a Coercive Instrument. MR-1061-AF. Santa Monica: Rand, 1999. xviii, 174 pp. The analysis is organized around issues, not case studies. There are a lot of case studies, including US operations in Indochina and Iraq and a lot of non-US operations, but no particular case is mentioned in the table of contents.

The CACTA and SEADAB Databases. After the end of the Vietnam war, the US government released some huge computerized databases, compiled in the Pentagon during the war, dealing with American air operations in Indochina. There is more agreement about the acronyms of these databases than about their actual names. They are the Combat Air Activities Files or Combat Actities File (CACTA); the Records About Air Sorties Flown in Southeast Asia or Southeast Asia Database (SEADAB); and the Strategic Air Command's Combat Activities Report (SACCOACT). Unfortunately these databases are incomplete, often unclear, and sometimes seriously inaccurate, so the bomb tonnage figures that have been drawn from them need to be treated with considerable caution.

William Cahill, "Fly High, Fly Low: SAC Photographic Reconnaissance in Southeast Asia," Air & Space Power History, 68:2 (Summer 2021), pp. 7-26.

Vincent Capozzella, Headhunter One One: The Vietnamese Memoir of a Recon-Observation Pilot. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2007. 201 pp.

Raymond G. Caryl, Catkiller 3-2: An Army Pilot Flying for the Marines in the Vietnam War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2018. Caryl served as an Army pilot from July 1967 to July 1968 in the 220th Reconnaissance Airplane Company in I Corps, flying a Cessna O-1 Birddog, with a Marine in the back seat, mostly supporting Marine ground forces. (See also under Hooper, below.)

Philip D. Chinnery, Life on the Line. New York: St. Martin's, 1988. pb New York: St. Martin's, 1990.  xiv, 300 pp. Oral history, spread broadly across various facets of the air war.

Philip D. Chinnery, "Any Time, Any Place": Fifty Years of the USAF Air Commando and Special Operations Forces, 1944-1994. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1994. (Paperback, under title Air Commando, New York: St. Martin's, 1997. xv, 367 pp.)

Jan Churchill, Hit My Smoke: Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia. Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press, 1997.  xvi, 220 pp.

Thomsas McKelvey Cleaver, Going Downtown: The US Air Force over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961-1975. Oxford and New York: Osprey / Bloomsbury, 2022. vi, 352 pp. The main focus is on North Vietnam.

Mark Clodfelter, The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam. New York: The Free Press, 1989. Mainly focussed on the USAF and its strategic bombing doctrine.

Mark Clodfelter, "Problems and Pitfalls in Researching the Air War Against North Vietnam", Air Power History 38 (Fall 1991), pp. 49-53.

Mark Clodfelter, "The Limits of Airpower or the Limits of Strategy: The Air Wars in Vietnam and Their Legacies," Joint Force Quarterly 78 (2015), pp. 111-124.

Ed Cobleigh, War for the Hell of It: A Fighter Pilot's View of Vietnam. New York: Berkley Caliber (Penguin), 2005. 273 pp. Cobleigh flew F-4 Phantoms, based at Ubon. This is at least a bit fictionalized--at least one important character is a composite--and very vague about chronology. In a skim I was unable to find the dates for either of Cobleigh's two tours, except for a statement that both were in the 1960s. But on p. 266, while he is watching a Bob Hope show in Thailand (various clues make it clear this was during Hope's December 1969 tour), he is thinking about conversations he had recently had about Jane Fonda's visit to Hanoi (which did not happen until 1972).

Jimmy N. Coffman, "Interview with Jimmy Coffman." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, April 11, 2000. 47 pp. Coffman was ROTC at Oklahoma State University, and entered the Army after graduating in 1966. Went to Vietnam in August 1968 as a fixed-wing pilot; initially flew Mohawks at night with the 221st Aviation Company at Phu Hiep, a small air strip five miles south of Tuy Hoa. He later flew O-1 Bird Dogs, mostly by day, with the 183d Aviation Company (Seahorses) at Phan Thiet and Nha Trang, then flew the Beaver as a radio relay plane for some confusingly defined covert operations (CIA? Phoenix? SOG?). Served briefly as a Raven in Laos. Later did a tour May 1972 to March 1973 as a helicopter pilot. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Brig. Gen. Jerry W. Cook, Once a Fighter Pilot. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. Includes Cook's service in Vietnam; he flew F-4s out of Cam Ranh beginning November 1965.

John L. Cook, Rescue under Fire: The Story of Dust Off in Vietnam. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1998. 175 pp.

Stephen Coonts and Barrett Tillman, Dragon's Jaw: An Epic Story of Courage and Tenacity in Vietnam. New York: Da Capo, 2019. xiii, 304 pp. US pilots strove for years to destroy the heavily built and heavily defended Ham Rong Bridge, crossing the Ma River in Thanh Hoa province, on the main road and rail line running south from the Red River Delta toward the panhandle of North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. They finally succeeded in 1972. (See also under van Geffen, below.)

Garry Cooper and Robert Hillier, Sock it to 'em Baby: Forward Air Controller in Vietnam. Crow's Nest, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2006. xviii, 318 pp. Flight Lieutenant Cooper, RAAF, was in Vietnam April-October 1968, in the Mekong Delta as a FAC, supporting the US 9th Infantry Division. The American division commander recommended him for the Medal of Honor, but he was ruled ineligible because he was Australian.

Robert Coram, Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War. Boston: Little, Brown, 2002. x, 485 pp.

John T. Correll, The Air Force in the Vietnam War. Arlington, VA: Aerospace Education Foundation, 2004. 50 pp. p. 40: "When Rolling Thunder ended, more than half of the Air Force’s F-105s were gone." .* courtesy Henry Feiler

James S. Corum and Wray R. Johnson, Airpower in Small Wars: Fighting Insurgents and Terrorists. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003. 528 pp. Chapter 6 is "Airpower and South Vietnam, 1954-1965."

Chris Coulthard-Clark, Hit My Smoke: Targeting the Enemy in Vietnam. St. Leonards, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1997. xx, 199 pp. An oral history of RAAF pilots who served as FACs in Vietnam.

Chris Coulthard-Clark, The RAAF In Vietnam: Australian Air Involvement in the Vietnam War 1962-1975. St. Leonards, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1995. xxii, 412 pp.

Patrick Daly, The Sluggo Chronicles: Memoirs of an Old Bomber Pilot. Self-published, 2019. 204 pp. Daly was a B-52 pilot. I believe a substantial part of this memoir deals with his Vietnam War service, but I have not actually seen the book.

Dap tan cuoc tap kich chien luoc bang khan cua de quoc My. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1973. 55 pp.

Peter Davies, USAF F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1965-68. Oxford and New York: Osprey, 2004. 96 pp. Illustrated.

Peter Davies, F-4 Phantom II vs MiG-21: USAF & VPAF in the Vietnam War. Oxford and New York: Osprey, 2008. 80 pp.

Larry Davis, Wild Weasel: The SAM Suppression Story. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1986. 63 pp.

D[onald] J[ames] Dennis, One Day at a Time: A Vietnam Diary. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, 1992. x, 161 pp. Dennis was in Australian air operations, around the time of the Tet Offensive.

Matt Dietz, Eagles Overhead: The History of US Air Force Forward Air Controllers, from the Meuse-Argonne to Mosul. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2023. 368 pp. Chapter 4 (pp. 95-130) deals with the Second Indochina War.

Dong Sy Hung (Nguyen Sy Hung), Combat in the Sky: Airpower and the Defense of North Vietnam, 1965-1973. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2023. xii, 408 pp.

Robert F. Dorr, Air War Hanoi. London and New York: Blandford Press, 1988. 190 pp.

Robert F. Dorr, Air War South Vietnam. London: 1990.

Robert F. Dorr, Skyraider. Illustrated History of the Vietnam War, no. 13. New York: Bantam, 1988. 158 pp.

Robert F. Dorr and Chris Bishop, eds., Vietnam Air War Debrief. London: Aerospace / Westport, CT: AIRtime, 1996. 253 pp.

Lou Drendel, . . . And Kill MIGs. Warren, MI: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1974. 63 pp.

Dennis M. Drew, "U.S. Airpower Theory and the Insurgent Challenge: A Short Journey to Confusion." Journal of Military History, 62:4 (October 1988), pp. 809-832. If you browse the Internet through an institution that has subscribed to JSTOR, you can access the text directly or go through the JSTOR Journal of Military History browse page.

Colonel G. Alan Dugard, Sawadee Buffs: The Final Chapter of the Vietnam War. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2017. 228 pp. Murieta, CA: BookBlastPRO, 2017. Colonel Dugard arrived in Thailand in late April 1975, to become vice wing commander of the 307th Strategic Wing, a B-52 unit, at U-Tapao Airbase. The first page of the prologue, available on the Amazon.com website, is inaccurate enough about the historical background to leave me suspicous of the book.

Steve Eather, Target Charlie. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications, 1993. 132 pp. Australian air operations in Vietnam.

John W. Ellis and Marvin B. Schaffer, Three Months in Vietnam - A Trip Report: The Paramilitary War. 16004-PR. Santa Monica: Rand, 16 August 1967. 29 pp. Looks at how air power could be providing better support to pacification (Revolutionary Develoment) in South Vietnam.

Taylor Eubank, Alone, Unarmed, and Unafraid: Tales of Reconnaissance in Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992. Eubank flew an RF-4C over North and South Vietnam, but the stories apparently are not all about himself.

Donald E. Fink, "McNamara Faces Vietnam Aircraft Probe." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 80:20 (May 18, 1964), pp. 31-32. McNamara and Air Force Secretary Eugene Zuckert deny charges "the U.S. pilots in South Vietnam are being killed because their obsolete T-28 and B-26 aircraft are failing structurally under combat stress." An unsigned companion piece on p. 31, "U.S. Sending 75 Skyraiders to Vietnam," may also be by Fink.

Steven A. Fino, Tiger Check: Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950-1980. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017. 435 pp. Includes extensive discussion of the way the F-4 Phantom operated in air-to-air combat.

John F. Flanagan, Vietnam Above the Treetops: A Forward Air Controller Reports. New York: Praeger, 1992, 336 pp; pb New York: Dell, 1993. 411 pp. Flanagan flew an O-1 Bird Dog, approximately 1966, sometimes in support of Delta units in Laos. The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Rene Francillon, Vietnam: The War in the Air. New York: Arch Cape Press, 1987. 255 pp. A detailed account, heavily illustrated, with much information about particular units and aircraft types.

Ronald B. Frankum, Jr., Like Rolling Thunder: The Air War in Vietnam, 1964-1975. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. xxiv, 207 pp. When this arrived, I glanced at pages 14-15, on the Tonkin Gulf incidents, and saw enough errors to undermine my confidence in the book.

Theo van Geffen, "The Air War Against North Vietnam: the Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge"

Theo van Geffen, "U.S. Mini-air War Against North Vietnam: Protective Reaction Strikes, 1968-1972," Air Power History, 66:2 (Summer 2019), pp. 31-44.

Ronnie Ridley George, Airspeed, Altitude, and a Sense of Humor: The Adventures of a Jet Tanker Pilot. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 2001. xi, 94 pp. George flew the KC-135 tanker, refueling other aircraft. Chapters 10-11 (pp. 58-74) cover George's tour in the Vietnam War in 1968, based mostly in Thailand, later on Okinawa.

Larry R. Gibson, Recollections of a Marine Attack Pilot. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2014. 215 pp. Gibson did two tours in Vietnam; I believe the first probably began in 1966.

Jeffrey D. Glasser, The Secret Vietnam War: The United States Air Force in Thailand, 1961-1975. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1995. xxiv, 263 pp. This is an overall history, not a memoir of Glasser's own tours in Thailand doing maintenance on electronic warfare systems, in the late stages of the war. Note technical specs on munitions--bombs, rockets, napalm, CBU--in Appendix.

John Gliedman, Terror from the Sky: North Viet-Nam's Dikes and the U.S. Bombing. Cambridge: Vietnam Resource Center, August 1972. 172 pp. An extensively documented study, with considerable attention to weather modification. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in three parts: front matter and pp. 1-52, pp. 53-107, and pp. 108-172.

Leon Goure, Southeast Asia Trip Report, Part I - The Impact of Air Power in South Vietnam.  Santa Monica: Rand, December 1964.  RM-4400-PR (Part 1).  vii, 19 pp. Argues that most Vietnamese do not make political judgments, they simply support whichever side is strongest, and they are not likely to respond to civilian casualties caused by air strikes by becoming angry at the government and supporting the Viet Cong.

William B. Graham and Amrom H. Katz, Southeast Asia Trip Report, Part II-SIAT: The Single Integrated Attack Team: A Concept for Offensive Military Operations in South Vietnam. RM-4400/2, December 1964. vii, 21 pp. A proposal for integrating small ground units with close air support.

Philippe Gras, L'armée de l'air en Indochine (1945-1954): L'impossible mission. Paris: l'Harmattan, 2001. 613 pp.

"GRU Seven Volume Study". This appears to be an English-languagage summary, not a full translation, of a seven-part study published in Moscow in 1977: "US Aggression in Southeast Asia: The Final Stage of the War." A series of brief descriptions of particular incidents (almost all involving air-to-air combat) in the US air war against North Vietnam, from April 1965 to December 1972. The text has been placed on-line by the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Bill Gunston, Aircraft of the Vietnam War. San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1989. 136 pp. Illustrated.

Richard Hamilton, "Interview with Richard Hamilton." Oral history interview, conducted by Dr. Richard Burks Verrone, April 10, 2003. 79 pp. Hamilton, an F-4 pilot, was stationed at Ubon, in Thailand, beginning in July 1965. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Col. Pat Hanavan, USAF, Ret., Caribou Airlines: A History of USAF C-7A Caribou Operations in Vietnam. San Antonio, TX: PATH Books (CreateSpace?), 2012- .
        Vol. I: The First Year: 1966-1967. 2012. viii, 368 pp.
        Vol. II: Tet Offensive: 1968. 2013. xv, 410 pp.
        Vol. III: Ben Het, 1969. 2014.
        Vol. IV: Dak Pek and Dak Seang: 1970. 2016. 452 pp.
        Vol. V: Vietnamization: 1971-1972 (forthcoming).

Colonel Philip "Hands" Handley, Nickel on the Grass: Reflections of a U.S. Air Force Pilot. iUniverse, 2006. 227 pp. In 1972 he was flying an F-4E over North Vietnam.

Michael Hankins, "Inventing the Enemy: Colonel Toon and the Memory of Fighter Combat in Vietnam" Argues that the story of the North Vietnamese fighter ace "Colonel Toon" or "Colonel Tomb" was a myth invented by Americans.

Craig C. Hannah, Striving for Air Superiority: The Tactical Air Command in Vietnam. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002. 192 pp.

Marjorie T. Hansen, Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes: A Vietnam War Story. Dallas: Brown Books, 2014 (forthcoming). 264 pp. The book consists largely of letters sent to the author by her husband, Charles Hansen, who flew as a navigator initially on C-123 transports, later on AC-119K Stinger gunships, in Indochina in 1971 and 1972.

Robert O. Harder, Flying from the Black Hole: The B-52 Navigator-Bombardiers of Vietnam. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2009. x, 299 pp. Includes considerable discussion of Linebacker II, for which Harder says the initial planning was miserably incompetent, but most of the book deals with earlier issues--the development of strategic bombing and of the B-52, and Arc Light 1965-73. Sometimes discusses very restrictive rules of engagement as if they were much more common than they actually were.

Marshall Harrison, A Lonely Kind of War: Forward Air Controller, Vietnam. Hb Novato, CA: Presidio, 1989. A cheap-format paperback was published New York: Pocket Books, 1990 (xv, 350 pp.), and a more expensive paperback Novato: Presidio, 1997. Warning: names of people, and even geography, have been altered in this memoir.

Don Harten, Arc Light One. Paducah, KY: Turner, 2003. 104 pp. During the very first B-52 mission of the Vietnam War, June 18, 1965, two aircraft collided and most of those aboard were killed.

Don Harten, Collision Over Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story of Surviving the Arc Light One Tragedy. Nashville, TN: Turner, 2011. xii, 223 pp.

Frank Harvey, Air War--Vietnam. New York: Bantam, 1967. 185 pp.

Reginald Hathorn, Here There Are Tigers: The Secret Air War in Laos and North Vietnam, 1968-69. Stackpole, 2008. 256 pp. Hathorn was an Air Force forward air controller, operating mostly over Laos.

Phil Haun, Tactical Air Power and the Vietnam War: Explaining Effectiveness in Modern Air Warfare. Cambridge University Press, 2024. 312 pp. xvi, 294 pp. In the table of contents I see suprisingly little emphasis on the air war in South Vietnam, which was the most important area in the Americans' tactical air war.

