5 comments about Another River, Another Town: A Teenage Tank Gunner Comes of Age in Combat--1945.

1. I'm giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 because it isn't long enough to fully develop the story. Nevertheless, I recommend it because it feels authentic. The soldiers Irwin writes about feel real. You will learn details here about the Sherman tank that you won't find elsewhere. For instance, Irwin describes tank warfare against the German Tiger and explains how they beat that tank in combat. I had been under the impression that the Tiger was almost impossible to beat.
   
   In places, the book is humorous. I laughed where Irwin describes how he is temporarily captured before even entering combat.
   
   One time Irwin is reprimanded for killed a German squad that had just surrendered. When you read the book you will find out why his action was justified.



2. This book isn't very well written, but what it lacks doesn't make it any less of an excellent read. John Irwin manages to tell it like it was in an interesting manner that will keep you turning pages well past midnight. The combat he saw during the closing days of the ETO are gripping and you will not want to put this book down. Interestingly, after his crews M4 Sherman is put out of action, losing their assistant Driver, they are issued the very rare M26 Super Pershing, of which only about a dozen or so made it to Europe. He uses the additional Armor and firepower to take on the Dreaded German King Tiger, and even finishes off the deadly JagPanther with it's massive gun, earning the respect of his crew that he so craved. All in all a great book from cover to cover, I can't help but give it 5 stars.



3. Take one teenage soldier who later earns a PhD in philosophy. Place him in the midst of a conflict in its final days. Stir generously with passable writing ability.
   
   What you get is Another River, Another Town : A Teenage Tank Gunner Comes of Age in Combat-1945.
   
   This is something different in the way of soldiers telling their tale. Here's a guy who got into the war when it was practically over, during the final few months of the European campaign, all post-Bulge. And he's a tank gunner. Most books of this sort are from the perspective of the grunt, and usually from guys who saw more "action" (which is not to say the author did not - his life was in grave danger on a number of occasions).
   
   With Another River, Another Towns we get some insight into the mind of a soldier and a good glimpse at the life of a tank gunner during the last days of World War II, when the European Theater saw more surrendering and looting than actual combat. This isn't a "becoming buddies in the foxhole" book ... but it did have some merits, primarily in that it looked at a period of the war usually glossed over fairly quickly. Once you get past the Africa campaign, Sicily, D-Day and the Bulge, the European conflict becomes much less "sexy" from the American perspective. This book fills in some of those gaps and shows us what the soldiers experienced during this late period in the way.
   
   It was not a melodramatic or sepia-toned book, which is a positive, and offered a glimpse into an aspect of World War II not often explored - the mass surrendering at the tail end of the conflict, and how the Army often did not want to deal with prisoners of war because they only served to slow down the advance. German soldiers intent on surrendering were often turned away.
   
   Nothing here is vital reading, even for the WWII buff - it's a pretty typical soldier's tale, told simply - but I really enjoyed this glimpse into the world of the tank gunner and would certainly recommend this for a good Saturday read on the war. It had a lot of heart.



4. What a great book. Despite it's brevity, author John Irwin has penned one of the best WWII memoirs I have ever read. He's honest, humorous, and pulls no punches. He was only in combat for a brief period (March-April 1945). In this time, the Rhine had been crossed and the German forces were rapidly disintegrating. Still, it was no picnic as some WWII histories try to paint. There were always some Germans trying to destroy a tank with one of their vaunted Panzerfausts. Plus, one can say honestly that in combat, time takes on a different meaning. This book in a ideal read for World War II buffs of all ages. Enthusiastically recommended!



5. I do not read a lot, but I have to admit that this was a well written, and very interesting book. For not finishing High School, John P. Irwin does a fantastic job telling his story. He leads you through his experiences and tries to let the reader know how horrible war really is. A story that everyone should know about!

No comments about "Next Voyage Will Be Different!".

3 comments about Spirit of the Blue: Peter Ayerst: A Fighter Pilot's Story.

1. I've not read this yet, it's a gift for my significant other. It's in great shape. I can hardly wait to give it to him when the time is right. Thanx josie padilla



2. This is NOT an "excellent book of the author's experiences." In the first place, the author is writing about someone else's flying career, not his own. In the second place, the book isn't written in an engaging or vivid manner. Instead, it links terse quotes from the flying log of a WWII pilot with descriptions of where the pilot was posted, etc. I found it very easy to put down.
   
