The Rescue Season: The Heroic Story of Parajumpers on the Edge of the World [Hardcover]

Bob Drury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2001

The story of the Anchorage-based parajumpers of the 210th Alaska Pararescue Squadron who are on call 24 hours a day. They go to work uniquely prepared to pluck a climber off a ridge at 17,000 feet in a snowstorm, or to roll a helicopter off a cliff to save a life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dubbed the "unknown tip of the military's rescue spear," the pararescue units of the U.S. Air Force handle some of the military's most dangerous missions, from plucking downed pilots out of combat zones to saving mountain climbers stranded on ice-covered peaks. In order to investigate the units' lifestyle, work ethic and techniques, Drury spent the 1999 climbing season with the parajumpers, or PJs, of the 210th Alaska Pararescue Squadron. Here Drury relates several of their hair-raising missions, interspersing his stories with background details about the unit's history, the PJs' rigorous training and thumbnail biographies of the individual members of the squadron. A veteran journalist who is also a contributing editor at GQ, Drury displays a good tactical understanding of alpine rescue methods and convincingly relates the thoughts and motivations of the individual parajumpers. Leaping back and forth between background and anecdote, the book loses its momentum at times, especially at its beginning. However, the pace picks up in the suspenseful last 50 pages, which relate the action-packed rescue of a man dying near the highest peak in North America, Alaska's Mount Denali. Less absorbing than many narrative accounts of quests-gone-wrong, this book will probably be passed over by adventure readers, but it should appeal to those interested in elite military divisions, such as the Navy SEALs or the Green Berets.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

True-life adventure stories are probably more popular now than they've ever been, thanks to best-sellers like Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm. This book, written by a contributing editor for GQ magazine, deserves to take its place alongside those top-notch yarns. It's the story of a high-mountain rescue: three climbers were stranded on North America's highest peak, Mount Denali, and the U.S. Air Force's 210th Alaska Pararescue Squadron was charged with taking them off in the midst of the most adverse weather conditions imaginable. In preparing this book, the author spent considerable time with the pararescue unit, and he makes us feel as though we are right there with the rescuers as they risk their own lives to save others. Drury could have glamorized the 210th, could have made them out to be capital-H heroes, could have reduced their courage and bravery to cliches. Instead, he shows us that they are real people who just happen to do an incredibly difficult job. A dramatic, can't-put-it-down real-life adventure. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684864797
• ISBN-13: 978-0684864792
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Men's Health Contributing Editor and chief military correspondent Bob Drury has been nominated for three National Magazine Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. He has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and Darfur among other sites. He is also the author, co-author, or editor of nine nonfiction books, including The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat (Grove-Atlantic Press), the recipient of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's 2010 General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award for nonfiction.

His latest book, Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam (Simon & Schuster), was published in May 2011. His new Kindle Single, Signature Wound, is available from Amazon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Into (Very) Cold Air, May 8, 2001

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rescue Season: The Heroic Story of Parajumpers on the Edge of the World (Hardcover)

"The Rescue Season" tells the courageous story of the rescue teams, primarilly the "PJs" of the U.S. Air Force, who ply their trade in Alaska, particularly in and around Denali National Park. Author Bob Drury recalls some harrowing tales of rescue and tragic death and portrays his protagonists as rugged heros who seem driven to do what they do by their own genetic makeup. Drury is a fine writer and his prose is eminently readable. He introduces the reader to plenty of interesting characters and locales.

That said, the book is also a bit disjointed. There is a main search and rescue story that is introduced in the beginning and which Drury returns to at times over the whole course of the book. Drury also tends to throw a lot of geography, geology, meterology and history lessons into the mix (at least once, I got the impression that he was showing off his knowledge). All of this is interesting, but gets in the way of his narrative. He also makes a couple of mistakes that I noticed, for example once referring to the "Seven Summits" as the "Seven Sisters." Ultimately, the book doesn't hold together as a story, like with "Into Thin Air." Instead, it is a collection of good stories that should be quite pleasing to anyone with an interest in the subject matter.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, gripping, and REAL, February 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rescue Season: The Heroic Story of Parajumpers on the Edge of the World (Hardcover)

This is a story of real heroes. Not pumped up testosterone overdosed movie heroes, but guys that are as normal as you and me. They have a job to do, and they do it, and stay until everyone is accounted for. While the rest of the military exercises, the 210th is out there on real missions, saving the lives of nearly 70 people a year. There are two points made in the book that I, and anyone else living here can appreciate. First, Alaska is the most beautiful place in the world, but it's not an amusement park. The wilderness here is unforgiving to even the slightest mistake, and sadly, many don't go home. The second point he makes is that rescue is a community effort of which the 210th Rescue Squadron plays a big part. The Park Service, the Rescue Coordination Center and the State Troopers, and many others all have their hands in the mix, and if it weren't for the cooperation of all these heroes, even more people would die. I must applaud Mr. Drury for keeping me in the book until I was finished. His gripping style makes me want to read it again and again. This is a group of people I'm glad to be aquainted with, and if you read the book you'll wish you were too. Thanks, Bob. In a day when the "extreme" sports and "reality" survival TV shows get the press it's nice to get a dose of reality. These are real heroes. They don't do it for the recognition, the money or the thrill. They do it so that others may live.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALASKAS 911, April 6, 2001

By 

christopher loyd (anchorage, ak United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rescue Season: The Heroic Story of Parajumpers on the Edge of the World (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent account of the story of the 210th Rescue Sqaudron and its exploits.As a member of the Alaska Air National Guard serving with the unit,I can attest to its authenticity.The writer has done a superb job in researching the history of the unit and some of their most harrowing experiences.The reader finds himself hanging from the peaks of Denali to freezing in the Bering sea.This book is a must for anyone contemplating becoming a PJ or tackling the rigors and horrors of Denali(Mt. McKinley).