William Head, "War from above the Clouds: B-52 Operations during the Second Indochina War and the Effects of the Air War on Theory and Doctrine." In David R. Mets and William P. Head, eds., Plotting a True Course: Reflections on USAF Strategic Attack Theory and Doctrine, The Post-World War II Experience (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2003), pp. 45-122.

James E. Hickey, Precision-Guided Munitions and Human Suffering in War. Ashgate, 2013. xiii, 251 pp. There is one chapter on Vietnam.

J. W. Higgins, Concepts, Data Requirements, and Uses of the LOC Interdiction Model as Applied to North Vietnam. Santa Monica: Rand, May 1970. RM-6065-PR. xvii, 35 pp. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in two parts: front matter and pp. 1-33 and p. 35 (bibliography).

Michael Hoffman, "Interview with Michael Hoffman." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, October 17, 2000. 54 pp. Hoffman enlisted in the Air Force in 1970, became an aircraft mechanic, arrived in Danang April 1971, and was assigned to the 421st TAC Fighter Squadron ("Black Widows"), F-4s. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Jim Hooper, A Hundred Feet Over Hell: Flying With the Men of the 220th Recon Airplane Company Over I Corps and the DMZ, 1968-1969. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press (MBI Publishing), 2009. 272 pp. Based on extensive interviewing of the "Catkillers", Bird Dog pilots who flew Cessnas at low altitude. (See also under Caryl, above.)

James Hooppaw, Where the Buf Fellows Roamed. Red Apple Publishing, 1999. 335 pp. Memoirs of a B-52 pilot.

Ian Horwood, Interservice Rivalry and Airpower in the Vietnam War. Ft. Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute Press, (2007?). vii, 200 pp. The use of air power in South Vietnam, 1961 to 1968.

Stephen T. Hosmer, Psychological Effects of U.S. Air Operations in Four Wars 1941-1991: Lessons for U.S. Commanders.  Santa Monica: Rand, 1996.  MR-576-AF.  xxxviii, 220 pp. Vietnam is pp. 27-42; Vietnam is pp. 27-42.

Mike Jackson and Tara Dixon-Engel, Naked in Da Nang: A Forward Air Controller in Vietnam. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press/MBI Publishing, 2004. 302 pp. Chapters 9-14 cover Jackson's Vietnam tour; he flew the O-2 in the 20th TASS in I Corps, July 1971 to June 1972. Chapter 14 includes an interesting story of guiding VNAF aircraft dropping FAEs. Jackson is bitter about the rules of engagement.

Dennis R. Jenkins, F-105 Thunderchief: Workhorse of the Vietnam War. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 192 pp.

Dana J. Johnson, Roles and Missions for Conventionally Armed Heavy Bombers: An Historical Perspective. N-3481-AF. Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 1994. xxvii, 128 pp. General discussion of Vietnam: pp. 51-83;   detailed data on Linebacker II: pp. 102-124;   Desert Storm: pp. 83-88.

Ben Kiernan, "The American Bombardment of Kampuchea, 1969-1973", in Vietnam Generation, vol 1, no. 1 (Winter 1989), pp. 4-41.

Matthew Adam Kochner, Thomas B. Pepinsky, and Stathis N. Kalyvas, "Aerial Bombing and Counterinsurgency in the Vietnam War," American Journal of Political Science 55:2 (April 2011), pp. 201-18. I note the startling statement on p. 206, which the article seems to derive from the US Air Force's Combat Air Activities File (CACTA) that "A bombing sortie was a composite event that typically included multiple aircraft . . . Over 83% of bombing sorties involved more than one aircraft."

George W. Kohn, Vector to Destiny: Journey of a Vietnam F-4 Fighter Pilot. Virginia Beach, VA: Köehlerbooks, 2020. 274 pp. Kohn flew F-4s based at Danang in 1970.

Doug Kroll, "The Coast Guard Flies in Vietnam." Naval History, October 1996, pp. 36-39. Coast Guard pilots on exchange with Air Force units, flying HH-3E Jolly Greens, HC-130s, etc., 1968-1972.

Lt. Col. Jay Lacklen, USAFR, Retired, Flying the Line: An Air Force Pilot's Journey. Minneapolis: Two Harbors Pres, 2013. Lacklen joined the Air Force in order to avoid being drafted into the Army. I believe he arrived in Vietnam in 1971, serving with the 458th Troop Carrier Squadron, a C-7 Caribou unit. He then transferred to the Strategic Air Command, and participated in B-52 missions over Cambodia in 1973.

Jon Lake, B-52 Stratofortress Units in Combat, 1955--73. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004. 96 pp.

Paul E. Landers, Jr., Major General, USAF (Retired), Delta Fac: A Pilot's War in the Mekong Delta. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2021. Landers was a FAC flying a Cessna O-1 Bird Dog in support of the Mobile Riverine Force, approximately 1968.

Brian D. Laslie, The Air Force Way of War: U.S. Tactics and Training after Vietnam. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. xiv, 237 pp. Chapter 1 and parts of chapter 2 deal with Vietnam.

Brian D. Laslie, Air Power's Lost Cause: The American Air Wars of Vietnam. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. xvi, 241 pp.

Captain R.G. Lathrop, USMCR, "Eternally at War." Unpublished, undated manuscript. 129 pp. The Title page says "I Corps - Vietnam, January 1968 ~ April 1969, A4 Skyhawk Pilot" In fact the date January 1968 appears simply to refer to his flying into Danang as a ferry pilot, delivering an aircraft and promptly departing. His actual tour, flying A-4s based at Chu Lai, began in March 1968. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in four parts: pp. 1-39, pp. 40-77, pp. 78-108, and pp. 109-129 covering his last months, early in 1969, when he was at Danang, and in charge of a company of the Marines on perimeter defense in addition to his duties as a pilot.

General John D. Lavelle was dismissed as commander of Seventh Air Force in 1972, charged with falsification of reports in regard to "protective reaction" air strikes against North Vietnam. There is some information in Congressional committee hearings and reports On unauthorized bombing of North Vietnam by the USAF, but I am not aware of any full scholarly history of this incident.
        In 2007, Aloysius and Patrick Casey published evidence suggesting that Lavelle's actions had in fact been in line with President Nixon's policies. In 2009, the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records ruled that General Lavelle's punishment had been unjust, and recommended that he be promoted posthumously to full general. President Obama endorsed that recommendation on August 4, 2010.

General Curtis LeMay oral history. June 28, 1971. 47 pp. Air Force Chief of Staff, 1961-1965, and an advocate of more intense bombing. This oral history, from the collection at the LBJ Presidential Library, has been placed online in the Lyndon Johnson Oral History collection at the Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia.

Fleet S. Lentz, Jr., A Backseat View from the Phantom: A Memoir of a Marine Radar Intercept Operator in Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2020. x, 219 pp. Lentz was with VMFA-115, based at Nam Phong, in Thailand, September 1972 to September 1973. He few missions over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Neil Levin, An Angel Rode My Wing. Authorhouse, 2004. 196 pp. Reprinted as An Angel Rode My Wing: The Saga of a Maverick Leatherneck from Cadet to Marine Lt. Colonel. Leatherneck Publishing, 2006. 224 pp.

Lich su quan chung phong khong. 2 vols. Hanoi: Quan doi nhan dan, 1991, 1993. Air defense units in both of the Indochina wars.

Raphael Littauer and Norman Uphoff, eds., The Air War in Indochina, revised ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. xxi, 289 pp.

Frederick D. Long and Lon Hotz, eds., Dragonfly: Smallest Fighter—the fastest gun: A-37s over Vietnam. Montgomery, AL: A-37 Association, 2014. xvi, 311 pp.

Terry M. Love, "The Army's fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft contributed significantly to America's intelligence-gathering efforts." Vietnam, August 2000, pp. 14, 16, 59-60. Deals especially with radio direction-finding aircraft.

Donald J. McCarthy Jr., Those Who Were There: Ninety-Two True Stories of Combat Missions Flown over North Vietnam. iUniverse, 2009. 392 pp. The blurb for this book on Amazon.com does not inspire confidence.

Mike McCarthy, Phantom Reflections: The Education of an American Fighter Pilot in Vietnam. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. 250 pp. McCarthy flew the F4D Phantom II with 8th TFW from Ubon, 1967-68. He also discusses higher-level policy, based on staff assignments in the Pentagon.

General John P. McConnell oral history. August 14, 28, 1969. 42 pp. Air Force Chief of Staff, 1965-1969. This oral history, from the collection at the LBJ Presidential Library, has been placed online in the Lyndon Johnson Oral History collection at the Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia.

Michael M. McCrea, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses and Damage in Southeast Asia (1962-1973). Arlington, VA: Center for Naval Analyses, August 1976. Seven sections paginated separately. There is a lot of data in this that I have not seen elsewhere. A graph on p. 2-15, for example, shows USAF combat losses of aircraft by month in South Vietnam all the way back to 1962. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in hree parts: front matter, Section 1 (Summary), and pp. 2-1 to 2-18 of Section 2 (Chronological Narrative of the Air War in Southeast Asia),   pp. 2-19 to 2-35 (Chronological table), Sections 3 and 4, Section 5 up to p. 5-20,   p. 5-21 to p. 6-27.

Sam McGowan, "The Hercules of An Loc," Air Force 95:10 (October 2012).

John A. Manney, "Surveillance drones launched and recovered by the 4025th Reconnaissance Squadron provided valuable intelligence on the SAM sites in the North." Vietnam Magazine, October 2007, pp. 17-18. Manney discussed the operations in which he was involved around 1967.

George J. Marrett, Cheating Death: Combat Air Rescues in Vietnam and Laos. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. xi, 225 pp.

Al Martin, "Interview with Al Martin." Oral history interview, conducted by Kim Sawyer and Steve Maxner, January 9, 2001. 103 pp. Pages 67- cover his tour at Nakhon Phanom, flying Skyraiders. He became commander of the 22nd Special Operation Squadron ("Zorro") a few months after he arrived. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Capt. David V. Mastran, USAF, Vietnam 1968: Turning Point. n.p., 2016. iv, 269 pp. Mastran arrived in Vietnam in December 1967 as a USAF lieutenant, assigned to the 7th Air Force staff at Tan Son Nhut. The book is devoted as much to his overall thoughts on the war, and to life in Saigon in 1968, as to his work at 7th Air Force.

James A Mehring, One Patriot's Saga: An Enlisted Man's Story of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Pentland, 1997. Mehring flew in Air Force cargo planes, later Air America aircraft.

Marshall L. Michel III, Clashes: Air Combat over North Vietnam, 1965-1972. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997. viii, 340 pp. Compares USAF with USN performance; argues that USN adjusted much more effectively to changes in the MiG threat.

Marshall L. Michel III, "The Revolt of the Majors: How the Air Force Changed after Vietnam." Ph.D. dissertation, Auburn University, 2006. UMI 3245490. xi, 468 pp. The title is seriously misleading; this dissertation actually contains extensive discussion of the Vietnam War and even the pre-Vietnam era. Operation Linebacker does not come until the seventh of the fifteen chapters. Michel traces disputes over the need for more realistic training, and over the merits of expensive high-tech weapons. The US-Iraq War of 1991 is dealt with briefly at the end. The section of this that I have read looked extremely interesting.

Edward Miguel and Gerard Roland, "The Long Run Impact of Bombing Vietnam." 2005. Compares the postwar conditions (economic, etc.) of the districts of Vietnam that had been most heavily bombed during the war with the conditions of the districts that had been less bombed, and finds surprisingly little difference. The maps alone, showing which parts of Vietnam were heavily and lightly bombed, would make this a valuable paper.

Robert C. Mikesh, B-57 Canberra at War, 1964-1972. New York: Scribner, 1980. 160 pp.

Robert C. Mikesh, Flying Dragons: The South Vietnamese Air Force. MBI Publishing, 1988. 208 pp. Rev. ed. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2005. 224 pp. Extensively illustrated, and with considerable detailed data in appendices.

Rick Morgan, A-3 Skywarrior Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey Publishing, 2015 (forthcoming). The Douglas A-3 was unusually large for a carrier aircraft. It was used in Vietnam initially as a bomber, later more often as a tanker (KA-3B) or tanker/tactical jammer (EKA-3B).

J. M[ichael] Moriarty, Ground Attack Vietnam: The Marines who Controlled the Skies. New York: Ivy, 1993. 294 PP. Moriarty commanded VMO-2 (Marine Observation Squadron 2), flying OV-10 Broncos, approximately 1970. The book is a memoir, rather than the broader study the title suggests.

Major David M. Murane, USAF, "Night Air Operations in Vietnam: An Evolving Doctrine for Counterinsurgency." Master's thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, 1965. vi, 170 pp. ADA371134. Focus is on the period 1962-1964. full text is available online through STINET.

Wayne Mutza, The A-1 Skyraider in Vietnam: The Spad's Last War. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2003. 216 pp. Extensively illustrated.

General Richard B. Myers, USAF, Ret., with Malcolm McConnell, Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security. New York: Threshold Editions (Simon & Schuster), 2009. xii, 339 pp. The main part of the book deals with Myers' service as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2001 to 2005. But he does briefly cover (pp. 40-47) his tour from late 1969 to late 1970 with the 13th Fighter Squadron, based at Udorn in Thailand, flying F-4 Phantoms in missions over Laos. Initially he flew strike missions; later he was a fast FAC. He had a second tour (pp. 48-53) as a Wild Weasel based at Korat, operating over North Vietnam in 1972.
        Myers is sometimes misleading or inaccurate when discussing the broader context of the operations in which he participated. Thus he writes on p. 50: "In October 1972, the Nixon White House began Operation Linebacker I, sending giant B-52 bombers to strike targets in the southern provinces of North Vietnam." In fact Operation Linebacker did not begin in October, it began in May and ended in October. It was carried out primarily by fighter-bombers, not B-52s, and it was directed mainly at the northern part, not the southern part, of North Vietnam.

Bernard C. Nalty, George M. Watson, & Jacob Neufeld, An Illustrated Guide to the Air War over Vietnam: Aircraft of the Southeast Asia Conflict. New York: Arco, 1981. 159 pp.

Claude G. Newland, James W. Reese, et al., eds., The Rustics: A Top Secret Air War in Cambodia, History of the Rustic Forward Air Controllers, 1970-1975. Destin, Florida: Rustic Forward Air Controller Association, 2011. xviii, 468 pp.

Nguyen The Ngoc et al., Hai phong: lich su khang chien chong de quoc My xam luoc. Hanoi: NXB Quan doi nhan dan, 1989. 289 pp.

George Odgers, Mission Vietnam: Royal Australian Air Force Operations, 1964-1972. Canberra: Australian Government Publication Service, 1974. viii, 186 pp.

Robin Olds, with Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus, Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds. New York: St. Martin's, 2010. 416 pp. Olds, a fighter ace in World War II, commanded the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying missions over North Vietnam from Ubon, Thailand, 1966-67. The manuscript of this memoir was incomplete when he died in 2007; Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus completed it.

Robert A. Pape, Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996. viii, 366 pp. The chapter of this book devoted to Vietnam (pp. 174-210) contains some interesting material, but is not always reliable on factual details.

Robert A. Pape, "Coercive Air Power in the Vietnam War." International Security, 15:2 (Autumn 1990), pp. 103-146. If you browse the Internet through an institution that has subscribed to JSTOR, you can access the text online.

Joe Patrick, "Testing the Rules of Engagement." Vietnam Magazine, December 1997, pp, 46-52, 60-61. Looks a bit exaggerated to me.

Gaillard R. Peck, Jr., Sherman Lead: Flying the F-4D Phantom II in Vietnam. Osprey, 2019. 304 pp. Peck flew over North Vietnam and Laos, based at Ubon, Thailand, 1968-69.

The "Pentagon Papers" A detailed history of U.S. policy toward Vietnam, written inside the Defense Department between 1967 and 1969, accompanied by many of the documents that the authors had used as sources. Originally it was classified "top secret." Large portions were published in 1971, and substantial portions—well over 2,000 pages—are available online.

Bill Person, The Queen Bee Delta Project. BookSurge, 2003. QUEEN BEE DELTA was a genuine project that used EC-130B aircraft, based in Thailand, to listen in on Chinese and North Vietnamese radio communications beginning in 1964. But this book, as best I can tell from the excerpt I can read on Amazon.com, appears to be fiction.

Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, with J. Alfred Phelps, Into the Tiger's Jaw: America's First Black Marine Aviator. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1998. 416 pp. Petersen joined the Navy in 1950; he became the first black Marine aviator, and the first black Marine general. He flew in combat in Korea and Vietnam.

Lowell Peterson, The Birds Were Silver Then: Stories of the Vietnam Air War. Appleton, WI: Peterson House, 2006. xxv, 178 pp. Mostly oral history, covering the period 1960-66.

Russell Pettis, Mohawk Recon: Vietnam from Treetop Level with the 1st Cavalry, 1968-1969. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2021. 152 pp. Pettis operated the sensors on an OV-1 Mohawk, a US Army reconnaissance plane.

