Alpha Strike Vietnam: Navy's Air War, 1964-73 [Paperback]

Jeffrey L. Levinson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Levinson, a freelance writer, has captured the salty lingo, devil-may-care attitude and special flair for combat characterizing the Vietnam-era naval aviator. The kind of tactical-technical detail that appeals to air-war buffs abounds as 22 former U.S. Navy pilots recall missions in the skies over Southeast Asia from the earliest days of the war to the final air evacuation. Several served hard time at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prisoner-of-war camp and all express pride over the defiance their downed colleagues displayed toward their captors. Most of these men remain "unreconstructed" in their resentment at Washington-dictated restrictions that kept them from wreaking even greater destruction against the enemy. Pride, fierceness and technical mastery dominate as the pilots describe bombing runs, flak-suppression missions and other tasks (including the shooting-down of a MIG). Levinson provides a solid background to their testimony, summarizing the strategic aims of the air war, month by month. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (October 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891413383
• ISBN-13: 978-0891413387
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.5 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Pilots give better story of war than historians do, October 31, 2000

By 

J. Sanchez "jps27" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alpha Strike Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

Alpha Strike Vietnam was a great collection of stories from pilots who were living the Vietnam War from 1964-1975. The book is fairly technical but if you use the attached definitions of acrynyms and pilots vernacular it makes it a bit easier.

You certainly have a different idea of the Vietnam War after reading the book no matter what ideology you carried before you read the book. Understanding the feelings, thoughts and actions of people who experienced the war first hand gives you insight to their frustrations regarding a limited war managed by politicians. You also get a feel for why the politicians and military brass so valued the statistics collected from the War.

4.0 out of 5 stars Pilots give a better perspective than historians, October 30, 2000

By 

J. Sanchez "jps27" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alpha Strike Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

Alpha Strike Vietnam is a great technical book about pilots living in combat. The stories are frank flashbacks of pilots while flying and dying in combat or in prison. The verbage is military technical and can get burdensome at times. However, as you read through the book you become accustomed to the vernacular and eventually fell comfortable with it. The book gives you a different perspective on the Vietnam War from guys who did not have the luxury of caring about the politics of the war. They were simply there to fulfill their duty or get their time in. It is also apparent that given an all out green to wage full scale war on the North Vietnamese, the war would have been shorter and the US would have subdued the NVA and Kong. That of couse is if China and Russia would have let that happen or would they have escalated into full scale global war. Still, you can feel the frustrations of the limitations on the war apparatus from both the military and executive sides as they both navigate the hottest parts of the war from 64 to 75. Very interesting and informative.