Cheating Death: Combat Air Rescues in Vietnam and Laos [Paperback]

George J. Marrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2006

That was the pilots' creed. They flew low and slow, at treetop level, at night, in monsoons, and in point-blank range of enemy guns and missiles. They accepted missions no one else wanted, and they were the heroes other pilots prayed for when shot down. Flying the World War II–vintage Douglas A-1 Skyraider, a single-engine, propeller-driven relic in a war of "fast movers" -- that is, jets -- those intrepid Air Force pilots flew one of the most dangerous missions of the Vietnam War, helping rescue thousands of downed Air Force and Navy pilots.

With a flashback memory and a style all his own, former Air Force Captain George J. Marrett depicts some of the most compelling aerial combat of any war, rendering the people, places, and battles with a unique blend of warts-and-all clarity, heart-pounding passion, and mordant wit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“It is a great read for everyone and a must book for all aviation enthusiasts.” (C.E. Bud Anderson, WWII triple ace and author of To Fly and Fight )

About the Author

George J. Marrett flew 188 combat missions on the Douglas A-1 Skyraider in Vietnam and tested more than forty types of military aircraft in twenty-five years as a test pilot for the Air Force and Hughes Aircraft Company. He lives in California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; First Edition edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060891572
• ISBN-13: 978-0060891572
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > History > Asia > Laos

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid historical work, February 21, 2003

By 

Darrel Whitcomb (VA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CHEATING DEATH (Hardcover)

This is an outstanding war narrative from a guy who lived it. A "fast pants" jet test pilot, the author received orders to Southeast Asia to fly old propellor driven A-1s. Reporting to his squadron at Udorn, Thailand, he spent a year in combat flying everything from close air support for indigenous forces in Laos to hair-raising rescue missions for downed aircrews along the ever dangerous Ho Chi Minh Trail.
His narratives of the rescue missions are the core of his story and are absolutely rivetting. Written in the first person narrative style, he takes the readers into the cockpit and helps them to literally feel the "sting" of battle.
I loved this book and highly recommend it to anybody who has any interest in combat rescue. The lessons that he teaches are still applicable today. I put it on a par with "Stuka Pilot" by Hans Rudel.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars flying low and slow over enemy guns, February 20, 2003

By 

Daniel Ford (at danford dot net) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CHEATING DEATH (Hardcover)

Readers of Air&Space / Smithsonian will be familiar with the Vietnam articles by George Marrett. Now he's written a book about his tour as a Skyraider pilot, flying low and slow over North Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns while helicopters went about the sweaty business of extracting downed pilots. (Often enough the pilot had been flying a Skyraider on another search & rescue mission.) This was the most dangerous duty imaginable, but Marrett explains it without melodrama or posturing. His book is like the venerable Skyraider itself: unglamourous, reliable, sturdy, and honest. Any Vietnam veteran or military aviation buff will appreciate this account of one of the war's most obscure and deadly corners. -- Dan Ford

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on combat flying the A-1., August 4, 2003

By 

Kevin L. Thomazios "kthomazios" (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CHEATING DEATH (Hardcover)

As a general aviation pilot myself, my heroes are the attack, close support and fighter-bomber pilots of A-1s, A-4s, F-105s, P-47s, Typhoons, etc. These guys had to fly/dive INTO (not over or around them) their targets in the face of AAA, SAMs, and small arms fire which was not a job regular jet jocks or most other fighter pilots wanted. This a book that I could not put down, finished it in one day and wanted more! Highly recommended if you want to see through the eyes of an A-1 pilot rescuing other downed pilots. It does seem that the Jollies got more of their share of appreciation than the Sandy and Spad pilots did simply because the A-1 pilots weren't the ones to actually pick them up and bring them back to base while the A-1s flew home to a different base. That just didn't seem fair considering the A-1s made the all the difference in clearing or suppresing enemy activity in the area so the Jollies could do their job. The author does seem to be confused as to who actually made the engines in A-1s he was flying - they were not Pratt and Whitney. They were all made by Wright and called the R-3350-26 series.