Norman Polmar, "A Low, Slow Plane for Limited War," Naval History 32:2 (April 2018), pp. 12-13.

Ed Rasimus, Palace Cobra: A Fighter Pilot in the Vietnam Air War. New York: St. Martin's, 2006. xi, 248 pp. Rasimus (see below under Rolling Thunder) flew the F-4 in the 469th TFS, based at Korat, beginning mid-1972.

Red River Valley Fighter Pilots. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 2000. 120 pp.

Jeffrey T. Richelson, ed., The U-2, Oxcart, and the SR-71: U.S. Aerial Espionage in the Cold War and Beyond. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 74. This is a compilation of declassified documents, published online. There is not a lot of Vietnam material, but documents #25 and #26 in the collection are detailed reports (heavily redacted) of reconnaissance flights over North Vietnam in 1967. Index.

Col. Dennis M. (Mike) Ridnouer, The Vietnam Air War: First Person. CreateSpace, 2016. xvii, 478 pp. An oral history, seems to be mostly operations over North Vietnam.

Col. Edward T. Rock, USAF (Ret.), ed., First In, Last Out: Stories by the Wild Weasels. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2005. 628 pp. Stories by members of the Society of Wild Weasels.

Col. Bob Ross, The Warriors: Reflections of a Fighter Pilot, Test Pilot, and Veteran of the Air Wars over Vietnam. Yucca Tree, 2002. 304 pp. Ross served two tours in Vietnam, 1967-68 and 1971-72.

Tom [Thomas W.] Ryan, The Cat Z, 2d ed. New Smyrna Beach, Florida: Luthers Publishing, 2000. 17 pp. plus considerable unpaginated front and back matter. Ryan, an Air Force mechanic, served on C-130A cargo planes. He says he was involved in covert operations into Laos and Cambodia.

Wolfgang W.E. Samuel, Glory Days: The Untold Story of the Men who Flew the B-66 Destroyer into the Face of Fear. Schiffer, 2008. 429 pp. Schiffer flew in EB-66 aircraft of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Takhli, but this is a broad account, not just a memoir.

Col. David O. Scheiding, USAF (RET), The Long Return: Should the Military Be Used as a Political Tool? Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance, 2016. xviii, 182 pp. Scheiding began his tour as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) flying the O-2A in July 1971. He was initially based at Phu Bai with the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron.

Captain Carl Otis Schuster, USN (Ret.), "North Vietnam's light anti-aircraft artillery." Vietnam Magazine, October 2007, pp. 21-22.

Jerry Scutts, Wolfpack: Hunting MiGs over Vietnam. Osceola, Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1988. 138 pp. Wolf-Pack: Hunting MIGs Over Vietnam. Warner, 1989.

Jerry Scutts, Wrecking Crew: The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing in Vietnam.  New York: Warner, 1990.  178 pp.

Dan Shaw, "A Miserable Damn Performance? The Effectiveness of American Air Power Against Insurgency in Vietnam," Air Power Review 19:1 (Spring 2016), pp. 44-55.

Major General Don Shepperd, USAF (Ret.), ed., Misty: First Person Stories of the F-100 Misty FACs in the Vietnam War. Bloomington, IN: 1stBooks, 2002. xxvi, 602 pp. Two-seat F-100F aircraft based initially at Phu Cat, later at Tuy Hoa, operated over North Vietnam and Laos as fast FACs from June 1967 to May 1970. (See also below, under Newman.)

John Darrell Sherwood, Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience.  New York: The Free Press, 1999.  xix, 268 pp.

Jack Sikora and Larry Westin, Batcats: The United States Air Force 553rd Reconnaissance Wing in Southeast Asia. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2003. x, 157 pp. EC-121R Super Constellations, based at Korat in Northeast Thailand, beginning late in 1967.

William Frederick Sleigh, M.D., Vietnam and Cambodia Recalled: It Still Hurts. Xlibris, 2007. 216 pp. Sleigh began service as a FAC late in 1970.

Allan T. Stein, Into the Wild Blue Yonder: My Life in the Air Force. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2005. One (probably short) section deals with his 1966-67 tour in Vietnam as operations officer of the 360 TEWS (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron), which used C-47s to locate enemy units.

John Bull Stirling, A Cold War Memoir. Warrenton, VA: M. Stirling, 1995. 199 pp.

Col. Bob Stoffey, Cleared Hot: A Marine Combat Pilot's Vietnam. New York: St. Martin's, 1992. Stoffey flew helicopters in Vietnam 1965-66, and fixed-wing OV-10 Broncos 1969-70.

Wayne Thompson, To Hanoi and Back: The U.S. Air Force and North Vietnam, 1966-1973.  Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.  xvi, 416 pp.  Foreword by Richard P. Hallion.  This was written as Air Force history. It is not unusual for an official history volume, after publication by the Government Printing Office, to be reprinted by a private-sector publisher.  But in this case what would normally have been the private-sector reprint came out first.  The Government Printing Office edition came out considerably later, as a volume in the series The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia (see under U.S. Air Force Publications for listing, with direct link to the full text, available online).  In any case, from what I have seen of it (I have not yet found time to read it all) this book is very good.

Terry L. Thorsen, Phantom in the Sky: A Marine's Back Seat View of the Vietnam War. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2019. 400 pp. Thorsen flew in Vietnam in 1969 as Radar Intercept Officer in an F-4 Phantom, with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 232, based at Chu Lai.

Earl H. Tilford, Crosswinds: The Air Force's Setup in Vietnam. Texas A&M Press, 1993. (A revised version of a book published by the Air University Press in 1991, listed under Air Force publications.) The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Istvan Toperczer, Air War over North Vietnam: The Vietnamese People's Air Force, 1949-1977. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1998. 64 pp.

Istvan Toperczer, MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey, 2001. 96 pp.

Istvan Toperczer, MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War. Osprey, 2001. 96 pp.

John Trotti, Phantom over Vietnam. Novato: Presidio, 1984. pb New York: Berkley, 1985. Trotti was USMC pilot who arrived in Vietnam January 1966 with VMFA-314.

William R. Upton, Pizza and Mortars: Ba Muoi Ba & Body Bags. Xlibris, 2004. 252 pp. Upton was a crew chief on a Caribou (a U.S. Army transport plane, smaller than the typical Air Force transport), based at Vung Tau, 1965-66.

Capt. Richard E. Urick and Capt. M.L. McDonald, Jr., History of the Twenty-third Special Warfare Aviation Detachment, 1 January 1963 - 31 December 1963. n.d.: United States Army Support Command, Vietnam. The 23d was an experimental Army unit, based at Nha Trang from October 1962 to July 1963, and at Bien Hoa from August to December 1963, flying the OV-1 Mohawk, which did visual observation, aerial photography, control of artillery fire, etc. The text has been placed on-line by Howard Ohlson.

Major Theodore Vander Els, USA, "The Irresistable Weapon" Military Review, August 1971 (vol. LI, no. 8), pp. 80-90. Strategic bombing. pp. 88-89 deal with the bombing of North Vietnam. There was a rather strange response from Thomas A. Sturm, of the Office of Air Force History, in "Reader Forum" of the February 1972 issue (p. 112).

David K. Vaughan, Runway Visions: An American C-130 Pilot's Memoir of Combat Airlift Operations in Southeast Asia, 1967-1968. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1998.

Alan Vick, Snakes in the Eagle's Nest: A History of Ground Attack on Air Bases. Santa Monica: RAND, 1995. xxiv, 165 pp. More than a third of the book deals with the Vietnam War.

William Wagner, Lightning Bugs and other Reconnaissance Drones. Fallbrook, CA: Armed Forces Journal International and Aero Publishers, 1982. 222 pp.

Wayne A. Warner, One Trip Too Many: A Pilot's Memoirs of 38 Months in Combat over Laos and Vietnam. CreateSpace, 2012. 268 pp. Warner did three tours in Southeast Asia, flying the C-130 Hercules (including serving as co-pilot from July 1966 onward of "Blind Bat" flights based at Ubon, in Thailand), the F-105 Thunderchief (based at Takhli), and the A-1 Skyraider (based at Nakhon Phanom). His Air Force career was ended by injuries in a crash in March 1969.

Michael E. Weaver, The Air War in Vietnam. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2022. ix, 612 pp.

Willard J. Webb, "The Single Manager for Air in Vietnam," Joint Force Quarterly, no. 3 (Winter 1993/1994).

Kenneth P. Werrell, Chasing the Silver Bullet: U.S. Air Force Weapons Development from Vietnam to Desert Storm. Washington and London: Smithsonian Books, 2003. vi, 346 pp. Chapters 1 and 2 (pp. 9-54) deal with the Vietnam War.

Edward B. Westermann, "Relegated to the backseat: Farm Gate and the failure of the US air advisory effort in South Vietnam, 1961-1963," in Donald Stoker, ed., Military Advising and Assistance: From Mercenaries to Privatization, 1815-2007 (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 127-150.

Darrel D. Whitcomb, The Rescue of Bat 21. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998. xvi, 196 pp. The rescue of Iceal Hambleton, shot down in Quang Tri province, April 2, 1972, in an area where PAVN forces were so strong, as a result of the Easter Offensive, that helicopter rescue failed, with considerable casualties, so a team had to sneak in on the ground. Very good, not only on the rescue itself but on the context, and USAF attitudes and behavior patterns.

Darrel D. Whitcomb, Moral Imperative: 1972, Combat Rescue, and the End of America's War in Vietnam. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2020. xiv, 370 pp.

Gary N. Willis, Red Markers: Close Air Support for the Vietnamese Airborne, 1962-1975. Manvel, TX: Self-published, 2013. 235 pp. The Red Markers were the forward air controllers who supported the ARVN Airborne Division.

James A. Winnefeld and Dana J. Johnson, Command and Control of Joint Air Operations: Some Lessons Learned from Four Case Studies of an Enduring Issue. R-4045-RC. Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 1991. xxi, 79 pp. The case study of Vietnam 1965-68 (pp. 41-55) looks as if it should be a good, comprehensive summary of the issues.

James A. Winnefeld and Dana J. Johnson, Joint Air Operations: Pursuit of Unity in Command and Control, 1942-1991. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1993. xxv, 219 pp. A considerably expanded version of the preceding item, with Operation Desert Storm added to the previous case studies.

Richard Wood, Call Sign Rustic: The Secret Air War over Cambodia, 1970-1973. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002. xxi, 186 pp.

Col. Tom Yarborough, Danang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Year of Combat over Vietnam. New York: St. Martin's, 1990 (pb New York: St. Martin's, 1991). In fact, a lot of Col. Yarborough's missions during his year (April 1970 to April 1971) were over Laos.

Marilyn B. Young and Yuki Tanaka, eds., Bombing Civilians: a twentieth-century history. New Press, 2009. 291 pp.

Documents on U.S. Army observation aircraft: John Akers and Howard Ohlson have placed a substantial quantity of unit histories and other documents, most but not all of which were from units that flew the OV-1 Mohawk, on their OV-1.com web site. Unit histories and unit documents on this site.

U.S. Air Force Publications. This section includes links to the full texts of many of the items listed, available online.

Congressional Committee Documentation: The Air War

Air Commandos, Air America, etc.

DRV/SRV Works on the DRV's Air and Air Defense Forces

 

Rolling Thunder, 1965-1968

Note: Many books listed above in the general Air War section, and below under The Naval Air War, also contain substantial information about Operation Rolling Thunder. A considerable number of CIA evaluations of Operation Rolling Thunder, and joint CIA/Defense Intelligence Agency evaluations, available online, are listed in CIA Documents.

Lt. Col. G. [Gene] I. Basel, Pak Six: A Story of the War in the Skies of North Vietnam. Associated Creative Writers, 1982. Pb New York: Jove (Berkley), 1987. xii, 161 pp. Basel flew F-105s based at Takhli, 1967 to 1968.

Brig. Gen. Kenneth H. Bell, 100 Missions North: A Fighter Pilot's Story of the Vietnam War. McLean, VA: Brassey's, 1993. Bell flew F-105 Thunderchiefs over North Vietnam, October 1966 to June 1967. He describes every one of the hundred missions.

Paul Darien Berg, "Assessing the United States Air Force Bombing Effectiveness During Rolling Thunder." Ph.D. dissertation, History, Auburn University, 2001. 442 pp. AAT 3016084. Deals with the way the air campaign was assessed while it was going on.

Walter J. Boyne, "Mig Sweep". Air Force Magazine, November 1998 (81:11). Operation BOLO, January 2, 1967. See also under Head, and Kross, below.

Col. Jack [Jacksel] Broughton, Thud Ridge. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1969. Pb New York: Bantam, 1985. Introduction by Hanson W. Baldwin. xv, 261 pp. Memoir by a senior Air Force pilot, of air strikes flown from Thailand against targets in the northern section of North Vietnam.

Col. Jack [Jacksel] Broughton, Going Downtown: The War against Hanoi and Washington. New York: Orion, 1988. Foreword by Tom Wolfe.

Jack Broughton, Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot's Life From Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs. Zenith Press, 2008. 352 pp. Foreword by Richard P. Hallion. Broughton's military career ran from 1945 to 1968.

Bernard-Joseph Cabanes, AFP despatch, datelined Haiphong, October 28, 1967, on the heavy U.S. air attack on transport facilities inland from the Haiphong docks, which he said had begun 50 days earlier. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Stephen B.T. Chun, Rolling Thunder Air Strategy [bibliography]. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Library, 2003.

Tom Clancy, with General Chuck Horner (Ret.), Every Man a Tiger. New York: Putnam's, 1999. xi, 564 pp. Clancy's biography of Horner. Chapter 2 (pp. 72-115) covers Vietnam. Horner's first tour was April-August 1965, with an F-105 unit at Korat. Initially staff, he didn't actually fly missions until May. On his second tour, also at Korat, beginning spring 1967, he was a Wild Weasel.

John T. Correll, "Rolling Thunder". Air Force Magazine, 88:11 (March 2005).

John T. Correll, "Full Day". Air Force Magazine, 88:6 (June 2005), pp. 54-60. Wild Weasels on a mission over the Red River Delta, April 19, 1967.

John T. Correll, "Calculated Courage at Thai Nguyen". Air Force Magazine, 89:2 (February 2006), pp. 68-73. Capt. Merlyn Dethlefsen won the Medal of Honor for his actions flying a wild weasel in a strike against the Thai Nguyen iron and steel plant, north of Hanoi, on March 10, 1967.

Alexander B. Downes, "Targeting Civilians in War." Ph.D. dissertation, Political Science, University of Chicago, 2004. xv, 769 pp. AAT 3125596. A broadly comparative study of 20th century wars. The section on Operation Rolling Thunder, pp. 361-393, starts with two errors in its first paragraph (that the United States "lost over 54,000 dead in combat" in the Vietnam War, and that Rolling Thunder was "the major bombing campaign of the war"), but later gets somewhat better. The text is available online if you are browsing the Internet through an institution that has paid for a subscription to ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. When Downes was editing this very long dissertation into a considerably shorter book (Cornell, 2008), Rolling Thunder was one of the things that he cut out of it.

Stephen Emerson, Air War Over North Vietnam: Operation Rolling Thunder, 1965-1968. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword, 2018. 128 pp.

Steven A. Fino, "Breaking the Trance: The Perils of Technological Exuberance in the U.S. Air Force Entering Vietnam," Journal of Military History 77:2 (April 2013), pp.625-55. The story of how the U.S. Air Force, which had assumed before Vietnam that air combat would mean firing missiles at long ranges against Soviet bombers, moved back to the use of guns when it found itself engaging MiGs at close range over North Vietnam. Very interesting.

John L. Frisbee, "Valiant Volunteer". Air Force Magazine 81:4 (April 1998). RF-101 photoreconnaissance of SAM sites in North Vietnam, mid 1965.

A. Sue Goodman, Rolling Thunder: Air Strategy: Selected References. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Library, 1993. 4 pp. The Text used to be on an Air University web site, but the last time I checked, the link no longer worked; I think it may have been replaced by Chun's bibliography (above).

Richard Hallion, Rolling Thunder 1965–68: Johnson's Air War over Vietnam. Osprey, 2018. 96 pp. Quite critical.

Dan Hampton, The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War. New York: william Morrow (HarperCollins), 2015. 448 pp.

William P. Head, "Robin Olds and the Herors of Operation Bolo: The Lessons Learned From the Day U.S. Air Power Ruled the Skies Over North Vietnam," Air Power History, 65:2 (Summer 2018), pp. 17-31. See also under Boyne above, and Kross below.

Oleg Hoeffding, Bombing North Vietnam: An Appraisal of Economic and Political Effects. RM-5213-1-ISA. Santa Monica: Rand, 1966. 44 pp. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Howard C. "Scrappy" Johnson, and Ian A. O'Connor, Scrappy: Memoir of a U.S. Fighter Pilot in Korea and Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 200. x, 270 pp. Several chapters deal with Johnson's tour as Director of Operations for the 388th TFW, based at Korat, late 1966 to late 1967, flying the F-105 against targets in North Vietnam.

