Afterburner : naval aviators and the Vietnam War

John Darrell Sherwood

Through stories like this diary entry of a fighter pilot, John Darrell Sherwood brings forth the personal accounts of 21 naval and marine aviators in this chronicle of the second half of the Navy's air war over Vietnam. Despite spending over 200 billion dollars and dropping almost 8 million tons of bombs on Southeast Asia, the U.S. was unable to score a definitive victory in the air war. Afterburner takes us inside the day-to-day operations of the air war, particularly during the most intense year of the campaign: 1972. During that year, North Vietnam launched the first large-scale conventional attacks on strongholds in South Vietnam. Sherwood shows how the U.S. fought back with some of the most innovative air campaigns in its history, including Nixon's Linebacker bombings and the Navy's mining operation in Haiphong Harbor. From duels with enemy MiGs to the experiences of Commander C. Ronald Polfer, who became the voice of reason among American POWs in the Hanoi Hilton's Room 5, the detailed stories in Afterburner make these historical events come to life. Sherwood compiles and analyzes an incredible breadth of information about the details of each of the Navy's operations during the air war and then relates the key parts of the narrative through the eyes of a pilot or flight officer involved in each action. Through tales of courage and fear, triumph and horror, Sherwood reveals the lives of common aircrews who performed extraordinary service. Their experiences illustrate the personal nature of war--even from the air--and show that the air war in Vietnam may have begun as a slow burn, but by 1972, it was more intense than an F-4 afterburner.

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[目次]

  • Introduction: The Navy's Air War in Southeast Asia prior to 1968
  • Part I: Navy Operations against Laos: The Story of Shangri-La's Last Cruise, 1970
  • 1. Anchors Aweigh: James McBride, Shangri-La, and the Long Cruise to Yankee Station
  • 2. The War Nobody Was Supposed to Know About: Laos and McBride's First Line Tour
  • 3. Life on and off the Line
  • 4. The War over Laos Continues: McBride's Final Line Tours
  • Part II: Double Anchors: The Naval Flight Officer Experience, 1968-72
  • 5. The Guy in the Backseat: The Odyssey of James B. Souder, NFO
  • 6. The Anatomy of a MiG Kill
  • 7. "The Navy Needs You, J. B.": Glynco, VF-121, and VF-51
  • 8. War and Ejection from the Squadron
  • Part III: The POW Experience from 1969 to 1973: Unity over Self
  • 9. Taking Charge: Commander C. Ronald Polfer
  • 10. The Medic: Lieutenant Commander James B. Souder
  • 11. The Camp Clown: Lieutenant John "Jack" Ensch
  • Part IV: Navy Mining Operations and the Triumph of the Bengals: Crossing the Rubicon
  • 12. Difficult Transitions: The Marines of VMA (AW)-224
  • 13. The War to Save Bengal 505
  • 14. Bombing and Then Mining Haiphong
  • Part V: Air-to-Air Combat, 1972: The Making of a MiG Killer
  • 15. Ronald "Mugs" McKeown
  • 16. Early Linebacker MiG Engagements
  • 17. Ron McKeown's Day in the Sun
  • Part VI: The Easter Offensive and Linebacker
  • 18. Stopping the Easter Offensive
  • 19. Linebacker I
  • 20. Leighton Warren Smith and the Fall of Thanh Hoa
  • 21. Linebacker II: "The Peace Is Falling Apart, But At Least They're Bombing Again"
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Glossary
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • About the Author

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この本の情報

書名 Afterburner : naval aviators and the Vietnam War
著作者等 Sherwood John Darrell
出版元 New York University Press
刊行年月 c2004
ページ数 x, 353 p.
大きさ 24 cm
ISBN 081479842X
NCID BA73498802
※クリックでCiNii Booksを表示
言語 英語
出版国 アメリカ合衆国
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