   But judge for yourself! Here's what the author chose to put on the book cover:
   
   "I would commend this excellent story to young and old if they wish to have an accurate and truthful account of someone whose knowledge, experience, and integrity will convey, particularly to younger readers, the courage and qualities that were the making of the free world as we enjoy it today."
   
   If you want a terrific account of what it was like to be a WWII fighter pilot, try: "Thunderbolt," "Sinking the Rising Sun," "Samurai!," "The Second-Luckiest Pilot," "The Big Show," or "Big Friend, Little Friend."



3. Excellent book of the author's experiences--I had a hard time putting it down.

3 comments about AIR COMBAT AT 20 FEET: SELECTED MISSIONS FROM A STRAFER PILOT'S DIARY.

1. I am not a big fan of war stories at all. I was skeptical when my grandfather handed me this book as a must read. Not only did it give me a better understanding of my bomber-pilot grandfather but it has also granted me an insiders view into war and the type of American courage it takes to be a hero and success in our armed forces. As a late-twenties/early-thirties it is a must read to understand war in the past and future tense.



2. I couldn't put the book down! It is almost unimaginable the narration Garrett Middlebrook shares in this book of incredible stories taken from his personal journals, written during his tour of duty in the South Pacific during WWII. One of America's unbelievably tenacious and youthful pilots, at the age of 23, he heroically flies his plane against all odds, with a youthful crew, some in their teens, to defend and protect the freedom of America against a relentless and unmerciful enemy, and in riveting detail he puts you in the seat of his B-25 Stafer to experience the pressure, fear and tragedy of war. It will absolutely mesmerize you.



3. Garrett Middlebrook has written a detailed, gut-wrenching tale of the amazing feats of his B-25 strafer unit and their long and dangerous missions over New Guinea in 1942 and 1943, before Guadalcanal! The heroism of these men, flying under dangerous conditions with battered equipment, is simply remarkable. Middlebrook does not tell you this, however. He shows it and you feel like you are in the plane with him.

5 comments about Witness to Nuremberg.

1. I saw Mr. Sonnenfeld interviewed on Charlie Rose last year and had this book on my wish list. I finally got around to ordering it and dived into it the day it arrived. I was disappointed to find that only the first quarter of the book (if even that) dealt with Mr. Sonnenfeld's translating work at the Nuremberg Trials, i.e. "Witness to Nuremberg". The remainder of the book is autobiography, from childhood to the present. Granted, it is an interesting life to read about, but for those seeking a book dedicated to the "Nuremberg experience" you will be disappointed, as I was. I could have gone on reading more about Nuremberg. Nonetheless, it is a well written interesting read.



2. This is an interesting and well-written account of the young man who was the Chief Interpreter at the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis.
   
   But the aforementioned is only half the story, because the author also tells us about his life in Germany both before the Nazis too power and after. His tales of escape from Germany are so amazing and remind me of a children's book I read as a child called "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" a fictional account of becoming a Jewish refugee in the 1940's. Who knew that fiction could be beaten by true-life!
   
   I found this book very compelling and a great yarn. Truly, after seeing the author on Charlie Rose I became interested in reading the book. I was not disappointed. I am sure you won't be either.
   
   By the way, his accounts of the Nazis he interviews are very compelling! Truly, as has been said before that evil is so often banal!
   
   When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit



3. I bought Witness to Nuremberg after reading the other "Amazon" reviews and I was not disappointed. I could not put the book down! I want to comment on the writing. Sonnenfeldt's story of incredible adventure is told in a most captivating way with flashes of humor and never a boring moment!
   
   There emerges a teen and later, a man who turns adversity to his advantage, who always looks forward. Just 22 at Nuremberg, after a solo trek through five continents, he is the chief interpreter for the American prosecution who becomes a star interrogator to unmask the groveling and miserable personalities of the Nazi defendants. He tells us who ordered the Holocaust and why we did not know its true dimension until eleven months after the war ended. Even more remarkable is his return to Germany, fifty years after the Nuremberg trials, where he became a media celebrity as he related his conversations with the Nazis. This book is a worthy companion to the many books of Holocaust survivors. You must read it.



4. During 1945-46, Richard Sonnenfeldt, age 22, was the chief interpreter on the U.S. prosecution team at Nuremberg. In this role, he served U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, the chief U.S. prosecutor, and his interrogation team as the lead interpreter in the pre-indictment interrogations of many imprisoned Nazis, including all 22 who became Nuremberg defendants.
   