Val Ross Johnson, Night Owl Fighter Pilot. iUniverse, 2006. 312 pp. Johnson flew an F-4C Phantom II from Ubon, Thailand, March to August 1966.

Walt Kross, Splash One: Air Victory over Hanoi. McLean, VA: Brassey's, 1991. By a participant. Deals (among other things?) with Operation Bolo, a January 1967 attack on the DRV's MIG force. See also under Boyne, and Head, above.

Clayton D. Laurie, "Rostow's Panacea: Strategic Air Power, the OSS Enemy Objective Unit, and the Origins of Rolling Thunder." War & Society 27 (May 2008), pp. 105-29.

Al Lenski, Magic 100: The Story of an F-105, 100 Combat Mission Tour, NVN '67. Paducah, KY: Turner, 1995. 128 pp.

Perry D. Luckett and Charles L. Byler, Tempered Steel: The Three Wars of Triple Air Force Cross Winner Jim Kasler. Potomac Books, 2005. 271 pp. Kasler, who had become an ace in Korea, was with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying F-105s from Takhli, from February 1966 until he was shot down in August. He was a POW until 1973.

Norman Malayney, "Gull One Down", American Aviation Historical Society Journal, 52:3 (Fall 2007). An RB-66C hit by a SAM northwest of Vinh on 25 February 1966 was the first RB-66 to be lost in the Vietnam War.

Meyrowitz, Dr Henri, "More Rolling Thunder," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIII, No. 5 (July-August 1982): 91-92. A commentary on the article by W. Hays Parks, below.

William H. Monger, Support Troops: Behind the Scenes of the Air War in Vietnam. Self published, 2020. 294 pp. Monger was at Takhli, Thailand, in 1968, doing maintenance on the fire-control systems of F-105 aircraft that flew missions over North Vietnam.

Rick Newman and Don Shepperd, "A Day in the Life of the Misty FACs", Air Force Magazine 89:6 (June 2006). Mission by an F-105F based at Phu Cat, November 8, 1967.

Parks, W. Hays, "Rolling Thunder and the Law of War," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIII, No. 2 (January-February 1982): pp. 2-23.

Piowaty, Lt Col John F. "Reflections of a Thud Driver," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2 (January-February 1983): pp. 52-57.

John Prados, "The '65 Decision: Bombing Soviet SAM Sites in North Vietnam." VVA Veteran, 26:1 (January-February 2006), pp. 19-23.

Merle L. Pribbenow, II, "The -Ology War: Technology and Ideology in the Vietnamese Defense of Hanoi, 1967." Journal of Military History, 67:1 (January 2003), pp. 175-200. The text is available to subscribers on Project Muse.

Project RED BARON I: Air-to-Air Encounters in Southeast Asia. A study of air combat incidents between U.S. and hostile aircraft up to August 1, 1967, produced under the auspices of the Systems Analysis Division of the Institute for Defense Analysis and the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group. Published as a CD-ROM by Carr's Compendiums in the series Carr's Compendium of the Vietnam War.

Ed Rasimus, When Thunder Rolled: An F-105 Pilot Over North Vietnam. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. xiii, 261 pp. Rasimus was pilot with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, based at Korat, May to November 1966. (For sequel see above in the main Air War section.)

Rubin, Alfred P., "Rolling Thunder Reconsidered," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIII, No. 4 (May-June 1982): pp. 66-67.

Harrison Salisbury, a veteran journalist and an assistant managing editor of the New York Times, aroused a storm of controversy by his reporting from Hanoi in December 1966 and January 1967. He said that American bombing was hitting civilians more often in North Vietnam, and was less effective in destroying its intended targets, than the US government was claiming. For a number of works on this affair see under The Media.

John T. Smith, Rolling Thunder [subtitle variously The Strategic Bombing Campaign, North Vietnam 1965-1968 or The American Strategic Bombing Campaign Against North Vietnam 1964-68]. Walton on Thames, England: Air Research Publications, 1994. 360 pp.

James Clay Thompson, Rolling Thunder: Understanding Policy and Program Failure. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980. xv, 199 pp.

Peter Weiss, Réponse à Johnson sur les bombardements limités ou l'Escalade U.S. au Vietnam d'avril à juin 1968. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1968. 78 pp.

Peter Weiss and Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss, 'Limited Bombing' in Vietnam: Report on the Attacks Against the Democratic Repubic of Vietnam by the U.S. Air Force and the Seventh Fleet, After the Declaration of 'Limited Bombing' by President Johnson on March 31, 1968. London: Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, 1969. 39 pp.

C2C Diego M. Wendt, "Using a Sledghammer to Kill a Gnat: The Air Force Failure to Comprehend Insurgent Doctrine during Operation Rolling Thunder." Airpower Journal, IV:2 (Summer 1990), pp. 52-64. The TEXT is available online at an Air University web site.

Wolfe, Maj Gen J. P., Canadian Defense Forces, "More 'Rolling Thunder'," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIII, No. 6 (September-October 1982): 82-83. A brief comment on the article by W. Hays Parks (above), with a response by Parks.

 

See also USAF CHECO Reports on Operation Rolling Thunder.

See also Joint CIA/DIA reports on Operation Rolling Thunder.

 

Linebacker and Linebacker II, 1972

Note: Many books listed above in the general Air War section also contain substantial information about Operations Linebacker and Linebacker II.

Stephen E. Ambrose, "The Christmas Bombing", MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 4 (Winter 1992), pp. 8-17.

Dr. Albert Atkins, We Won: And Then There Was Linebacker II: Strategic and Political Issues Surrounding the Bombing Campaign. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009. xv, 237 pp.

Bang Giang et. al., Ban roi tai cho may bay B.52: hoi ky. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1978. 381 pp.

Walter J. Boyne, "Linebacker II." Air Force Magazine, November 1997 (80:11). The text has been placed online.

Stephen B.T. Chun, Linebacker I and II: Air Strategy [bibliography]. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Library, 2003.

Peter E. Davies, B-52 Stratofortress vs SA-2 'Guideline' SAM. Osprey, 2018 (forthcoming). 80 pp. I am not impressed by the publisher's blurb for this book on Amazon.

Dien Bien Phu tren khong: qua nhung trang hoi ky. Hanoi: NXB Quan Do Nhan Dan, 2007. 241 pp.

Dana Drenkowski and Lester W. Grau, "Patterns and Predictability: The Soviet Evaluation of Operation Linebacker II." Journal of Slavic Military Studies 20 (October-December 2007), pp. 559-607. The text (repaginated reprint).

DRVN Commission for Investigation of the US Imperialists' War Crimes in Vietnam, The Late December 1972 US Blitz on North Vietnam. Hanoi, 1973. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in three parts: pp. 1-56, pp. 57-64.

Colonel G. Alan Dugard, When the Wolf Rises: Linebacker II, The Eleven Day War. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2011. 280 pp. The brief excerpt from this book that was placed on Amazon.com did not make a good impression on me.

Stephen Emerson, Vietnam's Final Air Campaign: Operation Linebacker I & II, May-December 1972. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Military, 2019. 136 pp.

Karl J. Eschmann, Linebacker: The Untold Story of the Air Raids Over North Vietnam. New York: Ivy, 1989. ix, 273 pp.

Jeffrey Ethell & Alfred Price, One Day in a Long War. New York: Random House, 1989. pb New York: Berkley, 1991. xvi, 223 pp. Detailed story of May 10, 1972, the first day of Operation Linebacker.

A. Sue Goodman, Linebacker I & II: Air Strategy: Selected References. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Library, 1993. 6 pp. Text available online at an Air University web site.

Lt. Col. John Wayne Goodson, USAF (ret.), The Mighty Eighth: The Human Story of How the Vietnam War Was Won. Mustang, Oklahoma: Tate Publishing, 2010. From July 1972 onward, Goodson was director of information at Andersen Air Force Base, on Guam.

Rebecca Grant, "Linebacker II," Air Force 95:12 (December 2012).

Peter Grier, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," Air Force Magazine, 98:10 (October 2015).

Phil Haun and Colin Jackson, "Breaker of Armies: Air Power in the Easter Offensive and the Myth of Linebacker I and II in the Vietnam War," International Security 40:3 (Winter 2015/2016), pp. 139-78.

Martin F. Herz, with Leslie Rider, The Prestige Press and the Christmas Bombing, 1972: Images and Reality in Vietnam. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985. xiii, 103 pp. Very critical of the press.

George R. Jackson, Linebacker II: An Examination of Strategic Use of Air Power. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Air University, 1989. iv, 65 pp.

Maj. Calvin R. Johnson, Linebacker Operations, September - December 1972. vi, 106 pp. A Project CHECO report. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Dana J. Johnson, Roles and Missions for Conventionally Armed Heavy Bombers: An Historical Perspective. N-3481-AF. Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 1994. xxvii, 128 pp. General discussion of Vietnam: pp. 51-83;   detailed data on Linebacker II: pp. 102-124;   Desert Storm: pp. 83-88.

Kenneth S. Katta, "Terror Night over Vinh," Air Power History, 66:2 (Summer 2019), pp. 45-49. The loss of Olive 2 on November 22, 1972, the first American B-52 shot down over North Vietnam.

The Late December 1972 US Blitz on North Viet Nam. Hanoi: DRVN Commission for Investigation of the US Imperialists' War Crimes in Viet Nam, (1973?). 66 pp.

Raymond W. Leonard, "Learning from History: Linebacker II and U.S. Air Force Doctrine." Journal of Military History, 58:2 (April 1994), pp. 267-303. If you browse the Internet through an institution that has subscribed to JSTOR, you can access the text directly or go through the JSTOR Journal of Military History browse page.

Lich su nghe thuat chien dich phong khong thang 12 nam 1972. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1997. 394 pp.

Luu Ngoc Chien et. al., Ha Noi thang chap nam 1972: ky su. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1992. 194 pp.

Brig. Gen. James R. McCarthy and Col. Robert E. Rayfield, Linebacker II: A View from the Rock. Maxwell AFB: Air War College, 1979; reprinted Washington: GPO, 1985. xvi + 208 pp. The FULL TEXT is available online at HathiTrust.

James R. McCarthy and Robert E. Rayfield, B-52s Over Hanoi: A Linebacker II Story. Fullerton, CA: California State Fullerton Press, 1995. 163 pp.

Mat dat bau troi nguoi Ha Noi. Hanoi: NXB Thanh Nien, 1973. 265 pp.

Lt. Col. Philip S. Michael, The Strategic Significance of Linebacker II: Political, Military, and Beyond. Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College, 2003. 24 pp. The text is online.

Marshall L. Michel III, The Eleven Days of Christmas: America's Last Vietnam Battle. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2002. viii, 325 pp.

Marshall L.Michel III, Operation Linebacker II 1972: The B-52s are sent to Hanoi. Osprey, 2018 (forthcoming). 96 pp.

12 ngay ruc ro chien cong lam nuc long the gioi. Hanoi: Su That, 1973. 134 pp.

Nguyen Xuan Mau, Dien Bien Phu tren khong: hoi ky. Hanoi: Nha xuat ban Chinh tri quoc gia, 2007. 87 pp.

W. Hays Parks, "Linebacker and the Law of War," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2 (January-February 1983), pp. 2-30.

M.F. Porter, Linebacker: Overview of the First 120 Days. xii, 83 pp. A Project CHECO report. Most of the text (some of the front matter missing) has been placed on-line in Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Carol Reardon, Launch the Intruders! A Naval Attack Squadron in the Vietnam War, 1972. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005. xviii, 419 pp. Medium Attack Squadron 75 (VA-75), flying A-6 Intruders from the aircraft carrier Saratoga in operations Linebacker and Linebacker II.

John T. Smith, The Linebacker Raids: The Bombing of North Vietnam, 1972. London: Arms and Armour, 1998. 224 pp.

I.F. Stone, "Nixon's Blitzkrieg." New York Review of Books, 19:11-12 (January 25, 1973), pp. 13-16.

Thanh Uy - Uy Ban Nhan Dan Thanh Pho Ha Noi, Vien Lich Su Quan Su Viet Nam, Chien Thang B.52. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1997. 371 pp. A large number of short pieces by various authors.

Leonard D. G. Teixeira, Linebacker II: A Strategic and Tactical Case Study. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Air University, 1990. v, 32 pp.

Tran Nhan, Ha Noi, Dien Bien Phu tren khong: hoi ky (Hanoi, Dien Bien Phu in the Sky). Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1992. 122 pp. 2d ed. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2004. 150 pp.

George N. Walne, International Law: The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations and the Linebacker Bombing Campaigns of the Vietnam War, AFP 110-31. Alexandria, VA: Center for Naval Analyses, 1987. i, 30 pp.

Kenneth P. Werrell, "Linebacker II--The Decisive Use of Air Power?" Air University Review, Jan-Mar 1987, 38:48-61.

Darrel Whitcomb, "The Non-Rescue of Jackel 33 During Linebacker II," Air Power History, 65:4 (Winter 2018) pp. 7-14. An F-111A, flown by Capt. Robert Spooneybarger and 1st Lt. Bill Wilson, shot down on a mission against Hanoi on the night of December 22, 1972.

Darrel Whitcomb, "Rescue Operations During Linebacker II," Air Power History, 65:2 (Summer 2018) pp. 31-44.

John K. Whitmore, "Nation-Building Narratives in Viet Nam: A Memoir on B-52s and Their Aftermath," East Asia 29:1 (March 2012), pp. 15-23. Whitmore, a historian of Vietnam teaching at the University of Michigan, visited Hanoi in January 1973, and found that the Vietnamese had already fitted Linebacker II into their narrative of victory over foreign aggression.

 

The Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF)

Albert Grandolini, Fall of the Flying Dragon, South Vietnamese Air Force 1973–75. Houston, TX: Harpia, 2011. 253 pp. Extensively illustrated.

J. Hoehn, USAF et SVNAF au Sud Vietnam (1961-1973). La Riviere, 2004.

Jim Mesko, VNAF: South Vietnamese Air Force: 1945-1975. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1987. 64 pp.

Gen. William W. Momyer, The Vietnamese Air Force, 1951-1975, an Analysis of its Role in Combat. This monograph, online at Hathi Trust, makes up the first half of Volume III of the USAF Southeast Asia Monograph Series.

Anthony J. Tambini, F-5 Tigers over Vietnam. Boston: Branden Books, 2001. 93 pp. VNAF air operations.

Hoi B. Tran, A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War. Xlibris, 2011. 439 pp. By a VNAF officer, very anti-Communist, originally from North Vietnam.

 

Air War over Laos

Air Force Magazine.

Victor B. Anthony and Richard R. Sexton, The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia: The War in Northern Laos, 1954-1973. Washington, D.C.: Center for Air Force History, 1993. vii, 400 pp. This was originally published with a classification of "Secret." There is now a copy, moderately redacted, online at the National Security Archive.

Lt. Col. Jim Cain, Butterfly 70/Raven 41. Peyton, CO: Peak Vista Press, 2010. ix, 219 pp.

Joseph D. Celeski, Special Air Warfare and the Secret War in Laos: Air Commmandos 1964-1975. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Press, 2019. xxxii, 483 pp.

Jan Churchill, Classified Secret: Controlling Airstrikes in the Clandestine War in Laos.  Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press, 2000.  xvii, 161 pp.  Foreword by Brig. Gen. Harry C. Aderholt.

Peter E. Davies, Ho Chi Minh Trail 1964-73: Steel Tiger, Barrel Roll, and the Secret Air Wars in Vietnam and Laos. Oxford, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. 96 pp.

Richard E. Diller, Firefly: A Skyraider's Story About America's Secret War Over Laos. Dog Ear Publishing, 2013. 312 pp. Diller, based at Nakhon Phanom, flew missions over both northern and southern Laos, usually at night, between April 1969 and March 1970.

Richard S. Drury, My Secret War. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1979. pb New York: St. Martin's, 1986. xiii, 287 pp. By a pilot who flew a Skyraider over Laos, late 1960's.

Craig W. Duehring, The Lair of Raven. CreateSpace, 2014. 228 pp. Duehring was a forward air controller 1969-70 in South Vietnam, and 1970-71 in Laos.

Clyde Edgerton, Solo: My Adventures in the Air. (Chapel Hill?): Algonquin, 2005. 288 pp. I am not sure how much of the book is devoted to Edgerton's tour as a FAC over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, 1970-71, based at Nakhon Phanom.

Kenny Wayne Fields, The Rescue of Streetcar 304: A Navy Pilot's Forty Hours on the Run in Laos. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007. xviii, 311 pp.

