The Vietnam War is one of the most misunderstood military conflicts in twentieth-century America. Showcasing seventy-two true stories told by American servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the air war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.
There is no political agenda. There is no partisan opinion. There is no romanticizing. These are simply tales from the thick of an endlessly complex conflict, raw and uncut, told directly by the men who were foisted into its napalm- and sweat-soaked clutches.
Occasionally funny, sometimes tragic, and often harrowing, these true accounts bring new and personal perspectives to one of the most studied and most maligned wars in America's history, revealing with no Hollywood glamorizing what the war was really like for members of the US Air Force of all ranks and myriad functions who answered the call to fight.
They saw no choice but to follow the orders they were given. And for better or for worse, by the time they returned, each of them would be changed forever.
About the Author: Col. Dennis M. (Mike) Ridnouer (USAF Retired) graduated with the class of 1965 from the University of Iowa. A member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, he was commissioned into the US Air Force after graduation, drawing an assignment in Thailand from 1971 to 1972.
After piloting a variety of craft including F-15s and F-16s throughout the 1980s, Ridnouer retired from the air force in 1992. He subsequently worked for aerospace corporations Boeing and McDonnell Douglas and went on to work as a consultant for the defense industry.
Now retired and enjoying woodworking and restoring cars in his spare time, Ridnouer lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Marilyn. Married for fifty-four years, they have six children.
