Customer Reviews

Outlaws in Vietnam

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recently met Dave Eastman at the VHPA reunion in Las Vegas where we exchnaged books. Once I opened Outlaws in Vietnam I could not put it down -- it took me back to the sights, smells and sounds of Vietnam. A great read and if your interested in what it was like to fly a UH-1D in combat, I really mean to get the feel, experience the excitement and the sometoimes cold fear in the pit of your stomach, then this book is a must. Dave is a wonderful writer who takes the reader into the cockpit and along for a wild ride. Great job Dave!

David L. Eastman has done me a service---he remembers more about my Vietnam tour than I do. I had the honor of serving with Dave from our flight school days at Fort Wolters, Texas, through our tour in the Mekong Delta, and then back to Wolters as flight instructors. He does a remarkable job of recalling incidents, details, quotes and experiences. This is a good treatment of the "helicopter war", as viewed from the eyes of a Mekong Delta pilot. For the most part, ours was not the war of large American divisions, ours was the war of small conflicts, unexpected missions, exotic locales, and beautiful people. Dave reflects this mix and reveals a side of the war not often reported. His photos are well reproduced. Much of the media really didn't care about what was going on in the Delta, once big American combat units moved in up north. This book tells what those reporters missed from October 1966 through October 1967, and shares both subtle and crude, non-military tales from Vietnam.

Want to know what it was like to be a Huey chopper pilot, deep in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War? Read this book. Dave Eastman flew both "slicks" (transport choppers that carried mostly Vietnamese soldiers into battle) and gunships during a year of heavy fighting in a particularly deadly part of Vietnam.

Dave describes the life of a helicopter pilot superbly-not only the flying and fighting, but also the sociology of chopper pilots and crews.

This book fascinated me, partly because I was a "client" of the chopper crews, including the 175th Outlaws, and I know the terrain well. I was an adviser on Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MAC-V) Team 73, based in Vi Thanh. Dave writes a lot about "the first battle of Vi Thanh," "the second battle of VT," etc. (there were plenty).

But I was fascinated mainly because "Outlaws" is a good book. Dave Eastman writes well, and has contributed significantly to a vital, but seldom documented, aspect of the Vietnam War.

Tom Hargrove, Author, A Dragon Lives Forever: War and Rice in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

If you are looking for a more complete book dealing with the lives of helicopter pilots in Vietnam, look no farther. This book is it! From cover to cover, Outlaws in Vietnam tells the full, rich story of the "Magnificent Seven" as they flew in the 175th Aviation Company (AML) from late 1966 until late 1967. These seven classmates of flight school class 66-14 lived at Vinh Long and experienced the "best years of their lives" as they wrestled everyday with danger, boredom and terror! This book is a wonderful story of comrades in combat, told through the clear, vivid writing of David Eastman, one of the "Magnificent Seven".

Outlaws in Vietnam is a great mix of 40 short stories, so interesting and gripping with detail the reader will easily be able to visualize and understand every described happening. Each story will leave you wanting more, more. Funny, sad, tragic, ironic but never dull, all chapters are "brim full" of wonderful details and emotion. David is very skillful as a writer and he easily brings back vivid memories about his fellow helicopter pilots and enlisted crews. He also enhances the understanding for the non-pilot reader. In real life, David Eastman is a Forester and is attuned to the aesthetic world of wildlife, the environment and landscapes. He writes and publishes regularly for the print and broadcast media about the outdoors and its beauty. He lives in New Hampshire where forestry, nature and esthetics are very important.

Most books about Vietnam usually begin with flight school and the too long a flight to the other side of the world. However, David Eastman teases the reader with a very interesting turn of events, which could have allowed him to, perhaps, escape the trip. David was an honorable man, however , deciding to have no part in the "chance opportunity." Then as luck would have it, his assignment to the 175th Aviation Company (AML) at Vinh Long would be a wonderful stroke that would launch the young RLO (Real Live Officer) for a year of flying which he describes as, "the best year of his life." Many, but not all, helicopter pilots have echoed this thought. But, all would admit that their lives were changed, significantly, by the experience.

One thing stands out about flying helicopters in the Delta was the size and lack of recognizable landmarks. Plus, the vast, flat, often flooded southern ¼ of Vietnam, offered very little contact with or support from U.S. troops. In the Delta, the Vietnamese mainly fought the War. Not until the 9th Division came to Dong Tam, later in the War, did U.S. forces enter the Delta region in significant numbers. U.S. Advisors were the only Americans that David and his fellow pilots came in contact with on a daily basis. The Delta was a different world, a world where the young helicopter pilot and his trusted crew spent hours and hours flying daily to the far reaches of IV Corps. The long days and many flight hours insured their learning many skills and "tricks" about flying over what could be described as mostly enemy territory. And, if these little details were not passed on to other young pilots, or adhered to exactly, the crews could be destined to a lonely death!

Staying alive and reaching DROS was always in the back of each crewmember's mind. But in the end, David Eastman is full of mixed emotions about going home. Leaving his fellow crewmembers and their past months together was harder than expected. He would no more be experiencing the intense and close lifestyle of Vinh Long. Such realizations caused him to wrestle within himself. Then, when that long awaited DROS day finally arrived and he could leave Vinh Long with the other members of the "Magnificent Seven", he found it very difficult. An interesting conclusion to a very good book!

