Centaur Flights

[MAr]

Guess who got a new helicopter???? Dick Spalding did!!!! An AH-1 Cobra to be exact! What did he do with it? Flew around blasting 5 foot tall rice farmers!

(This description is meant to, in short, illustrate the absolutely insane differences in technology and firepower that a first world nation brought to bear on an agrarian third world society, who fought against incredible odds, while America sent it's best and brightest to secure rights to rubber plantations and a strategic power check against a growing Chinese threat)

A great account of Rotary wing combat in Vietnam.

[Brandon]

I love reading books that are based around all types of units that operated in Vietnam. If you are into these types of books I'd recommend Recondo: LRRPs in the 101st Airborne Division by Larry Chambers

For firefights in the swamps, ambushes in the jungle, or just facing the enemy dead-on, Recondo trained LRRPs to win.

They will never be able to duplicate the 5th Special Forces Recondo School and the training that gave its grads something they desperately needed—the skills to survive Long Range Patrol missions in the jungle that NVA considered its own. Vietman veteran Larry Chambers vividly describes the grit and courage it took to pass the tough volunteer-only training program in Nha Trang and the harrowing graduation mission to scout out, locate, and out-guerrilla the NVA.

Here is an unforgettable account that follows Chambers and the Rangers every step of the way—from joining, going through Recondo, and finally leading his own team on white-knuckle missions through the deadly jungles of Vietnam.

I'm going to download this book to read!

[MAr]

Loved them. I have read every book by every LRRP and Ranger from Nam: Gary Linderer, Larry Chambers, Ken, etc... One of the most amazing parts is when they intersect: For instance "Lest We Forget" is a book by a pilot Bill Meachum who flew for those very same LRRPS, and I have run into him in both Chambers and John Burford's books! He tells of getting out of his chopper to fight and how brave he was, the John Burford talks about 'how idiotic this chopper pilot was' LOL

If you want to read the absolute best chopper books, the scout pilots wrote amazing stuff: Low Level Hell, and Easy Target are both incredible.

[Brandon]

I had no idea how small the LRRP community was until I started reading these books and the same names pop up in them all.