   Sonnenfeldt actually was much more than the U.S. prosecution's lead interpreter at Nuremberg. Because of his German and English language skills, his smarts and maturity, and his surprising rapport with and control over many of the prisoners, Sonnenfeldt actually became a de facto senior interrogator. His work and successes as interpreter and interrogator are recorded in the many thousands of pages of interrogation reports that are central parts of the Nuremberg trial and historical record. At the end of the Nuremberg trial year, Justice Jackson saw to it personally that Sonnenfeldt received a military decoration for his work.
   
   But that's actually not the half of it. In outline form, this is Richard Sonnenfeldt's quite amazing life story:
   * born Jewish, son of two physicians, in Gardelegen, a town in north central Germany, in 1923;
   * happy, assimilated boyhood until Nazism and Nuremberg laws change everything, including shutting down his parents' work;
   * getting out of Germany, along with his younger brother, to a boarding school in England;
   * being interned in England as an enemy alien once active war with Germany started in 1940;
   * being shipped with other internees and German POWs from England to Australia;
   * being paroled from Australia to India, and making it on his own there;
   * getting passage from India to the U.S. (His parents, in a separate miracle, had made it from Germany to Sweden and from there to Baltimore);
   * becoming, as his ship docked in New York, a media event because he was an unsupervised boy who had survived all of these "adventures";
   * working, while still a teenager, as an electrician in Baltimore and entering Johns Hopkins night college;
   * being drafted into the U.S. Army, becoming a U.S. citizen, and fighting in Europe as a combat soldier;
   * entering the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945;
   * in May 1945, being called out of a motor pool in Austria, because of his bilingual skills, to serve as General William J. ("Wild Bill") Donovan's OSS interpreter;
   * moving with Donovan into the Justice Jackson/war crimes project that became Nuremberg;
   * serving as the principal and preferred interpreter of each prisoner, including Hermann Goering;
   * playing a significant role in interrogating and studying each of them;
   * being half of the 2-man team that served the October 1945 indictment on each Nuremberg defendant;
   * working for the U.S. prosecution throughout the trial;
   * returning to Baltimore and succeeding as a Johns Hopkins engineering student;
   * becoming a distinguished engineer with RCA, where he was part of the team that invented color television;
   * working on NASA projects;
   * working as an executive at NBC;
   * obtaining patents on numerous inventions;
   * becoming a husband and very proud father;
   * sailing three times across the Atlantic; and
   * never talking much about his past until his grandchildren started to interview him for school projects and papers.
   
   Richard Sonnenfeldt's life is an extraordinary true story, and he has written it modestly and well. His book deserves to reach a very large general audience, and I am confident that any reader, from children through seniors, will find it to be relevant, exciting and inspiring.



5. Barbara Schlang's review.....Richard W. Sonnenfeldt's just published book (Witness to Nuremberg) reveals personal conversations with the top Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg trials, shedding a merciless light on their criminality, but it is also a tale of adventure never told before. He was just twenty-two when he became Chief Interpreter for the American prosecution at the War Crimes trials of 1945-46.
   Born into a Jewish family in Germany, he fled to attend school in England in 1938, to escape the Nazi terror. But when the Germans conquered France two years later, his erstwhile hosts interned him as a German national and deported him in a prison ship, that was torpedoed by a German U-boat, but made it to Australia. The British then realized their mistake and ordered him back to England to be freed, but now his boat was diverted to in Bombay, India. Instead of returning to England he managed to go to the United States, all solo, at age seventeen. On arrival in New York he became a media celebrity in April 1941. Two and a half years later he was an American citizen and combat soldier who fought in France, Germany and Austria. He was one of the first to see the concentration camp of Dachau and its prisoners, too stunned amid mountains of corpses to grasp that freedom was theirs.
   