Roger D. Graham, The Nimrods: The A-26 Nimrods and the Secret War in Laos... Timeless American Courge in Combat: Lessons Learned for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the War on Terror. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2007. 248 pp. Most of the book deals with the 609th Air Commando Squadron, based at Nakhon Phanom in Thailand and flying missions mostly over Laos, in which Graham served 1967-68. Three chapters are cheerleading ("Americans need to suport President Bush and successors" is actually a line item in the table of contents) for recent conflicts.

John T. Halliday, Flying Through Midnight: A Pilot's Dramatic Story of His Secret Missions over Laos during the Vietnam War. New York: Scribner, 2005. 416 pp. Halliday served with the 606th Special Operations Squadron, flying Candlestick missions over Laos, beginning in 1970.

Phil Haun, "Misty FACs of the Vietnam War." Air Power History 50 (Winter 2003), pp. 38-45.

Daniel S. Hoadley, "'The Junkyard Air Force': The A-26A Nimrod in Combat Over Laos, 1966-69." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2001. viii, 79 pp. The text has been placed online (with the pages a bit out of order) by STINET.

David R. "Buff" Honodel, The Phantom Vietnam War: An F-4 Pilot's Combat over Laos. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2018.

Edward J. Marolda, "Survival, Evasion, Resistance & Escape," Naval History 38:2 (April 2024), pp. 20-27. Navy Lieutenant Charles F. "Chuck" Klusmann, flying an RF-8A Crusader on a Yankee Team photoreconnaissance mission from USS Kitty Hawk, was the first US pilot shot down in Laos, on June 6, 1964.

Rick Newman and Don Shepperd, Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Foreword by John McCain. New York: Presidio, 2006. xxii, 480 pp. FACs mostly flying F-100s. (See also above, under Shepperd.)

Frederick F. Nyc, III, Blind Bat: C-130 Night Forward Air Controller, Ho Chi Minh Trail.   Austin: Eakin Press, 2000.  x, 173 pp.

William E. Platt, Low and Slow: Fly and Fight Laos. n.p.: WEP11345Books, 2015. 178 pp. Platt, Raven 43, flew an O-a Bird Dog based at Long Tieng in Laos, December 1969 to June 1970. Phtographs and maps to accompany the book are available online.

Karl L. Polifka, Meeting Steve Canyon ...and Flying with the CIA in Laos. CreateSpace, 2013. 218 pp. Polifka was in Southeast Asia 1968-69, initially as a FAC flying an O-1F Bird Dog based at Gia Nghia, in Quang Duc province, southern II Corps, and later as a Raven (Raven 45), based at Long Tieng in Laos. He is critical of the way the Air Force handled the Vietnam War.

Christopher Robbins, The Ravens: The Men Who Flew America's Secret War in Laos. New York: Crown, 1987. xi, 420 pp. 3d ed.: The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War of Laos. Bangkok: Asia Books, 2000. 476 pp.

Priscilla Roberts, The British Royal Air Force: Operations over Laos against the Ho Chi Minh Trail, 1962, Cold War International History Project Working Paper no. 89. Washington, DC Woodrow Wilson Center, December 14, 2018. British aircraft secretly flew a few missions to deliver supplies to pro-US forces in Laos between July and November 1962.

Chia Youyee Vang, Fly Until You Die: An Oral History of Hmong Pilots in the Vietnam War. New York: Oxford Univesity Press, 2019. xii, 218 pp.

Chia Youyee Vang, with Pao Yang, Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot's Story of Escaping Death and Confronting Life. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2021. 162 pp. Pao Yang was a T-28 pilot for Vang Pao's forces. He was shot down and captured in 1972.

 

See also Laos.

See also Air Commandos, Air America, etc..

See also USAF CHECO Reports on the air war over Laos.

 

Fixed-Wing Gunships

Walter J. Boyne, "The Awesome Power of USAF Gunships". Air Force Magazine, April 1999 (82:4).

MSGT. David M. Burns, Spectre Gunner: The AC-130 Gunship. iUniverse, 2013. 138 pp.

Larry Elton Fletcher, Charlie Chasers: History of USAF AC-119 "Shadow" Gunships in the Vietnam War. Hellgate Press, 2013. 300 pp.

William Head, Shadow and Stinger: Development of the AC-119G/K Gunships in the Vietnam War. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2007. xii, 340 pp.

William Head, Night Hunters: The AC-130s and Their Role in US Airpower. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2014. 448 pp. Almost half the book deals with the period of the Vietnam War.

Jeff Noecker, Callsign: Spectre. iUniverse, 2011. 180 pp.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Reneau, USAF, Retired, Spectre O7: Memoir of a Risk-Taker. CreateSpace, 2019. 108 pp. Two chapters (pp. 57-83) seem to deal with his Vietnam War service. He flew a Spectre AC-130 gunship 1968-69.

Lt. Col. Henry Zeybel, USAF (Ret.), "Truck Count," Air University Review, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2 (January-February 1983), pp. 36-45. A very interesting account of attacks by AC-130 Spectre gunships against trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, 1970-1972, and the problem of figuring out how many trucks had actually been destroyed.

 

Helicopters

Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV). For the early years of this organization see Rowney, below. A number of reports of ACTIV have been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Jim Albrigtsen, No More Tears for the Dead! PublishAmerica, 2006. 527 pp. Albrigtsen served 1968-69 with the 187th Assault Helicopter Company.

Ron Alexander and Charles W. Sasser, Taking Fire: The True Story of a Decorated Chopper Pilot. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. 320 pp. Lieutenant Alexander arrived in Vietnam in 1969; he flew for the 1st Cavalry Division.

John Arick, oral history. Arick, a Marine helicopter pilot, arrived in Vietnam in May 1966. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, in four parts: part 1 (background), part 2 (includes his arrival in Vietnam in 1966), part 3, part 4.

Robert R. Arnau, et. al., "Knife Tales": 21st Special Operations Squadron, Nakon Phanom, AB, Thailand. July 5, 2005. 25 pp. A collection of stories, mostly of CH-3 operations in Laos, some supporting SOG. The text has been placed online in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

David A. Ballentine, Gunbird Driver: A Marine Huey Pilot's War in Vietnam. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2008. xxiv, 236 pp. Ballentine flew a US-1E with Marine Observation Squadron Six (VMO-6), March 1966 to April 1967, based at Ky Ha.

Samuel K. Beamon, Flying Death: The Vietnam Experience. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007. xiv, 216 pp. Beamon was in Vietnam from late 1966 to mid 1968, as a crew chief on CH-34 helicopters. He went to Vietnam with HMM-262, but was with HMM-164 for almost all the time he was there.

[Larry Booda?], "Vietnam War Proving Helicopter's Value as Weapon," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 80:16 (April 20, 1964), pp. 104-6.

Jerome M. Boyle, Apache Sunrise. New York: Ivy, 1994. 258 pp. Boyle flew Cobra helicopters in A (Apache) Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, for about one-and-a-half years starting March 1970. This book apparently covers the early part of his service, when he was flying co-pilot. There may be a sequel on the later months, after he graduated to aircraft commander, during part of which he flew air cover for ARVN in Cambodia.

Patrick Henry Brady, with Meghan Brady Smith, Dead Men Flying: Victory in Viet Nam: The Legend of Dust Off: America's Battlefield Angels. Washington, DC: WND Books, 2012. iii, 328 pp. Brady, a medical evacuation helicopter pilot with the 54th Medical Detachment, based at Chu Lai, won the Medal of Honor for exceptional heroism during multiple evacuation missions on January 6, 1968.

Major General Robert J. Brandt, Thunderbird Lounge: An aviator's story about one early transportation helicopter company, along with its sister companies as they paved the way in what was to become a "helicopter war" Victoria, British Columbia: Trafford, 2001. xiv, 306 pp. Brandt, a lieutenant only recently gone from the National Guard to active duty in the Army, went to Vietnam September 1962 with the 33d Transportation Company, a CH-21 Shawnee helicopter company sent to Bien Hoa. Toward the end of his tour, which ended in August 1963, the 33d became the 118th Aviation Company, and prepared to replace CH-21s with UH-2Bs.

N. G. Brown, Blue Max: Missions and Memories. Outskirts Press, 2006. 228 pp. Brown flew Cobra gunships with the 2/20 Aerial Rocket Artillery "Blue Max"), 1st Cavalry Division. He also (previously?) flew hueys.

Dick Camp, Assault from the Sky: U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Operations in Vietnam. Casemate, 2013. 264 pp.

Ronald Carey, The War Above the Trees. Trafford Publishing, 2004. 414 pp. The story of Operation Wayne Grey from March 1 to April 14, 1969, in (and near?) the Plei Trap Valley. Carey was a crew chief on a helicopter supporting the 4th Infantry Division.

Chuck Carlock, Firebirds: The Best First-person account of Helicopter Combat in Vietnam ever Written. Summit, 1995. 285 pp. Mostly this is stories by Carlock, who served 1967-68 in the 71st Assault Company, 14th Aviation Battalion. Some is by other men from the unit.

Chuck Carlock, "Interview with Chuck Carlock." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, May 5, 2000. 69 pp. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Chuck Carlock and Ron Seabolt, eds., Rattlers and Firebirds: Combat Action with an Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam. North Richland Hills, Texas: Smithfield Press, 2004. xi, 292 pp.

Jerry W. Childers, Without Parachutes: How I Survived 1,000 Attack Helicopter Combat Missions in Vietnam. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2006. Childers began his first tour in Vietnam in November 1964 as a UH-1D Huey pilot but immediately transferred to the 68th Armed Helicopter Company to fly UH-1B gunships. His last tour, commanding a unit based at Can Tho, ended in 1973. The back cover says he "helped pioneer attack helicopter combat tactics."

James R. Chiles, "Air America's Black Helicopter: The secret aircraft that helped the CIA tap phones in North Vietnam", Air & Space Magazine, March 2008. The Hughes 500P helicopter was a variant of the OH-6A, with extensive modifications to allow it to fly quietly. The CIA used it only once during the Vietnam War, flying from Laos into North Vietnam to place a wiretap on a telephone line south of Vinh on the night of December 5-6, 1972.

James R. Chiles, "Easter Sunday at Vinh Long", Air & Space Magazine, December 2018. The 175th Assault Helicopter Company encountered heavy opposition when transporting ARVN troops for an operation in the Mekong Delta on March 26, 1967.

Philip D. Chinnery, Vietnam: The Helicopter War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991.

Nick Cirincione, "Interview with Nick Cirincione." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, April 19, 2000. 36 pp. Cirincione had served in Brazil as a field representative for Bell Helicoptes before he was sent to Vietnam in February 1970. He initially worked at a school at Vung Tau, then was sent to Danang, initially working with Marines there, later Army. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Jimmy N. Coffman, "Interview with Jimmy Coffman." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, April 11, 2000. 47 pp. Coffman was ROTC at Oklahoma State University, and entered the Army after graduating in 1966. Went to Vietnam in August 1968 as a fixed-wing pilot. Later did a tour May 1972 to March 1973 as a helicopter pilot, part of which was flying VIPs like John Paul Vann in the 201st Aviation Company, part was flying Cobras with the 7/17 Cavalry. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Bill Collier, The Adventures of a Helicopter Pilot: Flying the H-34 Helicopter in Vietnam for the United States Marine Corps. Sandpoint, Iowa: Wandering Star Press, 2014. xvi, 214 pp. I believe Collier arrived in Vietnam in August 1966 for a 13-month tour.

John T. Correll, "A Habit of Heroism". Air Force Magazine, 93:1 (January 2010), pp. 63-67. Duane Hackney, a pararescue jumper who became the most decorated airman in the Air Force. He began his first Vietnam tour in September 1966, with the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, based at Danang, flying aboard HH-3E Jolly Green Giants.

Robert Curtis, Surprised at Being Alive: An Accidental Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam and Beyond. Havetown, PA: Casemate, 2014. Curtis surved late in the war. For at least part of his time he flew for an assault helicopter company, C/159, 101st Airborne Division, based at Phu Bai and/or Camp Eagle.

Alfred DeMailo, "Interview with Alfred DeMailo." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, January 24, 2003. 145 pp. After training at Fort Rucker, DeMailo was sent to Vietnam about April 1967, assigned to D Company, 229th Aviation Battalion, a gunship unit supporting the 1/9 Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division in II Corps. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

David L. Eastman, Outlaws in Vietnam: 1966-67 in the Delta. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Peter E. Randall, 2001. xii, 457 pp. Eastman flew Hueys in the 175th Aviation Company ("Outlaws"), based at Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta, October 1966 to October 1967.

Steve Eather, Get the Bloody Job Done: The Royal Australian Navy Helicopter Flight-Vietnam and the 135th Assault Helicopter Company, 1967-1971. St. Leonards, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1998. xxv, 166 pp.

Joseph R. Finch, Angel's Wing: A Year in the Skies of Vietnam. Bartleby, 2002. Finch served with A Company, 25th Aviation Battalion (The Little Bears) in 1969.

Dominic Fino, The Making of a Falcon. New York: Vantage, 1995. xi, 232 pp. Fino flew from April 1969 to April 1970 with the 335th Assault Helicopter Company.

John Flanagan, Born in Brooklyn. . . Raised in the CAV! XLibris, 2001. 238 pp. Flanangan was Saber Blue 37, piloting a Huey in a reconnaissance unit, B Troop, 1/9 Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, April 1967 to April 1968.

Bob Ford, Black Cat 2-1: The True Story of a Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and His Crew. Ford was in Vietnam July 1967 to July 1968. Brown Books, 2015. 288 pp.

Captain Jim E. Fulbrook, "Lam Son 719." Published in three parts in U.S. Army Aviation Digest, June-August, 1988. Part I, "Prelude to Air Assault," 32:6 (June 1986), pp. 3-15; Part II, "The Battle," 32:7 (July 1986), pp. 35-45;   Part III, "Reflections and Values," 32:8 (August 1986), pp. 3-13. All three parts have been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Paul Gardner, Once a Boy: A Vietnam Memoir. Baldwin Park, CA: Mystic Dragon Publishing, 2021. 176 pp. Garder arrived in Vietnam in 1967. My impression is that he served part of his tour in a ground unit, and part as door gunner on a helicopter, but I have not actually seen the book.

Mark Garrison, Guts 'N Gunships: What It War Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam. Wise Media Group, 2015. 282 pp. Garrison was drafted in 1967, arrived in Vietnam in October 1968, served in the 119th Assault Helicopter Company, based at Pleiku.

John J. Gebhart, LBJ's Hired Gun: A Marine Corps Helicopter Gunner and the War in Vietnam. Casemate, 2007. 384 pp. Gebhart served two years, 1965-1967.

John J. Gillen, Whispers of Truth Amidst the Roars of the Insane: Memoirs of a helicopter pilot's combat tour in Tay Ninh, Vietnam 1968. Independently published, 2023.

John B. Givhan, Rice and Cotton: South Vietnam and South Alabama. Philadephia: Xlibris, 2000. 304 pp. Givhan arrived in Vietnam in September 1963, and flew the CH-21 Shawnee with the 120th Aviation Company, the "Deans," based at Tan Son Nhut. He was badly wounded April 12, 1964, during the Battle of Kien Long, much farther south in the Mekong Delta than the Deans' usual operating area. This battle was an offensive operation by a Viet Cong regiment. Givhan's Vietnam and post-Vietnam experiences are intermingled.

Rex Gooch, The Aviators: Stories of U.S. Army Helicopter Combat in the Vietnam War, 1971-72. Sioux Falls, SD: Lighthorse Publishing, 2019. My impression is that Gooch served initially with C Troop, 3-17 Cavalry, based at Vinh Long; then with the 18th Aviation Company based at Can Tho; and then with the 17th Aviation Group based at Pleiku. The book included stories of some experiences of other men in the units in which Gooch served.

Rex Gooch, Ace: The Story of Lt. Col. Ace Cozzalio. Sioux Falls, SD: Lighthorse Publishing / CreateSpace, 2015. 294 pp.

William T. Grant, Wings of the Eagle: A Kingsmen's Story. New York: Ivy, 1994. 340 pp. Grant was a helicopter pilot, in Vietnam March 1968 to March 1969, apparently working a lot with LRPs of Company F, 58th Infantry (the LRP unit of the 101st Airborne Division).

Barry Gregory, Vietnam Helicopter Handbook. Wellingborough, England: Patrick Stephens, 1988. 152 pp.

Chuck Gross, Rattler One-Seven: A Vietnam Helicopter Pilot's War Story. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2004. xiii, 229 pp. Gross was in Vietnam May 1970 to May 1971, with the 71st Assault Helicopter Company in I Corps. He participated in Lam Son 719.

John Guilmartin, Jr., and Michael O'Leary, Helicopters. Illustrated History of the Vietnam War, no. 11. New York: Bantam, 1988. 158 pp.

William H. Heilman, A Pilot's Tale: Flying Helicopters in Vietnam. Lulu.com, 2008. 324 pp. Heilman served two tours.

Harold Hester, Heaven's Luck. Pittsburgh: CeShore, 2001. 220 pp. About the 269th Combat Aviation Battalion. Supposed to be non-fiction, though the description of it I have seen makes me wonder (I have not seen the book itself). I don't think it is based on personal experience.

