“It is 1967. Every young man in America must face the reality of our war in Vietnam, one way or another. Kevin McNally, twenty years old, bored and frustrated with college, decides to see if any of the military services will allow him the excitement of flying jet planes. None will as you must have a 4-year degree; but the army offers him helicopters.
In Vietnam, Kevin – now designated “Mac” – learns the routine but dangerous helicopter chores of insertion of troops and supplies and carrying out the wounded. These helicopters are armed with only two-door gunners and are prime targets for the enemy. Mac hates being shot at without being able to shoot back. He volunteers to fly helicopter gunships as soon as he’s allowed to, on his 30th day of flying.
The gunships are armed to the teeth, with machine guns, rockets, and canon. Mac can shoot back now, but he is also, even more, a prime target …”
Real life examples of what the Vietnam War was like. Written in the first person, gripping and brutal!
Phil Erick
It is riveting as it describes the day to day harrowing action and danger of flying combat missions in close support of ground troops in fierce firefights. There are special missions into Laos with LRRP teams and mercenaries for monitoring and bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail. Also, an incredible love story of young people in a distant land.
Anonymous
Excellent book on the Vietnam helicopter war. It will keep reading right to the very end. I have firsthand experience from the ground.
Golf 3 Charlie
I loved this book! Written from a first person perspective it gives you a very detailed account of what it was like to fight a helicopter war and the frightening danger these crews were in on a daily basis. This is the type of story which could not be accurately portrayed unless the author was actually over there and experienced...
dvandersloot
All my senses were involved in reading this novel. I sat in the co-pilots seat during fire fights with the enemy. I laughed during bar room drinking with young chopper pilots. I cried at the death of the authors best friends. I tasted the sickening burnt flesh of American and north Vietnamese bodies inside helicopters. The truth of this book...
Your Patient
McHugh paints a picture that can only be done by someone who was there. As a ground combat veteran, he made me draw parallels to my own experiences. An Up-front, in your face view of the Vietnam War.
IEDx8
Read this book in three evenings. If you like Vince Flynn or Tom Clancy you'll love the action in this book. Has plenty of detail to let you know what's it like to fly in extreme dangerous helicopter combat. Vietnam was a terrible war for the soldiers and pilots in combat. This book explains it extremely well. You can't put...
Murphy 1
“God’s Own Lunatics” by Kelly McHugh is a story set in the context of the helicopter war in Vietnam. As the author notes, Vietnam was the first time armed helicopters played a pivotal role in a war, and the learning curve was brutal. This book gives detailed descriptions of what being a gunship pilot was like, both the technical and...
Anonymous
This book was like watching a movie for an old grunt. Brought me back to Vietnam after 55 years.
One Six Alpha
