REQUEST: Good aviation/military books

[loadtoad]

Sorry if any of these are already listed. I skimmed through the long list...

"Thud Ridge" by Jack Broughton
Its about F-105's flying North in Vietnam. First Vietnam aviation book I read and was caught off guard with the things these guys went through. After reading this book I read as many F-105 based books I could get my hands on.

"100 Missions North" by Ken Bell
Again flying F-105's into the North. Another great book about the 105's and their mission.

"Misty: The first person stories of flying the F-100 fast FAC's in the Vietnam War" by Major General Don Shepperd
Basically this books goes through and talks about the FAC's from beginning to end and their never ending mission of searching out the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

"Snake Pilot" by Randy R. Zahn
This is a GREAT book from a Cobra Helicopter pilot in Vietnam who was part of the "hunter-killer" mission in Vietnam. Basically a AH-1 and a OH-6 would work together as a team to find targets. The Loach would act as bait hovering over the jungle looking for targets and the Cobra would be waiting for anybody to shoot at the Loach. The stories are incredible.


I have read A LOT of military and military aviation books and those are by far my favorite.

 

[Sky-Pig]

Non-aviation, but definitely military related...

"In the Ruins of the Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia" by Ronald Spector.

If you've read "Eagle against the Sun" which was about the PTO is WWII, it's the same author taking a look at the post-war occupation of Asia.

In light of where we stand in Iraq, it's an interesting read to see many of the same mistakes and/or misapprehensions made after the "good war".

 

[phantomphixer82]

Sailors To The End Gregory A. Freeman.

The story of the deadly fire onboard the U.S.S. Forrestal July 29 1967. A good read.

I believe it has to be ordered, I found mine by ordering it through Barns and Nobel, but also on e-bay

 

[schwarti]

Non-aviation, but definitely military related...

"In the Ruins of the Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia" by Ronald Spector.

If you've read "Eagle against the Sun" which was about the PTO is WWII, it's the same author taking a look at the post-war occupation of Asia.

In light of where we stand in Iraq, it's an interesting read to see many of the same mistakes and/or misapprehensions made after the "good war".

Spector is a great author - his book At War At Sea is a great history of naval warfare in the 20th century. Well worth looking into.

 

[Celyros]

F4U Corsair Pilot - Autobiography

Hi, great website with lots of info! Wish I had found this before leaving the service. Anyway, my Grandpa finished a comprehensive book full of his memoirs. Most of which are from memory. He has done some amazing things. Some things he probably shouldn't have gotten away with. But, definitely couldn't get away with today. Great book if you'd like to read about a guy who was a top-notch pilot who took some pretty wildly calculated risks. You can get a copy through his website:
www.davidlongworth-survivor.com

He signs every book he ships, btw.

V/R,
Nick Longworth - Navy Vet

 

[Lobster]

hit in the mouth with a hockey puck...I like it already

 

[HeyJoe]

Hi, great website with lots of info! Wish I had found this before leaving the service. Anyway, my Grandpa finished a comprehensive book full of his memoirs. Most of which are from memory. He has done some amazing things. Some things he probably shouldn't have gotten away with. But, definitely couldn't get away with today. Great book if you'd like to read about a guy who was a top-notch pilot who took some pretty wildly calculated risks. You can get a copy through his website:
www.davidlongworth-survivor.com

He signs every book he ships, btw.

V/R,
Nick Longworth - Navy Vet

Nick,
The protocol here is to check with Webmaster before placing an ad for anything. Your "ad" has been moved to the book thread as a recommendation. If you want a specific thread, you need to contact the Webmaster. Reason being others pay to have their products advertised on the site and you allow you to use the site as an advertising venue without permission invites others to do the same as well as undercutting those who have paid for that opportunity to put their products in front of 20,000+ aviators and aspirants to that calling. HJ

 

[Zissou]

Ender's Game

 

[OUSOONER]

Masters of the Air by Donald Miller is a great read if you are into the ETO and the 8th Air Force in particular.

JG 26- Top Guns of the Luftwaffe by Donald Caldwell. There is even a brief intro by Adolf Galland himself. Everything you wanted to know about the elite German fighter group from the Spanish Civil War to the last days in 1945.

Both of these are very well written and full of information about day to day squadron life all the way to the big picture of the entire air war over Europe.

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
By: John L. Plaster
Don't miss out on this. It's a great read.

The Ultimate Sniper
By: John L. Plaster

If you want to improve on your rifle shooting I suggest picking this book up.

Six Silent Men
Three Books By:
Reynel Martinez
Kenn Miller
Gary A. Linderer

Excellent stories of the LRRPs in Vietnam.

Chickenhawk
By: Robert Mason

Extraordinary book and one of my long time favorites.

 

[Ventilee]

Ender's Game

Seconded

Ender's Shadow is also a good read and it will give you a different perspective on Ender's Game.

Same time period and setting, but written through the perspective of Bean rather then Ender.

EDIT: Also want to add "Leadership: The Warrior's Art" to the list. It's a compilation of essays about leadership written by Army Officers and a few civilians.

 

[navyao]

In "Scream of Eagles" Robert Wilcox [URL="http://www.robertkwilcox.com/ [/URL] captures the spirit of the Navy Fighter Community in mid to late sixties when the need for and idea of a Fighter Weapons School was born. Told in "Right Stuff" dramatic narrative (he is a Hollywood screen writer and it shows). He interviewed the right folks and captured all the pertinent events.

He then moved on to the Fighter Community post creation of Topgun and profiled stories of many of the top sticks in "Wings of Fury" which brings the story into late eighties and early nineties. He followed that up with a profile of VF-41 in their epic Kosovo combat deployment in 99 flying the F-14A on missions scarely imagined in the early days of the Tomcat. All are worth a read and ideally in sequence.

1. As HJ mentioned above, Black Aces High, great read.

2. Someone else mentioned it, Band of Brothers by Ambrose.

3. Beyond Band of Brothers; the memoires of Maj. Dick Winters also by Ambrose.

4. Bogeys and Bandits: The Making of a Fighter Pilot by Robert Gandt.

 

[phrogdriver]

"Bogeys and Bandits" was a little, well, gay might be too strong. More like, written like a ninth-grader who took a field trip to flight school.

On a completely different note,"On Killing," by LtCol Dave Grossman, USA, will make you THINK, a lot, abou thte nature of warfare.

 

[exhelodrvr]

"Battle Cry" - Leon Uris
Great novel about USMC in WWII

Anything by Stephen Ambrose, particularly
"Citizen Soldiers" and "D-Day"

"Guadalcanal Diary"
Richard Tregaskis

Douglas Reeman wrote a number of very good novels about the British Navy in WWII

 

[navyao]

"Bogeys and Bandits" was a little, well, gay might be too strong. More like, written like a ninth-grader who took a field trip to flight school.

For someone on the outside looking in however, it was an interesting read regardless. I read that book in the mid to late 90's when I was working towards my undergrad and an aspiring officer candidate. When the book came out it was an interesting read and gave me a little more insight into the community, at least more than any of the JO's were willing to offer me in my Reserve Squadron...