The legacy of the brave Marine Corps, Air Force & navy pilots whose mission was to fly & fight over the Red River valley of North Vietnam from August 4, 1964-January 27, 1973. A descriptive history of the missions with more than 100 detailed photographs, five color pages featuring 83 USAF insignia & several personal flight stories complete this unique history book.

From World War II to high above the Earth to Vietnam, this memoir tells the story of fighter pilot Howard C. "Scrappy" Johnson. Beginning with his early years in Knoxville, Tennessee, the book follows Johnson through his career at the University of Louisville and his enlistment as an Air Force cadet at the onset of World War II. After World War II, Johnson served a tour of duty in the skies over Korea and in 1958 broke the world's altitude record by over 14,000 feet, soaring at 91,249 feet in his F-104A Starfighter. For this remarkable feat he was awarded the Collier Trophy, aviation's highest honor. In Vietnam, he was director of operations for the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing and was instrumental in founding the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots, a group dedicated to the remembrance of fallen and captured airmen. Written with panache, this work records the bigger-than-life adventures of one of America's finest.

Fighter Pilot is the memoir of legendary ace American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force, Robin Olds. Robin Olds was a larger-than-life hero with a towering personality. A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—and an ace with 12 aerial victories. But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend. He arrived in 1966 to find a dejected group of pilots and motivated them by placing himself on the flight schedule under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. Proving he wasn't a WWII retread, he led the wing with aggressiveness, scoring another four confirmed kills, becoming a rare triple ace. Olds, who retired a brigadier general and died in 2007, was a unique individual whose personal story presents one of the most eagerly anticipated military books in recent memory. Please note: This ebook edition does not include the photo insert from the print edition.

This book contains inspirational messages coming from the grassroots of a life well lived. It holds up the possibility of achievement by anyone, regardless of their beginning. Bill Garner was a painfully naïve country kid. He lacked career guidance but had an abundance of ambition. He pursued, with consuming vigor, a vision of what his life might be and came to realize his vision during a long life of successful endeavors. This is a how to guide to success in challenging times. Bill shares many lessons he learned along the way and offers a personal philosophy of life that others might adopt for their own lifelong benefit. He is a gifted writer. You will gallop with him through terrifying pony rides that end in no imaginable measure of glory; rather, in huge crushing disappointments. You will be transported to the complex cockpit of a Mach 2 fighter aircraft as you accompany him on harrowing missions in the black of night and driving rain during the Monsoon Season of Southeast Asia. Soaring tens of thousands of feet above the hostile terrain of North Vietnam and Laos, you will ride through in-flight refueling while connected perilously to a KC-135 flying gas station, soon thereafter to be shot at – and too often hit – by some of the most accurate and deadly antiaircraft artillery gunners the world has ever known. Following combat, he advanced through several assignments in Europe before attending the Air War College, en route to the Pentagon, his last assignment. He retired from the Air Force after 26 years of active duty. Bill shares his experiences in the two later careers of health services management and real estate. You will witness his innovative successes as he builds new and diversified programs and makes existing ones better.

Personal history of my 22+ years as an Air Force fighter pilot starting when I first dreamed about my future career, through flight school, operational experience in France, Germany, then Test Pilot School, flight test projects, combat experience in Southeast Asia, and other assignments; short summary of follow-on 15-year career in the aerospace industry.