Russell Hiett, "Interview with Russell Hiett." Oral history interviews, conducted by Stephen Maxner, May 9, 15, 17, 2001. 51, 48, 23 pp. Hiett joined the Army after graduating from college in 1968, was trained as a Cobra pilot. He arrived in Vietnam October 31, 1970, and was assigned to the 134th Assault Helicopter Company, flying underpowered Charlie model gunships (not Cobras). The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, in three parts: pp. 1-51,   pp. 1-48 (this is the segment that covers his time in Vietnam), and pp. 1-23.

Charles Holley and Mike Sloniker, Primer of the Helicopter War. Grapevine, TX: Nissi Publications, 1997. ix, 182, 14 pp.

Carl John Horn III, "Military innovation and the helicopter: A comparison of development in the United States Army and Marine Corps, 1945--1965." Ph.D. dissertation, History, Ohio State University, 2003. 363 pages. AAT 3124083. The text is available online if you are browsing the Internet through an institution that has paid for a subscription to ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

William G. Howard, MAJ, USA, "History of Aeromedical Evacuation in the Korean War and Vietnam War." M.S. Thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2003. The text (sanitized?) has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, in three parts: pp. 1-vi, 1-36 (Introduction and Background, Korean War);   pp. 37-78 (Vietnam War, Conclusions and Recommendations);   pp. 79-93 (Appendices, Bibliography).

Matt Jackson, Undaunted Valor: An Assault Helicopter Unit in Vietnam, 1969-1970, volume 1. Matt Jackson Books, 2019. viii, 425 pp. Jackson served in the 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion. The cover says "volume 1," but the table of contents gives the impression that this is the whole story.

Tom A. Johnson, To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2006. xi, 396 pp. pb New York: NAL Caliber (Penguin), 2007. xi, 396 pp. Johnson served in the 229th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 1st Cavalry Division, June 1967 to June 1968.

James Joyce, Pucker Factor 10: Memoir of a U.S. Army Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003. viii, 204 pp. Joyce flew both slicks and gunships.

Richard C. Kirkland, Tales of a Helicopter Pilot. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002. 192 pp. The portions dealing with Vietnam apparently are not the author's own experiences, but those of some other helicopter pilots.

Colonel Emmett F. Knight, First in Vietnam: An Exercise in Excess of 30 Days: The U.S. Army 57th Transportation Helicopter Company (Light Helicopter) (CH-21), 1961-1962. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2014. xiv, 348 pp. 2d ed. A15 Publishing. Knight was the operations officer of the unit.

Doug Kroll, "The Coast Guard Flies in Vietnam." Naval History, October 1996, pp. 36-39. Coast Guard pilots on exchange with Air Force units, flying HH-3E Jolly Greens, HC-130s, etc., 1968-1972.

Randall Kunkleman, "Interview with Randall Kunkleman." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, October 1, 1999. 34 pp. Kunkelman was drafted in 1968, went to Vietnam in March 1969 with B Troop, 2/17 Cavalry, doing maintenance and arming Cobra helicopters. He was based at Camp Eagle, but was sometimes sent to forward bases. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Bruce Lake, Fifteen Hundred Feet over Vietnam: A Marine Helicopter Pilot's Diary. Haverhill, NH: Almine Library, 1990. 371 pp. 0-9623500-2-8. Lake served in HMM-265, flying the H-46A, from March 1968 to April 1969. Some names have been changed.

Michael Lazares, ed., The Final Flight of Curious Yellow, and other stories told by pilots of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association. Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, 2016. 254 pp.

Tony Lazzarini, Highest Traditions. Larkspur, CA: Voyager Publications, 2003. 170 pp. Lazzarini was a door gunner in Company A, 25th Aviation Battalion ("Little Bears"), attached to the 25 Infantry Division and based at Cu Chi. He was in Vietnam from April 1966 to November 1967. The claim on the back cover that he served as a door gunner "where the average life span under fire was an expected 20 seconds" does not inspire confidence in the book.

Herbert P. Lepore, "The Coming of Age: The Role of the Helicopter in the Vietnam War", Army History no. 29 (Winter 1994), pp. 29-36.

Frank Linster, "Interview with Frank Linster." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, July 1, 2000. 49 pp. Linster was drafted in 1962, went to Vietnam in December 1967. He initially flew slicks with the 188th Aviation Company (Black Widows) in III Corps. Later shifted north, did missions in the A Shau and in Laos. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the

Roger Lockshier, We Saved SOG Souls: 101st Airborne Missions in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos During the Vietnam War. Self-published, 2021. xi, 299 pp. Lockshier was crew chief on a UH-1C gunship of the 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, flying in 1968 from various airfields in I Corps to support SOG missions. Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Randolph P. Mains, Dear Mom, I'm Alive (subtitle on cover but not on title page: Letters Home from Blackwidow 25). New York: Avon, 1992. xi, 256 pp. Mains, a helicopter pilot, served a one-year tour, October 1968 to October 1969, with the 101st Airborne Division, including Hamburger Hill. He was undisciplined.

Marine Corps Operations Analysis Group [particularly Helmut E. Dost?], Marine Corps and Army Helicopter Employment and Attrition Statistics for Southeast Asia Operations from October 1965 through December 1971 (U), Volume II, Monthly Summary Statistics. Center for Naval Analyses, Rochester University, October 1972. v, 218 pp. plus appendices. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, in parts from Front matter and pp. 1-42 to pp. 193-218 and appendices.

Tom Marshall, The Price of Exit. New York: Ivy, 1998. xv, 362 pp. Marshall arrived in Vietnam in August 1970, initially flying the OH-58 with the 4th Infantry Division, then transferring to C Company, He flew missions beyond South Vietnam for CCN. Considerable on Firebase Ripcord, and LAM SON 719.

Robert Mason, Chickenhawk. New York: Viking, 1983. 339 pp. A very good account by a helicopter pilot who went to Vietnam with the First Cavalry in 1965. Names of some characters have been changed.

William C. Meacham, Lest We Forget: The Kingsmen, 101st Aviation Battalion, 1968. New York: Ivy, 1999. ix, 354 pp. This is the story of the first (January to December 1968) of Meacham's two tours as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, flying slicks. He served in the 17th Assault Helicopter Company (Kingsmen), 214th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade. Initially the company was based at Long Binh and operated in III and IV Corps, staging out of Dong Tam for IV Corps operations. The description of the Tet Offensive attack on Long Binh is interesting. In March the company moved north to Phu Bai, to be attached to the 101st Airborne Division. On July 1, 1968, it was redesignated as B Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, thus becoming part of the 101st Division. Meacham sometimes crossed into Laos on SOG operations.

Tom Messenger, Looking for Flyboys: One G.I.'s Journey: Vietnam 1970-1971. Ashland, OR: Hellgate, 2014. Messenger was a flight engineer on CH-47 Chinooks.

Bob Miller, Kill Me If You Can, You SOB. Tucson, AZ: Wheatmark, 2007. vi, 81 pp. Miller arrived in Vietnam in May 1968 and served in the 192d Assault Helicopter Company, based at Phan Thiet, supporting the 3/506 Infantry and the 173d Airborne Brigade.

James E. Miller, with James P. Miller, Warrior Two Six: A Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Story. Indepedently Published, 2020. 234 pp. CW2 Miller flew a huey in the 336th Assault Helicopter Company, based at Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta, 1967-68.

Hugh L. Mills, Jr., with Robert A. Anderson, Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot in the Big Red One. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1992; pb New York: Dell, 1993. Mills flew a Loach (OH-6) in D Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, having arrived in Vietnam at the beginning of 1969.

James C. Mooney, Jr., Vietnam: A Tale of Two Tours. CreateSpace, 2018. 312 pp. Most of the book is on Mooney's first tour, 1969-70, in II Corps with A Company, 4th Aviation Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, flying first UH-1 Huey and later OH-6A LOH helicopters. He returned for a second tour beginning in October 1972, with F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 1st Aviation Brigade, based initially at Bien Hoa and later at Tan Son Nhut.

Col. Douglas E. Moore, A Bullet Through the Helmet: A Vietnam Dustoff Pilot's Memoir. Moore's first Vietnam tour, with the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) based at Tan Son Nhut, began in October 1964.

Wayne Mutza, CH-47 Chinook in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1989. 50 pp.

Wayne Mutza, LOACH! The Story of the H-6/Model 500 Helicopter. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2005. 144 pp.

Wayne Mutza, Green Hornets: The History of the U.S. Air Force 20th Special Operations Squadron. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2007. 134 pp. Extensively illustrated. During the Vietnam War, the 20th worked with SOG.

John A. Nesser, The Ghosts of Thua Thien: An American Soldier's Memoir of Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008. x, 197 pp. Nesser was in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division, May 1969 to July 1970, initially as a rifleman in the 2/501 Infantry, later as a door gunner on a Chinook.

Michael J. Novosel, Dustoff: The Memoir of an Army Aviator. Novato: Presidio, 1999. xiii, 326 pp.  Novosel won the Congressional Medal of Honor for a medical evacuation mission October 20, 1969 in the Plain of Reeds. The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Barry Pencek, Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War. Self-published, 2022. 339 pp. Pencek was a Cobra gunship pilot for the Marine Corps. He flew in suppoort of Operation Tailwind, a 1970 SOG raid into Laos that later became the subject for exaggerated stories; see The "Tailwind" Affair.

William Peterson, Missions of Fire and Mercy: Until Death Do Us Part. Charleston, SC: Booksurge, 2010. Peterson arrived in Vietnam in August 1967, and was assigned to C Company, 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion, First Cavalry Division. He became a door gunner.

David Petteys, Marine Helo: Helicopter War in vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps. Egida, 1995. 240 pp.

Arnold Reiner, 46 Driver: A Marine Corps Helicopter Pilot's Vietnam Memoir. BluewaterPress, 2013. 172 pp. I have not seen this but I believe Reiner served in HMM 265, 1966 to 1967.

Dave Richardson, Vietnam Air Rescues. CreateSpace, 2008. 210 pp. I believe Richardson was flying HH-3E "Jolly Green Giants" 1967-68. The very inaccurate summary of the origins of the Vietnam War on pp. 19-20 does not increase my confidence in the book.

Tech. Sgt. Dale K. Robinson, USAF (ret.), "20th Special Operations Squadron Air Commandos." Vietnam Magazine, August 1998, pp. 42-48. Originally established in October 1965 as the 20th Helicopter Squadron, based at Tan Son Nhut, the unit later shifted its assets to Thailand. Originally equipped with CH-3C helicopters, it later got CH-3E and UH-1 helicopters. Used the names "Pony Express" and "Green Hornets." Deactivated in 1972, but I believe it was later reactivated.

Robert W. Robinson, Scarface 42: United States Marine Corps Helicopter Air/Ground Support "In Close". Bismarck, ND: Tailwind Publications, 2008. xii, 310 pp. On the cover, the subtitle has a word added, not found on the title page; the title becomes: Scarface 42: United States Marine Corps Helicopter Air/Ground Support, Vietnam "In Close". Robinson served in HML-367 based at Phu Bai beginning September 1969, flying first the UH-1E, later the Cobra.

Bob Rosenburgh, Snake Driver. New York: Ivy, 1993. 208 pp. Stories of helicopter combat in Vietnam, most but not all from men who flew Cobra gunships.

Lieutenant General Edward L. Rowny, Engineer Memoirs. EP 870-1-49. Alexandria, Virginia: Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1995. xvi, 214 pp. Oral history interviews. pp. 72-76 cover Rowny's service on the Howze Board evaluating the concept of airmobility. pp. 76-87 deal with his work as chief of the Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV), 1962-1963, evaluating the use of helicopters and other issues; he makes some very critical comments about the role of the press. full text available online.

James F. Schatz, Shotgunner: The Story of a Helicopter Door Gunner in Vietnam. New York: Vantage, 2000. xxii, 229 pp.

Al Sever, Xin Loi, Viet Nam: Memoir of the War Over Viet Nam. Martinsburg, West Virginia: Quiet Storm, 2002. 365 pp. Sever arrived in Vietnam in April 1968; in early May he was assigned to the 116th Assault Helicopter Company, based at Cu Chi. He served in various units in various areas. In 1971 he moved from the Mekong Delta north to I Corps, to serve with the 282d Assault Helicopter Company. In February 1972 his request for yet another extension of his tour was turned down, and he left Vietnam. A very interesting account.

Benjamin S. Silver, Ride at a Gallop. Waco, TX: Davis Brothers Publishing, 1990. 404 pp. The development of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test)/1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), 1963-65, by an officer who participated as commander of the 228th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion (Chinooks).

CWO R.J. Sinsigalli, Chopper Pilot: Not All of Us Were Heroes. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 2002. 184 pp. Sinsigalli went to Vietnam in November 1966 with the Air Cavalry Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry, based at Long Giao, south of Xuan Loc, flying Huey gunships. He was there until November 1967. On his second tour, March 1970 to March 1971, he was sent to Tan Son Nhut to fly maintenance test flights.

Robert W. Sisk, Wings for the Valiant. Pb New York: Warner, 1991. The author was a helicopter pilot with the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry, starting in 1966.

Den Slattery, From the Point to the Cross: One Vietnam Vet's Journey Toward Faith. 1st Books, 2004. 204 pp. Slattery served a 1969-70 tour with 3/7 Marines, and a 1972-73 tour with 8th Air Cavalry (which I presume must mean Troop F, 8th Cavalry). Heavy on religion.

Tom Smith, Easy Target: The Long, Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam. Novato: Presidio, 1996. pb with slightly altered subtitle, The Riveting True Story of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam, New York: Onyx (Penguin), 1997, 348 pp. Smith served with the Cav, 1969-1970.

Richard D. Spalding, Centaur Flights. New York: Ivy Books, 1997 (copyright 1996, but there is no indication the book was actually published in 1996). Spalding arrived in Vietnam early in 1969, and flew Cobras in Troop D, 3/4 Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division (the rest of the 3/4 was a ground unit; only Troop D was aviation).

Ben [James Benton] Speed, The Gods of War. Self-published, 2020. 247 pp. Speed was a pilot with the 61st Assault Helicopter Company, 1968.

Col. Bob Stoffey, Cleared Hot: A Marine Combat Pilot's Vietnam. New York: St. Martin's, 1992. Stoffey flew helicopters in Vietnam 1965-66, and fixed-wing OV-10 Broncos 1969-70.

Marion F. Sturkey, Bonnie-Sue: A Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron in Vietnam. Plum Branch, SC: Heritage, 1996. v, 510 pp. Sturkey flew H-46 Sea Knight helicopters in Vietnam, with HMM-265, approximately May 1966 to May 1967. The book extends beyond the period when Sturkey himself was there; it has for example a chapter on the 1968 siege of Khe Sanh.

Claude Anshin Thomas, At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace. Shambhala (Random House?), 2004. 144 pp. Thomas, a crew chief on assault helicopters, was in Vietnam 1967-1968. Much of the book is devoted to his later recovery from PTSD with the help of Zen Buddhism.

James Trainor, "Army Helicopters to Get New Missile Capability," Missiles and Rockets, August 27, 1962, pp. 15-16. Actually a broader survey of plans for armament and armor of helicopter gunships, and Army fixed-wing reconnaissance planes such as the Mohawk, than the title of the article suggests.

Brig. Gen. Ezell Ware and Joel Engel, By Duty Bound: Survival and Redemption in a Time of War. New York: Penguin, 2005. 336 pp. Ware, who grew up poor and black in Mississippi, became a helicopter pilot. He served a 1967-68 tour flying Huey gunships in the 61st Assault Helicopter Company (101st Airborne Division), initially near Qui Nhon. He says that later, in 1971, he was involved in super-secret missions in which Cobra pilots would be flown from Thailand to an airfield in the highlands of Vietnam, from which they would fly unmarked Cobras, escorting Hueys on a hush-hush mission in the Highlands, and then be flown back out of Vietnam. He would not know what the missions of the Hueys were, and he did not know whether they were run by the military or the CIA (p. 305). I am deeply suspicious of this story, and of some details associated with it, such as his comment on what might have shot his Cobra down on one of these mission late in 1971 in Kontum province: "We know the NVA has been using radar-guided .50-caliber rounds six inches long and an inch in diameter." (p. 10) Much of the book is his story of how, after having been shot down on this mission, he survived three weeks in the jungle along with a very racist fellow officer.

Daniel C. Webster, The Pucker Factor: One Noncombatant's Vietnam Memoirs. Bloomington, IN: 1stBooks, 2003. xi, 310 pp. Webster arrived in Vietnam, a 35-year-old SP5, in August 1967 with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 20th Engineering Brigade, which was stationed at Bien Hoa. After about 5 months he was transferred to the 13th Combat Assault Helicopter Battalion, at Can Tho, in which he served as information specialist and photographer, later as intelligence sergeant. Then he was sent to Soc Trang to be the intelligence sergeant for the 336th Combat Assault Helicopter Company; later his job there was changed to perimeter sergeant. He was there until early 1969.