   General "Wild Bill" Donovan, the head of OSS (predecessor to the CIA) who was organizing the American prosecution for the Nuremberg trial then picked up him as his interpreter.
   At Nuremberg, directing a staff of fifty, he produced over 10,000 pages of sworn testimony, interpreting and later himself conducting interrogations of the twenty top surviving Nazis. He had Goering, the No.2 Nazi, acknowledge his signature on the order of July 1941 to organize the holocaust. He extracted from Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz, a detailed statement how three and one half hapless victims were exterminated at Auschwitz, at a rate over 20,000 a day.
   After the verdicts, which punished ten of the defendants by hanging them, he returned to America, served on the team that created color TV and became a noted executive. To celebrate his fiftieth year in business he crossed the Atlantic in his sailboat, also celebrating his 75th birthday.
   He was invited to return to the small German town where he grew up and his reports of interaction with the citizens there are no less interesting than his recollections of Nuremberg. He was then invited to speak at a principal cathedral in Berlin, and at Hitler's erstwhile Nazi headquarters in Nuremberg. Soon he was feted by the German national press and became a sought after personality on German television and radio.
   His book "Witness to Nuremberg" published by Arcade Press, follows his German bestseller "Mehr als ein Leben." I could not put the book down. It is full of many thrilling and some dangerous adventures, but most of all it is a tale of the zest of life and it is all true!

5 comments about The Spy Went Dancing.

1. This is one of three books written by Aline Griffith Romanos about her adventures as a undercover spy during WW II in Spain. It is excellent! I first read the book 25 years ago, have read them all more than once, recommended all three books to many, and have heard only high praise for the series. They are fun, well written, and real page turners!



2. I have purchased 4 books by Aline Romanos. I absolutely love them. The fact that there is truth behind the story and that she really was an upper-class lady as well as a spy excites me. I find myself wishing I lived an adventurous life. She has a talent when it comes to recreating her life and exploits. I could not put it down!



3. I can only echo the words of the previous reviewers! Countess Aline's books (...Wore Red, ...Went Dancing - so far!) are compelling, and I was truly absorbed from beginning to end! When I finished the first, I couldn't wait to start the second - and now I'm impatient to get the third - "...Wore Silk" - from my sister! I had to keep reminding myself that she would NOT be killed, as she was alive to write these books! And her ability to manage the pertepual romantic current with no "smut" is impressive! Her description of "masculine hands," the brush of lips on her ear, or the mention of leg-to-leg contact during the tango says it all! But beyond that, she teaches so much about Spanish customs and culture, from the attraction of bull fighting to how on earth they manage the high combs and mantillas, to daily routine, meal times, siesta - she never stops. How can this remarkable strong female hero be of the same generation as my mother?



4. Fascinating. My daughter is reading "The Spy Who Wore Red" and finds it fascinating as well.



5. My mom first gave me this book to read back when I was in high school. I recently picked it up again at the library to take with me on vacation - and was once again drawn into this amazing - and real life - mystery. In fact, I enjoyed the book so much I almost didn't want to leave my hotel room until I finished it (which didn't make my brothers too happy)! Aline weaves mystery and international intrigue with a jet-setting lifestyle as she hob-nobs with the likes of Liz Taylor and Audrey Hepburn while trying to solve a mystery that's haunted her for 20 years! I'm just starting her next book, "The Spy Wore Silk" and reccommend that anyone who loves a good mystery (and don't we all?) should check out Aline's books. They're absolutely addictive, and, in this case, that's a good thing.

5 comments about The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.

1. I only received this book from Amazon today so I have no review of the book itself. But be careful when you order it because it comes in two volumes and unless you scrowl down you won't know that Volume Two is a separate book which you get only if you order both at the same time or order Volume Two separately. One of the other reviews said that the first volume took you up to the the Battle of Vicksburg, the second volume takes you to the end of the war. Reading this, I assumed I would get both volumes with the order. Not so.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



2. Amazon and its various sub-concerns obviate customer inconvenience- and any reasonable complaints! First-class people of merchandising withal.



3. To start off, I am usually relectant to read autobiographies, as many should be considered works of fiction. I have read countless book on the Civil War and several on Grant, but I had shamefully neglected reading his Memoirs-my mistake. Several years ago I got a copy on sale and thought I would give it a read-I was a born again Grant fan!
   As many know, after leaving the presidency he lent his name and money to a failed business venture in New York and was near bankrupt. He had been approached by many to write his memoirs, but always resisted. The prospect of his beloved Julia not being provided for plagued him and so he consented to write them. He intially had a fairly good contract to write a subscription book, but his friend Mark Twain interviened and got him a deal that was substantially better. For an excellent overview of this, see Mark Perry's, "Grant and Twain".
   After reading this, I came away with a completly different view of Grant. The only job he suceeded at was the one he disliked the most-a soldier. He served with distinction in Mexico, but was opposed to the war. All he wanted to do was to teach math at West Point.
   The real heart of the memoir is, of course, the Civil War and here a masterpiece was made. He writes in a simply, though not an uneducated style. He is quite defferential and praising to his subordinates and clear describes where he made errors in judgement, not the usual justifications seens by so many. He cannot say enough good about Sherman and tactfully puts down Henry Hallecks meddling. The book ends with the end of the war and his last words were written only a week or so before he died.
   In my opinion this is a classic in history and needs to be read by anyone interested in knowing how the North really won the war. The copies of the original maps leave a lot to be desired, but this is trivial. My only regret is I cannot give it a higher rating than 5 stars!



