Eyes of the Eagle [Mass Market Paperback]

Gary Linderer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 1991

When Gary Linderer reached Vietnam in 1968, he volunteered for training and duty with the F Company 58th In, the Long Range Patrol Company that was "the Eyes of the Eagle." F Company pulled reconnaisssance missions and ambushes, and Linderer recounts night insertions into enemy territory, patrols against NVA antiaircraft emplacements, and some of the bravest demonstrations of courage under fire that has ever been described....

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

When Gary Linderer reached Vietnam in 1968, he volunteered for training and duty with the F Company 58th In, the Long Range Patrol Company that was "the Eyes of the Eagle." F Company pulled reconnaisssance missions and ambushes, and Linderer recounts night insertions into enemy territory, patrols against NVA antiaircraft emplacements, and some of the bravest demonstrations of courage under fire that has ever been described....

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (March 2, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804107335
• ISBN-13: 978-0804107334
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.7 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Asia > Southeast Asia
  • #33 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Military > Vietnam War
  • #73 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Military > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eyewitness, March 16, 2005

By 

John L. Reid (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eyes of the Eagle (Mass Market Paperback)

There have been anonymous reviews posted about Linderer's books that question his truthfulness. I'm posting this review under my own name because I was an eyewitness to some of the incidents described in Linderer's books, particularly the events of 20 Nov 68. My name is John Reid.
I served briefly in Gary Linderer's unit then transferred to B Co 101st Aviation Battalion, the unit that proveded helicopter support for Linderer's unit. I was flying as door gunner for pilot W.T. Grant (author "Wings of the Eagle) on 20 Nov 68.

Warrent Officer Grant and Captain Bill Meacham (author "Lest We Forget") piloted the two helicopters that arrived over Linderer's team shortly after they ambushed an enemy unit on 20 Nov 68. Both pilots braved enemy fire trying to extract the team with MacGuire rigs. The trees were too thick to lower ropes to the team. We could see armed enemy all around the team trying to get at them. We were hovering low enough to see that most of the team were badly wounded. Only the combined efforts of the artillery, gunships and Air Force fighter bombers, directed by LRRP commander Captain Eklund, kept the enemy at bay and saved the wounded survivors of the team. I personally witnessed this from a helicopter just above the action (off the gun target line) and heard most of the radio communications that day.
Pilots Grant and Meachum spent most of the day ferrying in a reaction force to rescue the teams survivors and then extracting them all later in the day. The battle began at ten in the morning and we brought out the last friendlies well after dark. We took enemy fire every time we flew close to the ground that day. Flying in and out of the landing zone I saw many dead enemy soldiers on the slope below the LRRP team. On the missions we flew after dark that day, the muzzle flashes and tracers of multiple enemy weapons trying to shoot us down were visible to the support air crews overhead.
I've read the descriptions of the 20 Nov 68 battle in the books written by Linderer, Grant and Meacham. As someone who was actually there, I find no discrepancies in their descriptions.
The anonymous smears lead back to one person who I have talked to but will not name here. That person, who served in Vietnam, was not near Linderer's team on 20 Nov 68, but by his own admission was in a different unit hundreds of miles away. He bases his attacks on Linderer's veracity on a brief log kept by clerks at a base camp miles away from the action. All the participants in the action that day, that I have talked to, agree on the basic facts of the battle. The brief notations of the clerks in the rear are slightly different. Who are you going to believe. The soldiers and air crew who were actually there or some anonymous person who wasn't anywhere near the battle.
This same person calls Linderer a liar because not all his medals are listed on the Form DD214 held at the army records repository in St Louis. By that same logic I'm a liar too because I received an Air Medal years after my discharge and thus it doesn't show up on my DD214. It's not all that unusual.

Gary Linderer is a true hero who has devoted his life since Vietnam to helping other veterans (including the person now slandering him anonymously). These attacks on his character and truthfulness are shameful and undeserved.
Read Linderer's books with the assurance that they reflect the truth as related by the soldiers and air crews who were actually there. John Reid, Portland, OR

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was there, August 10, 2005

By 

W. T. Grant - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eyes of the Eagle (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read all of this author's books and found them all well written and captivating in description of the horrors of war, the brotherhood of warriors and the rise of ordinary American young men to heroic deeds in the face of a determined enemy. As an eye witness to some of the events described I find some of those all too captivating in their reality and accuracy. I consider it my extreme good fortune to have known the author both as dedicated warrior and true American patriot, who after leaving the Army has used his experiences in offering a strong hand or a sympathetic shoulder to any other veteran in need. Unfortunately, there is one veteran whose choice was to return that hand with teeth marks in it. This veteran, fancying himself as a modern day Oliver Twist frequently posts reviews laden with inaccurate and irrelevant staff duty logs as evidence that the actions on 20 Nov 68 never happened or are distorted fantasies created Gary Linderer. He often identifies himself as "a reader" or with handles like Mark Twain "Joy", but never his real name and all his facts Oliver Twisted. If Linderer fantasized the action of 20 Nov 68 it surely was a mass hallucination, taking in some 30 pilots, the Company Commander and even Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division all who actually there that day Oliver. The dream was so realistic that team members and reaction force soldiers can still show one the scars inflicted by this author's imagination. It also took in an unknown, but clearly large number of enemy soldiers who spent the better part of ten hours trying to shoot me out of the sky every time I went near that hill. Maybe I just imagined myself in a very large hornets nest, but the difference was that I was there that day and Mr. Reader was not. Reader questions the author's awards, but fails to mention that the U.S. Army saw fit to hand out dozen of valorous awards for that action that included two Distinguished Service Crosses. I visited the author in the hospital the next day so I am convinced that he earned a Purple Heart that day whether it made it into his records or not. Have your mommy read you Mr. Dickens work again, you may discover that Oliver did get what he wanted when he asked for, "More please."

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hall of Lies, January 13, 2005

By 

Steppin' Wolf - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eyes of the Eagle (Mass Market Paperback)

Despite what Mr. "Tell" writes concerning the military service of Gary Linderer, he travels down the hall of lies. Gary Linderer was awarded a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for his November 20th mission. You can view a photo of Linderer in the hospital recieving this award from Major General Melvin Zias presenting the impact awards at the 101st LRRP/Ranger web site. It is a shame that an individual is allowed to continues his attacks on Mr Linderer while hiding behind his wife's skirt. A wimp who doesn't even have the courage to attend the 75th Ranger Reuion when its in his own home town can only be a coward. What is even worse is Amazon still presenting this person's book for sale.