A Vietnam fighter pilot describes his coming of age with thrilling tales of combat and danger, as he examines not only his own experiences but also his evolving views on the nature of that conflict.
Mike McCarthy is a retired Colonel currently teaching at Arizona State University. During the Vietnam War, he was an F4D Phantom II pilot assigned to the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, and flew 124 missions against North Vietnam and Laos from 1967 to 1968. Assignments at the Pentagon in both Headquarters USAF and the Office of Secretary of Defense provided valuable insight on how major policy decisions are developed and implemented.
[A] welcome addition to any aviation buff's bookshelf….The memoir
includes many humorous and serious accounts of what life was like
during this turbulent yet transformational period in Air Force
history….What makes this account stand out from other Vietnam there
I was…-type memoirs, is its jargon free, easy-to-understand
explanations of air combat techniques, strategies, and
formations….There is a welcome absence of combat glamorization that
gives the book an aura of integrity. Pre-mission feelings of fear
and anxiety are accurately portrayed, and the gripping narrative
includes the retelling of a close call with an enemy surface-to-air
missile that exploded mere meters away from McCarthy's
aircraft….[I]t is addictively engrossing and a must read for anyone
interested in a close-up view of the Vietnam air war.
*Air Power History*
Mike McCarthy's Phantom Reflections: The Education of an American
Fighter Pilot in Vietnam is a well-written memoir that centers on
the author's 1968-69 tour of duty with the USAF's 433rd Tactical
Fighter Squadron (aka Satan's Angels) flying out of Ubon Royal Thai
Air Base….He also shows well how his thoughts about the Vietnam War
changed.
*The VVA Veteran*
The author flew the F-4 Phantom II fighter plane on numerous
missions during the Vietnam War and he here retrospectively
narrates the most significant events he experienced during the war
(almost all combat missions), the stereotypical jet pilots bravado
perhaps tempered a bit by time. Occasional thoughts about the wider
context of the war intrude from time to time and he differs from
many of his military colleagues in now believing that the US failed
to recognize the limits of its power in Vietnam and that the war
could not have been won even if the military had been able to fight
the war with no limitations.
*Reference & Research Book News*
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