4. Much to my surprise and delight "The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant" are surprisingly readable and full of a dry understated sense of humor. U.S. Grant's memoirs give a very down to earth approach to his personal history starting in Ohio and continuing through his education at West Point and his involvement in the Mexican-American War. I highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys Antebellum U.S. and Civil War history, or just history in general. Personal memoirs are an excellent medium for getting into the shoes of some of histories greatest figures and seeing the world as they saw it. U.S. Grant's memoirs do all that and more. You will not be disappointed.



5. General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.

   Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."

   Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.

   Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.

5 comments about Marine Rifleman: Forty-Three Years in the Corps (Memories of War).

1. A well written and represented book! This book gives the reader a totally " Gungy " feeling! Real to life excerts from day to day life with " Mother Green & her Machine" Col. Fox is a Marines Marine, his method of leadership and Esprit de Corps was like no other, I know , I served under his command and unknowingly absorbed many of his talents, wisdom and leadership trait's through following his training and command. Well worth it!!!!!!!!!!! Col. Fox is a Marine to model ones self after, a Great American!!!! ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK. Semper Fidelis



2. Recommended reading for all Marines and Wannabees which includes just about everybody.



3. Col. Fox's memoir is as educational as it is entertaining. This is a must-read book on leadership, which drives home two essential principles: the leader must set the example and the leader must look out for the welfare of subordinates (which includes correcting them or even steering them into better paths, if they don't fit the Marine mold). And he does it in an entertaining style. It's rare to find someone with his experience who is also such a fine writer.
   
   Though he holds the Medal of Honor, Col. Fox isn't at all full of himself. He's not afraid to say when he made mistakes, or when the system made mistakes. I found myself both wishing I'd served under Fox, and grateful I didn't, because I'm not sure I could have measured up to his very high standards. We should all be eternally thankful for Americans of this caliber.
   
   Give this book to the young man or woman thinking of joining the Corps.
   
   Robert A. Hall
   Former SSgt, USMCR
   Author of "The Good Bits"



4. I gave "Marine Rifleman" to my 17-year-old son last week, not to have him again revisit my Marine Corps "era" through this terrific book, but to have him exposed to these thoughts:
   
   -- "Normal" people can have a successful military career. And Marines are not cold-blooded killers to begin with, nor trained as such.
   -- Military careers can co-exist with a family lifestyle. The Fox family is a wonderful example.
   -- We owe a considerable debt of gratitude to those who have served, especially in combat situations. Our comfortable life is largely due to the sacrifices of thousands of military personnel since 1900. Many of these sacrifices are short of serious wounds or death, but are not experienced by or even known to the public-at-large.
   -- You can lead AND command without losing respect for your subordinates (very important today!!!), or having them lose respect for you.
   
   Does "Marine Rifleman" bring out these lessons? You bet it does. Get the book, read it, pass it on to others. The reader does not have to be Marine-familiar. It will be one of their better reads from the bewildering choices in the bookstores. Especially for young people. Let them experience the personal growth of this man Fox as he maintains his spirit and integrity through a demanding career.



5. Every Marine that has served can easily tell you about the types of people in the Corps. There are the people who do their job and are just waiting to get out, the less than desirable bottom "10%" and then guys like Wesly Fox: the super-hardcore, gungy types who eat and sleep Marine Corps and epitomize the professionalism and dedication of the modern warrior. Col. Fox spent 43 year in, making it to 1st Sergeant before being commissioned and ultimately obtaining his bird. Many field grade officers today remember him as the CO of OCS, and his reputation carries his name throughout the Corps, even today, a decade since his retirement. Gungy Marines only come along maybe once a year in a unit, and Marines like Foxonly come along once in a great while.
   
   The book is written by the author, and goes from chapter to chapter through each rank and his experiences in Korea, Vietnam, and all of his assignments (e.g. drill instructor, recruiter, MSG, etc.); He did it all. The prose is not extremely well written or memorable so much as the content of his story is remarkable. He seems to be a very warm and realistic man. There are almost no political views in the book, or rants about government or red tape, just his perspectives on the COrps and how it changed over 3 years. A great read, I feel it should be added to the Commandant's reading list.

