Silent Echoes [Paperback]

Eugene F. Baldwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2001

This is the story of a young Air Force pilot faced with an immediate deployment to Vietnam, leaving behind a troubled marriage. Confronted with a machiavellian Commanding Officer, the situation provides the young Flight Commander the determination to outwit military politics and ineffective leadership. Silent Echoes puts the reader in the cockpit, deep in the jungles of Vietnam, and allows a birds-eye view into the psyche of the aircrews who fly the missions. Not only does this tale delve into a man's inner personal struggles to reconcile duty with integrity and conscience, the interwoven threads of struggling love propel the reader towards its dramatic ending.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A Montevallo, Alabama native, Gene Baldwin graduated from Mississippi State University and the University of Alabama. As an Air Force fighter pilot, he flew combat missions during the Korean War and in Viet-Nam. Now retired, he lives in Athens, Georgia with his wife Martha and his German Shepherd Nikko.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris; 1 edition (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738847496
• ISBN-13: 978-0738847498
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,965,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SILENT ECHOES HAS A LOUD VOICE, March 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Silent Echoes (Paperback)

GENE BALDWIN HAS DONE IT AGAIN. WHILE "A MATTER OF DESTINY" WAS GREAT, THIS NEW BOOK IS EVEN BETTER. WITH THE FOCUS BEING ON THE WAR IN VIET-NAM, THE READER IS CAUGHT UP IN THE INTRIGUE AND POLITICS FOUND IN THE ARMED SERVICES. EXPERIENCE IN THE AIR IS MEANINGLESS WHEN FACED WITH A COMMANDING OFFICER WHOSE EGO IS ALL CONSUMING. PILOTS ARE FORCED TO EMBARK ON MISSIONS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THEY ARE ALMOST CERTAIN TO FAIL. THE UNDERCURRENT THEME OF PERSONAL PROBLEMS LEFT AT HOME CONTINUES TO PLAGUE THE MAIN CHARACTER. HE STRUGGLES TO WALK THE LINE BETWEEN EXPECTED MILITARY ADHERENCE TO COMMAND AND THE INCREASING REALIZATION THAT THOSE IN CHARGE ARE INCOMPETENT AND EVEN DANGEROUS. WELL WRITTEN WITH A MATURE THEME OF INTEREST TO ANYONE WHO HAS EVER SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES OR HAS A LOVED ONE WHO HAS ANSWERED THE CALL TO ARMS.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience is a profound teacher!, April 19, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Silent Echoes (Paperback)

Gene Baldwin's Lt. Col. Douglas Patrick Norwood and Herman Melville's Captain Ahab are indistinguishable: evil. Baldwin lets the Great White Whale aka David Barfield narrate. Barfield with supporting cast do so in a superb manner, especially through ingenious dialog which carries this poignant story of the War in Vietnam. Leslie Herrinton Barfield is surely descended from James Joyce's Mrs. Bloom. This is a compelling account of a time when honesty, intergrity, and other qualities of leadership were viewed and advocated by the media as subordinate to political correctitude and denial of life's realities, of a turning point in America's existence as a world power---well written, awesome, spellbinding.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Vietnam era., May 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Silent Echoes (Paperback)

This powerful book thrusts you into the mental conflict of integrity versus duty. The love that seems so vulnerable carries Captain David Barfield through the entanglments of dealing with his own vulnerability.