Easy Target: The Long Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam [Hardcover]

Tom Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1996

Reminiscent of the work of Joseph Heller and Hunter S. Thompson, this is one of the most unique, valuable, and entertaining memoirs to come out of Vietnam.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flying scout helicopters in Vietnam was the aerial counterpart of walking point. Initially cast as target-spotters for gunships and air-assault forces, the scout pilots evolved into live bait as enemy weapons and tactics improved. Their small helicopters were vulnerable even to minor damage, and parachuting from a damaged bird was impossible. Casualty rates could be as high as 50%; a scout unit often resembled a WWI fighter squadron, with replacements dying almost before they could unpack. Yet fresh volunteers kept coming?even if only to stay out of the infantry. In his visceral memoir, Smith tells the familiar story of a young man who flunked out of college, sampled the 1960s counterculture and found himself first in the army, then in Vietnam. For Smith, the war was a theater of the absurd whose only meaning was survival. His narrative of low-altitude, high-risk operations in 1969-70 replicates that of others: initial confusion giving way first to proficiency and pleasure in stalking and killing anonymous enemies, later to a sense that both his skill and his luck are running out. Gritty enough to appeal to adventure fans, this memoir makes a useful contribution to a subject?American helicopter pilots in Vietnam?whose recorded history is largely still in its anecdotal stage. Photos, not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

During the Vietnam War, students who left college lost their student deferments and were reclassified as available for military service. Smith, a free spirit who was suspended from college for poor attendance, failed to report for induction when called and was facing likely jail time when his brother convinced him to enlist in helicopter pilot school. A natural storyteller with a good ear for dialog, Smith recounts his typically grueling experiences in basic training, the tough and proudly elitist atmosphere in fight school, and his arrival in Vietnam. Assigned to the First Air Cavalry Division, a unit known for getting into tough scrapes, Smith becomes a scout pilot operating primarily around Tay Ninh province, which borders on Cambodia. Smith skillfully evokes the frequently terrifying combat action and the close camaraderie among pilots, though some sections are overlong and tangential. Finally, Smith's luck ran out; he was shot down and seriously injured. An excellent, unpretentious narrative, though not quite as visceral and introspective as the classic Vietnam chopper pilot memoir, Robert Mason's Chickenhawk (LJ 7/83). Recommended for public libraries.?Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press; 1St Edition edition (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891415955
• ISBN-13: 978-0891415954
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,865,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Not long after I finished "Easy Target," I began another book. For more than ten years I'd been dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and my life had not been my own. Although I was working with the Veterans Administration, and knew a lot of other veterans were coping with it, I couldn't believe how much PTSD was screwing up my life.
Because of the difficulties I was having, and the singular nature of the disorder, I decided to put my experiences down on paper. I am editing the final draft and hope to have "Facing PTSD"available at the Amazon bookstore and on Kindle soon.

Tom Smith

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EASY TARGET:THE LONG, STRANGE TRIP OF A SCOUT PILOT IN VIETN, July 20, 2002

By 

frederick hurdman (MAUI,HAWAII) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Target: The Long Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam (Hardcover)

I GREW UP IN THE VIETNAM ERA AND NEVER THOUGHT IT NECESSARY TO READ A BOOK ABOUT THE VIETNAM CONFLICT BECAUSE I THOUGHT I HAD A CLEAR PICTURE OF THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE.THROUGH THE EYES OF A SCOUT PILOT I WAS GIVEN A FASCINATING NEW PERSPECTIVE!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive tales of an Army Scout Pilot. Good Reading., November 30, 1997

By 

Joseph Jacobs (Miami Beach, FL.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Target: The Long Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam (Hardcover)

Tom Smith tells of his personal participation as a Scout Pilot. To those of us who flew in Vietnam, myself a Marine Corps, CH-46 Crew Chief, it is an absolutely true narrative of what was happening at the time. I did not find the book overbearing or boring and found it to be a good read. Some vietnam tales tend to be full of heavy head trips. Not so with this one. Congratulations. Joe Jacobs ([e-mail])Lima, Peru

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Smith never really intended to be a Scout Pilot........., November 12, 1997

By 

"bandit32" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Target: The Long Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam (Hardcover)

As you ride with Tom in his OH-6, skimming trees, darting over the elephant grass and around the termite mounds of western III Corps, you will "feel" all the emotions of war, especially, fear. "Easy Target" is a great story of a very young man who spends a life changing year of tempting fate, learning "tricks of the trade", and experiencing what "luck" really means. In the end he truly realizes that being "cool" is very serious business. Tom Payne RVN 66-67, Bandit32