REQUEST: Good aviation/military books

[RussBow6]

summer reading?

anybody have some good books about naval aviation etc?

i know the specwar guys have luttrell's lone survivor and all the great books by dick couch, gates of fire is a great one too... anything along those lines for SNA studs?

i read o'grady's book awhile back... i'll prolly read it again cause its been a couple years but anything else that could be helpful and insightful i would really appreciate the heads up

thanks guys and gals!

 

[Brett327]

anybody have some good books about naval aviation etc?

i know the specwar guys have luttrell's lone survivor and all the great books by dick couch, gates of fire is a great one too... anything along those lines for SNA studs?

i read o'grady's book awhile back... i'll prolly read it again cause its been a couple years but anything else that could be helpful and insightful i would really appreciate the heads up

thanks guys and gals!

Check this out

Brett

 

[nikiterp86]

Dunno if this link is posted anywhere on AW yet, but it's my go-to source for military-related books:

http://www.militaryreadinglist.com/

 

[scoolbubba]

Just got back from vacation. Don't know if this was mentioned yet, but "In the Company of Heroes" by CW4 Durant was pretty awesome. I'd recommend reading it before you go to SERE...

Also just read "The Night Stalkers." It was 5 bucks, and a decent read, even if it is about a bunch of prima donna Army pilots...

 

[scoolbubba]

The Age of Orion. All you need to know about the greatest flying machine. ever.

 

[bunk22]

Too many pages to look through but if it hasn't been mentioned, Launch The Intruder by Carol Reardon is very good. I'm on the last chapter and have enjoyed it quite a bit. It's about VA-75, the Sunday Punchers, on thier 72-73 combat deployment. You want Naval Aviation, here you go.

 

[porw0004]

Seeing their name on a sticker at the O-club bar and here again in the same day is too much not to ask; how in the world do squadrons get their names?? Also.. The Fighting Checkmates...?

 

[HokiePilot]

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

An American building schools, especially for girls, in tribal regions of Pakistan and Afganistan. He was kidnapped by the Taliban for 8 days in '96 and was in the most remote parts of Pakistan on September 11th. He is doing great work out there.

Author Greg Mortenson shows the locations of future village schools to U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the opening of Pushghar Village Girls School 60 miles north of Kabul in Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan, July 15, 2009. Mortenson, who wrote "Three Cups of Tea," built the new school to promote community education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

 

[Pags]

Not Naval Aviation, but just finished "Bury Us Upside Down" about the Misty Fast FACs in Vietnam. Good, entertaining read (don't expect serious history).

 

[Crowbar]

I went on a reading spurt a while back. No real literary masterpieces in here, but I found them interesting:

"One Square Mile of Hell" John Wukovits

"Utmost Savagery" Joseph Alexander

"Da Nang Diary" Tom Yarborough

"West Dickens Avenue" John Corbett

"Sunrise at Midnight" Bill Peters

 

[phrogdriver]

"Clashes-the Air War Over North Vietnam," by Michel

"Savage Wars of Peace," by Boot

 

[Pags]

I was recently given a Kindle as a gift. It's fantastic if you're a big casual reader (or if you want to take a lot of book to some place that has limited space, like a boat).

The first book I read on it was "With the Old Breed", which is a great un-washed look at the late Pacific War.

 

[MIDNJAC]

If it hasn't been posted already in the last 400 pages of this thread, a good book about SNA's is:

Somewhat outdated in terms of advanced (since you no longer do the Meridian T-2 --> Kingsville T-45A transition), but most of the info is still relatively accurate, especially WRT primary in the T-34C. Of course there is some over dramatization of some topics, but I think that kind of goes with the territory.

 

[squorch2]

Rescue Pilot, by Dan McKinnon. Great coverage of how early helos - think R-4 and HUP - operating from ships and carriers really did things, plus history of such things as redlight and other stuff that helo bubbas still use today. Plus a foreword from Frank Piasecki.

 

[ryan1234]

This isn't Naval Aviation.... USAAC rather.... Thunderbolt! by Robert S. Johnson - It is almost written like a diary as it documents day to day activities, training, and fighting in the air. My grandfather gave it to me a long time ago... it is one of my favorite flying books by far. If you read it, you'll probably read the whole thing in two days.