Kenneth P. Werrell, "Marine Helicopters Against North Vietnam." Naval History, Fall 1988, pp. 12-17. The AH-1J Cobras of HMA-369 flew missions against small craft and shore targets along the North Vietnamamese coast from the amphibious transport USS Denver (LPD-9) beginning June 22, 1972.

Darrell D. Whitcomb, On a Steel Horse I Ride: A History of the MH-53 Pave Low Helicopters in War and Peace. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Air University Press, 2012. xxxi, 738 pp.

Darrel Whitcomb, "1972—U.S. Army Air Cavalry to the Rescue in Vietnam," Air Power History, 67:4 (Winter 2020) pp. 45-49. Quang Tri province, July 1972.

Glenn M. Williams, So Others Might Live. Mukilteo, WA: WinePress, 1998. 425 pp. Medical evacuation helicopters.

Ronald E. Winter, Masters of the Art: A Fighting Marine's Memoir of Vietnam. New York: Carlton Press, 1989. 272 pp. pb (slightly revised?) New York: Presidio (Ballantine), 2005. ix, 308 pp. Winter joined the Marines in 1968 and became a helicopter crew member in HMM-161, a squadron flying the CH-46. The squadron arrived in Vietnam in May of 1968. In December he transferred from HMM-161, at Quang Tri, to HMM-364, at Marble Mountain, then very quickly shifted again to HMM-164, which soon moved from Marble Mountain to helicopter carriers off the coast, first USS Tripoli, later USS Valley Forge.

Randy R. Zahn, Snake Pilot: Flying the Cobra Attack Helicopter in Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2003. x, 283 pp. Zahn arrived in Vietnam in March 1970, and was assigned to the 1/9 Cavalry, First Cavalry Division.

 

U.S. Navy Attack Helicopters: The Seawolves

HA(L)-3, the "Seawolves," a Navy squadron equipped mostly with UH-1 helicopter gunships, operated mostly in IV Corps, to some extent in III Corps and Cambodia, between 1967 and 1972.

Al [Alan J.] Billings, Seawolf 28. Booksurge, 2004. Billings had described this as essentially a memoir with the names changed but the cover calls it "A Novel."

Hill Goodspeed, "'I Am a Sailor and a Seawolf,'" Naval History 33:3 (June 2019), pp. 30-35.

Daniel E. Kelly, Seawolves: First Choice. New York: Ivy, 1998. x, 304 pp. Kelly enlisted in the Navy in 1967 and arrived in Vietnam in 1968 to serve as a gunner on a UH-1B in HAL-3 ("Seawolves"), a Navy helicopter squadron supporting SEALs and PBRs in III and IV Corps.

Daniel E. Kelly, U.S. Navy Seawolves: The Elite HAL-3 Helicopter Squadron in Vietnam. New York: Presidio (Random House), 2002. Kelly says this is "basically true" but that he "had to take creative license in making the tale complete."

Richard Knott, Fire from the Sky: Seawolf Gunships in the Mekong Delta. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2005. xiii, 260 pp. HAL-3, a squadron of helicopter gunships belonging to the U.S. Navy.

Charlie Morris, as told to Dean Siegman, Just a Regular Guy. iUniverse, 2006. 204 pp. Morris was severely wounded while serving on a Navy helicopter (Seawolf?) in the Mekong Delta in 1971. Much of the book is apparently devoted to his recovery and PTSD.

Commanding Officer, Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three, "Command History of HELATKLTRON THREE for Calendar Year 1969." 31 pp. The Seawolves, a U.S. Navy helicopter squadron operating in III and IV Corps. The text.

Commanding Officer, Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three, "Command History of HELATKLTRON THREE for Calendar Year 1970." The Seawolves, headquartered at Binh Thuy, mostly flying UH-1B gunships, operating in IV Corps, the southern edge of III Corps, and Cambodia. The text.

Commanding Officer, Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three, "Command History of HELATKLTRON THREE for Calendar Year 1971." Mostly SEAWOLF UH-1B gunships, some SEAWOLF UH-1M gunships, and SEALORD UH-1L and HH-1k helicopters, operating mostly in the Mekong Delta, but some based at Nha Be and at Phu Loi, about 20 miles north of Saigon. The text has been placed on-line in two parts: Cover letter and Enclosures 1-8 (most of the report) and Enclosures 9-12 (awards, personnel rosters, and personnel killed in action).

 

U.S. Army Helicopter Operations: Documents

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, is placing online a huge quantity of U.S. Army documents, including many from helicopter units. The following is only a sample:

Studies of Helicopter Operations and Technology

Joint Operation(s?) Evaluation Group, Vietnam (and Advance Research Projects Agency, Field Unit, vietnam?), "JOEG-V's Operational Evaluation of Armed Helicopters." 29 July 1963. Included as Inclosure 3 was Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV), "Operational Evaluation of Armed Helicopters: Final Test Report," 10 May 1963. Both the JOEG-V report and the ACTIV report are abbreviated OPENAH. On-line in four parts: Front matter, main text, beginning of Annexes (the table on p. 13, giving details of munitions expended by VNAF and Farmgate aircraft in May 1963, is useful); additional annexes, front matter of Inclosure 3, ACTIV report; text of ACTIV report: Tabs I to III-B; text of ACTIV report: Tabs III-C to IX-B; text of ACTIV report: Tabs IX-B to XI, A to D.

Frank P. Ballantyne and Donn A. Allen, Visionics and Human Factors Analysis for Helicopter Night Formation Flight. Technical Report ECOM-C-0220-2. Fort Monmouth, NJ: United States Army Electronics Command, February 1970. xiv, 298 pp. The authors, working for the Aeronautical Systems Divison of Hughes Aircraft Company, wrote this study of UH-1 and CH-47 night formation flight operations in Southeast Asia under contract with the Army. pp. i-xiv, 1-42; pp. 43-92; pp. 93-143; pp. 144-195; pp. 196-247; pp. 248-298; document control form.

Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Munitions Effectiveness (JTCG/ME), Analysis of Combat Damage on H-3 Helicopters in Southeast Asia from 1965 through 1970. 1 April 1972. The JTCG/ME involved the Army, Navy, and Air Force. pp. i-xi, 1-28;   pp. 29-67;   pp. 68-113;   pp. 114-134 (appendices D, E); pp. 135-160 (appendix F and an unusually detailed distribution list).

Attack Helicopter - Daylight Defense (USACDEC Experiment 43.6): Special Report - Vietnam: First Combat Aerial TOW Team. Fort Ord, California: United States Army Combat Developments Experimentation Command, July 1972. Very detailed documentation on tests, and combat use, of the TOW missile, in Vietnam, beginning 30 April 1972. The front matter and annexes, but not the main text so far as I have found, are online in six parts: Front matter and Annex A, pages A-1 to A-17b, giving summaries of individual missions, 30 April to 13 May 1972, 13 to 24 May 1972, 25 May to 12 June, Annex B, pp. 1-29, Annex B, pp. 30-57, Annexes C-F; sections I-IV.

 

Operational Unit Documents

Rocket: Oct 62 - Jan 64, Vietnam. This is a sort of yearbook, though it covers more than one year, for the UTT (Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company, the first helicopter gunship unit in the U.S. Army, activated 25 July 1962, arrived in Vietnam early in October) and the 571st Transportation Detachment (Aircraft Maintenance) attached to it in Vietnam. Among other things, the UTT participated in the Battle of Ap Bac. The text.

Captain Frank H. Bosworth, "History of the 114th Assault Helicopter Company and Attached Units, 1966" (title on cover) or "History of the 114th Assault Helicopter Company (1 January 1966 - 31 December 1966)" (title on title page). 45 pp. The company, "Knights of the Air," had been in Vietnam since 1963. It was based at Vinh Long, and operated mainly in support of the 7th and 9th ARVN Divisions in IV Corps, but had operated to some extent in all four Corps Tactical Zones in 1966. The text.

"Unit History: 1 Jan 66 - 31 Dec 66" The "Cowboys" were Company A, 82nd Aviation Battalion, up to 31 August 1966. ON 1 September 1966 they became the 335th Aviation Company (Airmobile Light); not long after this 335th Assault Helicopter Company, 145th Combat Aviation Battalion; at a later date they became the 335th Assault Helicopter Company (AML). Throughout 1966 they were attached to the 173d Airborne Brigade. pp. 1-32, covering January through July. pp. 33-65, covering August through December.

Major Darwin A. Petersen and Captain Alex Woods Jr., "History of the 227th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 1 January 1967 - 31 December 1967." 23 pp. The battalion was based at Camp Radcliffe, An Khe. The text.

Headquarters, 269th Combat Aviation Battalion, "Operational Report - Lessons Learned for Quarterly Period ending 31 January 1968." Based at Cu Chi, supporting the 25th Infantry Division. The text.

Capt. James M. McAndrew, History of the 119th Aviation Company (Air Mobile Light), 1 January -31 December 1965,

History of the 52nd Combat Aviation Battalion, 1 January 1965 to 31 December 1965. Elements of the battalion were among other things hit in the February 7, 1965 attack at Pleiku, and involved in the caputure of an infiltration vessel at Vung Ro.

Headquarters, 52nd Combat Aviation Battalion "Flying Dragons," "Enemy Attack on US Installations After Action Report." Attack on Camp Holloway, Pleiku, at 0230 hours on 26 January 1968, by mortars and elements of the 408th NVA Sapper Battalion. The text.

Headquarters, 3d Squadron, 17th Cavalry, "Combat Operations After Action Report," 20 March 1968. Operation Yellowstone, in War Zone "C", 7 Dec 1967 - 24 Feb 1968. The text.

Headquarters, 3d Squadron, 17th Cavalry, "Combat Operations After Action Report," 15 April 1968. Operation Wilderness, Tay Ninh Province, 8 March - 7 April 1968. The text.

Paul W. Child, 16th Military History Detachment, "After Action Interviews, Tay Ninh, 3/17the Air Recon Squadron." 18 December 1968. 38 pp. Interviews conducted 30 September 1968 with one C&C helicopter pilot who had been supporting the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, in Tay Ninh, and four officers (an air rifle platoon leader and three aviators) of the 3/17. The text.

CPT Danny M. Vaughan, "Annual Report: History of the 173rd Aviation Company (Aslt Hel), 11th Aviation Battalion (Combat), 12th Aviation Group (Combat), 1st Aviation Brigade, 1 January 1969 - 31 December 1969." 43 pp. Based at Lai Khe. The text.

WO Albert A. Major, "Annual Supplement: History of the 187th Aviation Company (Aslt Hel), 269th Aviation Battalion (Combat), 1st Aviation Brigade, 1 Jan 69 - 31 Dec 69." Based at Tay Ninh. The text, with a supplement carrying the history up to February 1972.

CW2 Lawrence M. Cain, "History of the 242d Aviation Company (Aslt Spt Hel), 269th Aviation Battalion (Combat), 12th Aviation Group (Combat), 1 January 1969 - 31 December 1969." 24 pp. The "Muleskinners," flying CH-47A Chinooks in III Corps, mostly supporting the 25th Infantry Division. The text.

CW2 William G. Montgomery, "Annual Supplement: History of the 273d Aviation Company (Heavy Helicopter) and 652d Transportation Detachment (Heavy Helicopter Maintenance), 222d Aviation Battalion (Combat), 1st Aviation Brigade, 1 January 1969 to 31 December 1969." 12 pp. CH-54A Tarhe "Superhooks" based at Long Binh, serving in III and IV Corps. The text.

WO Douglas W. Jones, "History of the 281st Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter), 18th Aviation Battalion (Combat), 125 Aviation Brigade, 1 January 1969 - 31 December 1969." 15 pp. Based at Nha Trang. The text.

WO James D. Tew, "History of the 282nd Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter), 1 January - 31 December 1969." 11 pp. Headquartered at Marble Mountain; some aircraft based at Quang Ngai and Hue. The text.

Captain Harold R. Manns, "Annual Supplement: History of the 361st Aviation Company (Escort), 52nd Aviation Battalion (Combat), 1st Aviation Brigade, 1 January 1969 - 31 December 1969." 44 pp. The "Pink Panthers," flying the AH-1G Cobra, based at Camp Holloway, Pleiku. The text.

WO1 James S. Purnell Jr. and SP5 Robert C. Williams, "History of 213th Aviation Company (Assault Support Helicopter), 1 April 1969 to 30 June 1969." 14 pp. The "Black Cats," flying Chinooks in III Corps. The text.

Headquarters 4th Aviation Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, "After Action Report, Operation Mac Arthur." Dated 5 February 1969. 31 pp. covers 2 December 1967 through 31 January 1969. The text.

"Operational Report [- Lessons Learned] of Headquarters, 1st Aviation Brigade," Period Ending 30 April 1969, Period Ending 31 July 1969 (and comments on this report by USARV, Period Ending 31 October 1969,

25th Aviation Battalion, Daily Staff Journal or Duty Officer's Log. Part of the 25th Infantry Division. Based at, or close to, Cu Chi. January 1969, 38 pp.   February 1969, 49 pp.   March 1969, 58 pp.   April 1969, 59 pp.   June 1969, 83 pp.   July 1969, 71 pp.   August 1969, 67 pp.   December 1969, 36 pp.

Headquarters, 2d Squadron, (Ambl), 17th Cavalry, "Combat Operations, After Action Report, Operation Republic Square." 16 December 1969. Covers 29 September to 7 December 1969. 5 pp. A mixed reconnaissance unit of the 101st Airborne Division, having helicopters and organic infantry, operating in Northern I Corps. The text.

CWO Loren W. Gee, "Annual Historical Supplement for C Battery, 4th Battalion (Aerial Artillery), 77th Artillery (Airmobile), 1969. 36 pp. An aerial rocket artillery unit, the "Griffins," flying UH-1C helicopters with the XM-3 armament system, established at Fort Bragg in August 1968. It arrived in Vietnam in March 1969 and became operational, at Camp Evans west of Hue, supporting the 101st Airborne Division, in April 1969. The text.

Headquarters, 52nd Aviation Battalion (Combat), "Operation Report - Lessons Learned." The "Flying Dragons," based at Camp Holloway, Pleiku. Period Ending 31 January 1969. Period Ending 31 July 1969. Period Ending 31 October 1969. Period Ending 30 April 1970. Period Ending 31 July 1970. Period Ending 31 October 1970.

10th Combat Aviation Battalion, Unit History for 1969. "The Vagabonds," in II Corps. The text.

10th Combat Aviation Battalion, "Unit History 1 Jan 1970 31 Dec 1970." II Corps. The text.

CWO Marc S. Moller, "Annual Supplement History of the 281st Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade, 1 January 1970 - 14 December 1970." The text.

WO Joseph M. Brown, Jr., "History of the 282nd Assault Helicopter Company, 1 January - 31 December 1970." The text.

Headquarters, 520th Transportation Battalion, "Operational Report - Lessons Learned, Period Ending 31 January 1970." The text.

164th Aviation Group (Combat), 1st Aviation Brigade, "164th Group Cambodian Operations (29 April - 19 May 1970)." 21 pp. The text.

Stephen J. Franish Jr., "Annual Supplement, 134th Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter), 268th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade, 1 January 1971 to 30 December 1971." 29 pp. The company had arrived in Vietnam in November 1967. The Demons (slicks) and Devils (gunships) of the 134th were based at Tuy Hoa, and operated mainly in II Corps in 1971, supporting 173d Airborne Brigade, the ROK Capitol Division, some ARVN units, etc. The unit stood down at the end of the year. The text.

Headquarters, 14th Combat Aviation Battalion, "Operational Reports - Lessons Learned, (14th Combat Aviation Battalion), Period Ending 30 April 1971, RCS CSFOR-65 (R-3)." Operations Dewey Canyon II and Lam Son 719. The main report for the battalion (19 pp.), separate reports for Headquarters Company (3 pp.) and for the Pathfinder Detachment (3 pp.).

Operational Report - Lessons Learned, 23d Infantry Division (Americal), Period Ending 30 April 1971, RCS CSFOR-65 (R-3). Distributed by the Defense Technical Information Center. ii, 115 pp. Operations Frederick Hill, Geneva Park, Iron Mountain, Pennsylvania Square, Nantucket Beach, Finney Hill, Middlesex Peak, Wasco Rapids, Caroline Hill. The text.

"Operational Report - Lessons Learned, 71st Aviation Company, Period Ending 30 April 1971, RCS CSFOR-65 (R-1). 12 pp. Operation Lam Son 719. The text.

"Operational Report-Lessons Learned, 11th Combat Aviation Battalion, for Period Ending 29 February 1972," RCS CSFOR-65, 1 March 1972. The battalion supported ARVN forces in III Corps and Cambodia, and Third Regional Assistance Command. By early 1972 it was standing down, departing Di An February 14 and Phu Loi February 29. The text.