5 comments about Runway Visions: An American C-130 Pilot's Memoir of Combat Airlift Operations in Southeast Asia, 1967-1968.

1. I bought this book to find out and learn what my Dad went through as a flight engineer on C-130s in Vietnam (he had two tours there). He would very seldom speak of his experiences there; he did tell me of a time when mortar fire damaged the aircraft, how high the pucker factor got, the repair he and the loadmaster did, and taking off with the cargo ramp down with enemy fire coming up at them. Or the time he witnessed the aircraft in front of them crashing into a mountain. Or the time they had to carry body bags out. Though this is written from a pilot's perspective I felt a connection with my father. It is well written, but it helps to have some knowledge of aircraft (I served a career in the USAF as an aircraft mechanic) and of military procedures. The way the author describes his fears and anxieties will hold you in it's grip...especially when he describes "Runway Visions". Intense.



2. Runway Visions is the appropriately titled story of Captain Vaughan's experiences and "bringing up" as a C-130 aviator in Southeast Asia from February 1967 to April 1968, from a newly ordained aircraft commander (AC) at Dyess AFB to "new guy" novitiate in the right seat, progressing to the left seat as AC with a crew, and both seats as an instructor pilot, to check out the "new guys". Early in his fifteen-month tour, he is introduced to the harrowing landing required of An Khe Golf Course, relieved by the construction of a new runway nearby (An Khe Main), then back to the dread of the Golf Course when the new runway is closed for further improvement. Missions to Khe Sanh during his tour are described, the crew's Christmas dinner at the chow hall providing signs of the future siege.
   Airlift operations during this time in that part of the world have been little documented, so this journal of a C-130 pilot is a welcome addition to the literature of military aviation for the period. Most pilots seem to have the most vivid impressions of their landing strips, regardless of time, place, or aircraft flown, and this book would be welcomed by many, especially those who know that runways are not always straight and level, or paved and lighted. Perhaps it would prove an awakening for those who don't, and should, as well.



3. I bought this book because I am going into the Air Force Reserves as a C-130 pilot. I, of course, found it very interesting and informative, but I don't think I would recommend it to any non-pilots and would hesitate to recommend it to a non-airlift military pilot. A lot of people would find the topics he discusses very boring as compared to a fighter or bomber type memoir book. Nevertheless, I thought the stories he told were awesome - he talks about almost every mission the Hercules performs - hauling mail, booze, troops, dead bodies, ammo, and medical litters of injured troops. He also details the short-field capability of the C-130 flying into all of those fields in 'Nam. There are several hair-raising stories that he depicts where they are supplying the Marines at Khe Sahn during Tet and others where he is landing in bad weather, runways with craters, dirt strips, etc. He also mixes up the book with some details of the social life in Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines (he parallels the airlifting stories with stories about a chick he "hangs out" with in Bangkok.)

   Anyway, I thought it was a great read, but I doubt most folks would think so unless they were very into the C-130 - like me.




4. I found David Kirk Vaughan's book about his experiences as an airlift pilot in Vietnam impossible to put down. His descriptions of action in and out of the cockpit are done such that they are very easy to understand, even if one is not a pilot. Yet, even the experienced military aviator will find some intriguing action there for him too.

   Vaughan's description of landing at the "golf course" is but one example. Written in such a manner that the novice can appreciate the extreme difficulty of such a task, an aviator will nearly be in disbelief, especially after seeing the landing strip in one of the several photos that the author took during his tour and which are included in the book.

   Of course there is plenty of action outside the cockpit, too. Again, I found Vaughan's descriptions superb as he related his travels throughout Thailand, Vietnam, the Phillipines and back "home" in Taiwan.

   If one wishes to have a better understanding of the life of a military transport pilot or to have a record of Vietnam war airlift action, then this is a must buy!




5. Runway Visions is a memoir of a young pilot who volunteers to go to SE Asia and fly Hercules C-130 supply missions during the Viet Nam war.

   David Vaughan tells a compelling tale, one that haunts me. It is not a story full of heroic rescues, though there is a little of that. It is the tale of a man looking back at himself and trying to make sense of what he did and saw. He holds little back.A difficult book to describe, but one that this reader found very satisfying. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

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