Outlaws in Vietnam is a book that is well written, interesting, and certainly deserving of your reading. It is one of the best I have read. It would not be a surprise to have the entertainment industry agree. We just might see something in the future based on this book and its real life, no, bigger than life characters. If the details, as written by David Eastman are retained....it will be a great story.

I don't know how I ended up in this under 13 review, but here it is. The thought came to me as I read OUTLAWS in Vietnam , that I didn't know what the pilots were doing and feeling when landing and taking-off from areas that most people will never experiance. As a door gunner I remember thinking how we would work together giving instruction from our gunner wells on the position of the helicopter in relation to the surounding trees, brush, and mountain cliffs that we used as a landing zone (LZ), I often thought "that was scarry" when we did this type of landing. Dave wrote this book from a pilots view and I did enjoy the memories. He also gave some credit to the crew that flew with him. Fine book Dave, I'm glad I bought it. Tony Villarruel Outlaw (Door Gunner) 26, 1971-72

I just finished reading "Outlaws in Vietnam" and was so impressed that I wrote Dave Eastman a letter thanking him for writing this book. It is an excellent "pilot's perspective" of what Army Aviators, like myself, experienced in Vietnam.

Dave's book is especially meaningful for me since I served with Lighthorse, C/3/17 Air Cav in Vinh Long. I found many of Dave's experiences similar to mine and reading his accounts of them brought back many memories that I had either suppressed or forgotten over the years.

I, too, was a slick driver and after what seemed to be forever, I became Longknife 23. The missions Dave so aptly described were also similar to ours. I have wonderful memories of insertions where our crew chief and door gunner laid down continuous suppressive fire inbound as we maintained trail formation into the LZ. I have vivid memories of the Crusaders (Cobra gunships) blasting the LZ perimeter with 2.75" rockets. After coming to a hover above the rice paddies and unloading the ARVN pax, I can still hear, "One's up", "Two's up", "Three's up" and we simultaneously tilted forward to exit the LZ. To this day, I can still remember the "kick in the butt" feeling of translational lift. Wow! What a thrill to reach altitude after a successful insertion.

As goes with most memories, we remember the "good moments" and tend to forget the bad. By writing "Outlaws in Vietnam" Dave Eastman has provided an excellent representation of both the good and the bad while defining with pride what we aviators accomplished when we served our country in Vietnam.

For thirty some odd years, America has been subjected to lots of hype and fictional fantasy about the Viet Nam war in the form of movies and books. Now comes a real story in the form of Dave Eastman's book entitled Outlaws In Viet Nam. This book takes you into the hearts and souls of the people who served with the Outlaw Aviation crews from Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam. Eastman provides a direct view into the daily lives of this unique helicopter company and enables the reader to come to an understanding of the bonds that made this military unit such a closely-knit group, different from other such units in Viet Nam at the time. The closely-knit bond of these aviation soldiers continues today in the form of an association that still meets in a reunion every two years, with the next reunion slated for San Antonio, Texas in October 2002. Whether you were part of this unique chapter in the history of Viet Nam aviation, a family member of someone who served with this company, or a reader who is simply interested in knowing about these guys, you will not be disappointed with this book. For the children of the people who served with the Vinh Long Outlaws but never knew their parent, this book will become a wonderful keepsake to document the memory of your parent and what life was like for them in Viet Nam. After thirty four years, it still brings tears to my eyes.

I really like the way the author uses dialogue to illustrate the closeness and competence of the heliocpter pilots and doorgunners in this remarkable outfit of the Delta Aviation Battalion. It places one in cockpit, on a seat-of-the-pants level and should rank right up there with any other outstanding military avation non-fiction piece.
A former helicopter pilot now residing inNew Hampshire.

I was the last Operations Officer of the Outlaws before it stood down at the end of the war. When the unit stood down I went through the years of operational records as a point of interest and pride. Decades later I was very pleasantly surprised to see Dave Eastman's book recount the units history so accurately. He did himself and the Outlaws real justice in his recounting of the Outlaws efforts in the Delta. Thanks Mr. Eastman for your very accurate and enjoyable read.I hope others who served there will follow your good example and write about their experiences.

From September 1966 to March 1968, I was part of the 121st Assault Helicopter Company "Soc Trang Tigers" at Soc Trang, Republic of Viet Nam. For my last year in country, I was a crew chief of a UH-1D "slick", performing the same types of missions that our sister company, the 175th Avn.Company "Outlaws" which Mr. Eastman describes in his book.
For me, this was not a book, it was a time machine. He gives an exact description of those days of long hours, hard work, exotic experiences and wonderful friends. I think that we all knew that this was the only time in our lives that we would be a part of something greater than ourselves.
As enlisted flight crew, we crew chiefs and door gunners had to trust the men in the front seats to have the proper combination of courage and horse sense to accomplish our mission and get us back home. As can be seen by reading between the lines of his book, our trust was seldom misplaced.