Headquarters, 13th Combat Aviation Battalion, "Operational Reports - Lessons Learned of the 13th Combat Aviation Battalion for the Period Ending 30 March 1972, RCS CSFOR-65 (R-3)." The text.

CPT John R. Parker III, and CW2 Ronald L. Tusi, "History of F Battery, 79th Artillery, 1 February 1972-31 Jul 1972 (Supplement)." An aerial rocket artillery battery of the 3d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, it was heavily involved in the defense of An Loc during the Easter Offensive, then was shifted north to I Corps where it began operations on 27 June, supporting RVN Marines in Quang Tri. The text.

H Troop (Air) 17th Armored Cavalry Squadron, "After Action Report, 1 November 1972 - 28 January 1973." 12 pp. A unit that continued flying combat operations with AH-1G and OH-6A helicopters in the Central Highlands until the Paris Peace Agreement. The text.

Headquarters, 17th Aviation Group (Combat), "After Action Report of the 17th Aviation Group (Combat) for the period 1 November 1972 through 11 March 1973." Front matter and Section I: Operational Report (pp. 3-41); Section II: Lessons Learned (pp. 42-79).

11th Combat Aviation Group, "After Action Report." Covers from the Pre-standdown phase (1 Nov 1972 - 28 Jan 1973) through Withdrawal phase (28 Feb 1973 - 14 Mar 1973) and Roll-up phase (15 Mar 1973 - 29 Mar 1973). Supported First Regional Assistance Command, and ARVN and VNMC forces in I Corps, while handing over equipment under Project Enhance. Interesting items include, under the heading "Transfer of billeting, bases, installed property and equipment, and other real property," the entry "26 January 1973: 1. All PCS and installation property was title transferred to ARVN and VNAF." The text.

 

Marine Corps Helicopter Unit Reports

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, is placing online a huge quantity of USMC documents, including many from helicopter units. Most of these are in a collection titled "US Marine Corps History and Museum Division Vietnam War Documents Collection". The following sample is very incomplete. You can find more by entering that collection title, without quotes, in the "collection title" field in their search engine.

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262, Command Chronology; period 1 February to 29 February 1968. HMM-262, belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, FMF Pacific, flew CH-46A helicopters and was based at Quang Tri.

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265, Command Chronology, period 1-29 February 1968. HMM-265, belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 16, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, FMF Pacific, flew CH-46A helicopters and was based at Marble Mountain.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 364, Command Chronology for February 1968. HMH-364, belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, FMF Pacific, was based at Phu Bai.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for February 1968. HMH-463, belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 16, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, FMF Pacific, flew CH-53A helicopters and was based at Marble Mountain Air Facility. A huge collection of individual after-action reports, February 1-16 and February 17-29 was probably originally attached to this chronology.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for March 1968.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for September 1968. HMH-463, belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 16, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, FMF Pacific, flew CH-53A helicopters and was based at Marble Mountain Air Facility. There is a separate large file in two parts, one, two, of after action reports from individual missions in September 1968, that may or may not originally have been an attachment to the command chronology.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for October 1968. There is a separate large file in two parts, one, two, of after action reports from individual missions in October 1968, that may or may not originally have been an attachment to the command chronology.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for November 1968. HMH-463 was a CH-53 unit based at Marble Mountain Air Facility, near Danang. There is a separate large file in two parts, one, two, of after action reports from individual missions in November 1968, that may or may not originally have been an attachment to the command chronology.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for December 1968. There is a separate large file in two parts, one, two, of after action reports from individual missions in December 1968, that may or may not originally have been an attachment to the command chronology.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for period 1 December 1969 to 31 December 1969. A CH-53 unit based at Marble Mountain Air Facility, near Danang. There is a separate large file in two parts, one, two, of after action reports from individual missions in December 1969, that may or may not originally have been an attachment to the command chronology.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Command Chronology for period 1 January 1970 to 31 January 1970.

Marine Attack Helicopter Squadron 369, Command Chronology, 01 July 1972 to 31 December 1972. HMA-369, aboard USS Denver, LPD-9, had arrived off the coast of North Vietnam, vicinity of Hon La, and begun MARHUK (Marine Hunter Killer) operations to block movement of supplies from Chinese merchant ships (MERSHIPs) to the shore. This involved attacks on Vietnamese small boats (Water Borne Logistics Craft or WBLCs), and also attacks on enemy gun positions on shore. Later aboard USS Cleveland, LPD-7. The arrival of 5-inch Zuni rockets in early September gave the AH-1J helicopters a much-desired stand-off capability for combat against hostile gun positions.

Marine Attack Helicopter Squadron 369, Monthly Command Chronology for November 1972. HMA-369, flying AH-1J Seacobras from LPD-7, flew MARHUK missions along the coast of North Vietnam.

Marine Attack Helicopter Squadron 369, Semi-Annual Command Chronology for the period 1 January 1973 to 30 June 1973. HMA-369, flying from USS Dubuque (LPD-8), flew MARHUK missions, sinking floating supplies from Chinese merchant ships, from 8 to 15 January.

 

Marine Corps Fixed-Wing Air Squadron Reports

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, is placing online a huge quantity of USMC documents, including some from fixed-wing air squadrons. Most of these are in a collection titled "US Marine Corps History and Museum Division Vietnam War Documents Collection". The following sample is surely incomplete. You can find more by entering that collection title, without quotes, in the "collection title" field in their search engine.

Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 242, Command Chronology for February 1968. VMA (AW) 242, based at Danang, flew the A-6, mostly at night, against targets mostly in the Khe Sanh area, some Tally Ho missions in Route Package I, and a very few Rolling Thunder missions in Route Packages V and VI.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 542, Command Chronology for the period 1-31 August 1968. An F4B Phantom unit based at Danang.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 542, Command Chronology for period 1-31 January 1970.

VMA(AW)-533 Command Chronology, 1 October to 31 October 1972. Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 533, based at Nam Phong, Thailand, an A6A Intruder squadron, belonged to Marine Aircraft Group 15, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force Pacific. In October, flew 240 sorties and dropped 917.1 tons of ordnance on targets in Route Package 1 of North Vietnam, the Barrel Roll area of Laos, and military regions 1 and 2 of South Vietnam.

Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 533 Command Chronology, 1 November to 30 November 1972. 11 pp.

Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 533 Command Chronology, 1 December to 31 December 1972. 52 pp.

Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 533 Command Chronology, 1 January to 30 June 1973. 6 pp. Flew missions against targets in Route Package 1 of North Vietnam until 17 January, in the Steel Tiger and Barrel Roll areas of Laos until 21 February, and in military regions 1 and 2 of South Vietnam until 20 January.

 

The Naval Air War

Keneth Adams, Our Lives on the Line: The Air War over Vietnam for a Navy Pilot and His Air Wing. Amazon, 2020. I believe Adams served aboard Oriskany, 1966 to 1968.

Eileen A. Bjorkman, Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin: A Story of the U.S. Military's Commitment to Leave No One Behind. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2020. xiv, 238 pp. Traces the development of American combat search and rescue from World War I onward, and looks specifically at the rescue of Lieutenant William Sharp, whose F-8 Crusader was shot down on November 18, 1965.

Brian K. Bryans, Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired), Flying Low, 1956-1980. 4th ed. Lulu, 2013. 284 pp.

Dennis Carroll [ed.], 1972 Ghost Riders Memories. Self-published, 2021. 178 pp. Attack Squadron 164, flying A-4F Skyhawks from USS Hancock (CVA-19).

Thomsas McKelvey Cleaver, The Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club: Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War. Oxford and New York: Osprey / Bloomsbury, 2021. 400 pp.

Randy Cunningham with Jeff Ethell, Fox Two: The Story of America's First Ace in Vietnam. Mesa, AZ: Champlin Fighter Museum, 1984. pb New York: Warner, 1989. The story of Cunningham's tour flying the F-4 Phantom from the Constellation, 1971-72 (he had had a much quieter previous tour, 1969-70, aboard the America).

Frank C. Elkins, The Heart of a Man: A Naval Pilot's Vietnam Diary. Original 1973; reprint Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1991. Lt. Elkins began flying missions in A-4s in May 1966. His diary was edited for publication by his wife, after his death.

Peter Fey, Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War. Lincoln, Nebraska: Potomac Books (University of Nebraska Press), 2018. xiv, 393 pp.

Kenny Wayne Fields, The Rescue of Streetcar 304: A Navy Pilot's Forty Hours on the Run in Laos. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007. 311 pp. Fields, flying an A-7 Corsair from the aircraft carrier America, was shot down in Laos May 31, 1968.

Gary Wayne Foster, Phantom in the River: The Flight of Linfield Two One Zero. L&R Publishing, 2009. 175 pp. LCDR Charles Everett Southwick and LT David Rollins were flying an F-4B Phantom, engaged in flak suppression during an attack on the Ham Rong (Thanh Hoa) Bridge on May 14, 1967, when they were shot down. They remained prisoners until 1973.

Capt. Wynn F. Foster, Captain Hook: A Pilot's Tragedy and Triumph in the Vietnam War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1992. Foster flew missions briefly over South Vietnam (beginning April 1965) and then over North Vietnam (beginning May 1965) as executive officer and then commanding officer of VA-163 ("the Saints"), an A-4 Skyhawk squadron flying from Oriskany. He lost his right arm to AA fire 23 July 1966, and managed to return to flying with a prosthesis.

Wynn F. Foster, Fire on the Hangar Deck: Ordeal of the Oriskany. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2002. The 1966 disaster that killed 44 men.

Rene Francillon, Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club: U.S. Carrier Operations off Vietnam. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988. Particular emphasis on the Coral Sea, but to some extent an overall study.

Gregory A. Freeman, Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes who Fought It. New York: William Morrow, 2002. 320 pp. The disaster of July 29, 1967, that killed 134 men. (See also "Trial by Fire: A Carrier Fights for Life", a 1971 Navy documentary film about the incident.)

Gregory A. Freeman, Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny, and Bravery on the USS Kitty Hawk. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. xviii, 246 pp. The race riot, which Freeman argues was in fact a mutiny, on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, October 12-13, 1972.

Rear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist, Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1990. About fifty pages are devoted to the period Gillcrist flew F-8 Crusaders on missions over North and South Vietnam, between 1966 and 1968. Details, not broad reflections.

Zalin Grant, Over the Beach: The Air War in Vietnam. Hb New York: Norton, 1986; pb New York: Pocket Books, 1988. vi, 343 pp. Specifically about Fighter Squadron 162, which operated off the carrier Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Stephen R. Gray, Rampant Raider: An A-4 Skyhawk Pilot in Vietnam. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007. 384 pp. Gray was in Light Attack Squadron 212, "Rampant Raiders," flying from the carrier USS Bon Homme Richard.

Admiral James L. Holloway III, "The Big E Goes Where the Action Is." Naval History, 14:4 (August 2000). The USS Enterprise.

Admiral James L. Holloway III, Aircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007. xiii, 479 pp. Holloway commanded Enterprise off Vietnam in the 1960s; commanded 7th Fleet May 1972 to July 1973.

Lee E. Hughes, "Fighting Forces: The Navy's photo interpreters were the brains behind the eyes of its carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft." Vietnam Magazine, October 1997, pp. 12, 60-61.

Kenneth V. Jack, Eyes of the Fleet over Vietnam: RF-8 Crusader Combat Photo Reconnaissance Missions. Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2021. xl, 230 pp. One chapter deals with reconnaissance aircraft other than the RF-8. Extensively illustrated.

Doug Kroll, "The Coast Guard Flies in Vietnam." Naval History, 10:5 (September/October 1996).

Kit Lavell, Flying Black Ponies: The Navy's Close Air Support Squadron in Vietnam.  Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000.  xv, 328 pp.  Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4), which flew OV-10 Broncos in the Mekong Delta from 1969 to 1972.  Lavell was a pilot in the squadron, but he also did serious research when writing this; the endnotes cite interviews, published sources, and archival documents.

Jeffrey L. Levinson, Alpha Strike Vietnam: The Navy's Air War, 1964 to 1973. hb Novato, CA: Presidio, 1989. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1990. xix, 360 pp.

John McCain, with Mark Salter, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir. New York: Random House, 1999. xi, 349 pp. McCain flew A-4 Skyhawks first off the Forrestal, then off the Oriskany with VA-163 ("the Saints") in 1967, was shot down over Hanoi October 26, 1967, and was a POW until 1973.

Peter B. Mersky & Norman Polmar, The Naval Air War in Vietnam.  Annapolis: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America, 1981. 224 pp. pb New York: Zebra, 1986.  332 pp.

Peter Mersky, F-8 Crusader Units of the Vietnam War. Motorbooks International, 1998. 96 pp.

Mike "Mule" Mullane, Dead Men Flying, a Remembrance: Going to War in the A-4: Rollling Thunder over Hanoi. Annapolis, MD: OK-3 Publishing, 2021. Mullane began participating in combat operations in July 1967, in VA-164 "Ghost Riders," flying from USS Oriskany.

CDR John B. Nichols & Barrett Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1987.  pb New York: Bantam, 1988.  xv, 215 pp. Deals with policy issues, not just combat.

Mike O'Connor, Mig Killers of Yankee Station. Friendship, Wisconsin: New Past Press, 2003. 272 pp. Extensively illustrated.

Dan Pedersen, Top Gun: An American Story. New York: Hachette, 2019. Portions of the book deal with Pedersen's serice as a carrier pilot during the Vietnam War.

Glenn Petersen, War and the Arc of Human Experience. Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2021. x, 291 pp. Peterson served as a radar technician aboard E-1B Tracer ("Willy Fudd") aircraft flying from USS Bennington (CVS-20) over the Gulf of Tonkin, 1966-67. Later in life he became an anthropologist, and in large parts of this book he is looking, as an anthropologist, at the way US personnel related to the Navy and the war.

Rosario Rausa, Gold Wings, Blue Sea: A Naval Aviator's Story. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1980. x, 200 pp. Rausa flew a Skyraider in VA-25 from the Coral Sea, operating off Vietnam intermittently 1966-1968.

Melissa B. Robinson and Maureen Dunn, The Search for Canasta 404: Love, Loss, and the POW/MIA Movement. Boston: Northeastern University Press/Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2006. 233 pp. Lt. Joe Dunn, USN, flying an A-H Skyraider, strayed into Chinese airspace and was shot down February 14, 1968.

Lt. Cdr. Daniel B. Sheehan, "The Black Ponies." Proceedings, April 1988, pp. 84-88. Sheehan arrived in Vietnam in March 1969, with VAL-4, a squadron of OV-10As.

John Darrell Sherwood, Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War. New York: New York University Press, 2004. 352 pp. The pre-publication publicity suggests that this book is devoted to the post-1968 period, with the main focus on 1972.

Colonel Robert E. Stoffey, USMC (Ret.), Fighting to Leave: The Final Years of America's War in Vietnam, 1972-1973. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press, 2008. 336 pp. Stoffey was the Marine Air Officer and Assistant Amphibious Warfare Officer on the staff of the Commander, Seventh Fleet.

Captain A.H. Vito, Jr., "Carrier Air and Vietnam . . . an assessment." U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, October 1967, pp. 67-75. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Kenneth L. Volker, Ph.D., Captain, USNR (Ret), A Reluctant Warrior: The Military Draft, the Navy F4 Phantom, Vietnam, and Top Gun. Volker, who got his commission in 1969, served aboard the Coral Sea. Independently published, 2020. 288 pp.

Robert K. Wilcox, Scream of Eagles: The Creation of Top Gun and the U.S. Air Victory in Vietnam. New York: Wiley, 1990. viii, 295 pp.

Jim Winchester, Broken Arrow: How the U.S. Navy Lost a Nuclear Bomb. Philadelphia and Oxford: Casemate, 2019. xi, 271 pp. In December 1965, as USS Ticonderoga was passing near Okinawa on its way from Yankee Station to Japan, its personnel were practicing the process of loading a hydrogen bomb on an A-4 aircraft and preparing it for launch. There was an accident. The plane, with pilot and bomb, fell off the carrier and sank to the bottom of the Pacific. The accident had no direct connection to the Vietnam War, but the book includes considerable discussion of the missions over Vietnam and Laos that the Ticonderoga's aircraft conducted from Dixie and Yankee Stations in late 1965 and early 1966, and all the types of accidents that occurred on an aircraft carrier in wartime conditions.

The Naval War

U.S. Navy Publications

U.S. Air Force Publications

Congressional Committee Documentation: The Air War

Air Commandos, Air America, etc.

DRV/SRV Works on the DRV's Air and Air Defense Forces

Aerial Operations in the First Indochina War

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Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, Edwin E. Moise. This document may be reproduced only by permission. Opinions expressed in this bibliography are my own. They could hardly be the opinions of Clemson University, since Clemson University does not have opinions on the matters in question. Revised March 31, 2024.