Customer Reviews

Son of Thunder

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

JD, or should I say "John Ellsworth", I just finished your story! I > liked all of it (except the put down remarks about all us F-4 Jocks)and > will highly recommend it to my 200 Email friends, many of whom are > Retired Air Force Pilots. The exquisite details lead one to believe > that the preponderance of the material was not fiction at all. Having > been there and done many of the same things, thought the same thoughts, > felt the same fears and exhilaration's, and arrived at many of the > identical conclusions, is overwhelming evidence of the books veracity > and power. At least as far as I am concerned. > > God left you and I, and others like us, alive for purposes still being > defined to us. We lost many > friends and comrades. For them not to have a messenger and spokesman > would have meant that they truly died in vain. Thank you for > understanding that calling and answering it with such depth and > dimension! >

Son of Thunder is a fast moving novel centered on the life of Lt. John - a fighter pilot. His thoughts, struggles and loves are opened up with honesty.

I read this book in a 3 day span, and having 5 children, that means that I couldn't put it down.

The thoughts of Lt. John on the Vietnam War, loyalty to friends, on death and living, hope, and the difference between thoughts that run through your head, and the calm words that are uttered between friends (or fighter pilots) were just as thought provoking as enjoyable. This book has impacted my thoughts on Vietnam.

I have enjoyed all of the Tom Clancy novels, and thought this was on par with the best of those - (and not as drawn out).

Five Stars - get it quick.

The book was every bit as good as the author's OpEd piece in the Wall Street Journal promised. Definitely a book for anyone who has flown for the Air Force or for the people with whom they live and interact.

Son of Thunder is a very exciting reading experience. Before reading this novel, I knew nothing more about fighter pilots than what you can grasp from "Top Gun" and look-alike movies, which do not seem to capture reality accurately enough and come with a strong bias. At some point, I thought the romance and intrigue would become too predictable to remain interesting but even this abruptly changed.

Globally, I was really fascinated by the military thing and the real courage that underlies the whole story. It is difficult to say whether the simplistic considerations about coward politicians and the absurd negotiations carried out by "Henry the K" and Duc Van Tho reflect the author's views, or simply his character's. At least what is striking for a non American reader is the sharp contradiction between the so-called "balanced strikes", barring for example any bombing of North Vietnamese cities or military camps in Laos, and the heavy use of napalm,

exfoliating liquids and devices like "the Hammer". The obsession of any army in campaign has always been to be "stabbed in the back". The Vietnam war was no exception for that. But, certainly for the first time in history, reporters were able to take pictures of virtually anything they wanted (a mistake the Pentagon did not make twice when the US sent troops in the Gulf in 1990, as evidenced by the coverage of Desert Storm). The complex interactions between the power of destruction that the US deployed in Vietnam and the mixed aspirations this in turn generated in the American public are vividly described in "Son of Thunder". Because this is a subtle message and it comes from a real-life experience, I think this is a great achievement of the book.

J.D. Wetterling gets right to the action and adeptly builds the characters through experiences. This is not just a man's book but one women would thoroughly enjoy. It certainly shed some light on understanding the pilots we love. Just as you are almost lulled into expecting a predictable ending, you receive a blow to the solar plexus. There is a message here that goes far beyond the written word...a message about the casualties of war and the remnants as well. Bravo!

I was having a cup of coffee the other morning when I began to read >the first few pages of Son of Thunder. My wife entered the kitchen and >asked what I was reading. I looked up at her; I could not speak; the >chills were running up and down my arms and spine; my throat was in >spasms; my eyes were tearing; I could not talk; she has never seen me >in such a condition. > >Son of Thunder is so very, very special; it is the catharsis for the >Vietnam fighter pilot-the modern day Red Badge of Courage. This story >is the equivalent base for a sequel like Herman Wouk's W.W.II story of >the United States Navy, War & Remembrance and Winds of War, but of the >era of Vietnam= > >I am astonished; J. D. Wetterling has captured on paper the sentiment, >interaction, norms more exacting than if one were >actually serving a tour and flying each mission. If you ever flew >missions like the F-100 pilots {and others} did, in order to function, >you had to suppress the human emotional content so deeply that it may >never resurface again in one lifetime-that is, until you experience >JD's vivid story, Son of Thunder. This is a Steven Spielberg, Ken >Burns, Oliver Stone level undertaking; I wonder who will obtain the movie rights? > >Stewart R. Gable >Colonel USAF [Ret'd] >csrgable1@uswest.net >srg4444@primenet.com

J.D. has a remarkable gift. He puts the reader into the cockpit of an F-100 pointed downhill at 450 knots with action so real that it makes you squint to find the target even as you're flinching from the flack. Immersed in his book, a reader can be ruthlessly calculating and scared to death at the same time; until now, a feeling only a combat veteran could truly appreciate.

I've been there and J.D. put me right back in the thick of it - the same metallic taste in my mouth, the same heart-pounding, forget to breathe, adrenaline rush. An author myself, I shouldn't be too surprised that he writes with such power since J.D. has nearly ten times more combat experience than I do...and it shows in his amazing attention to detail and crackling authenticity. If you want to know what it feels like to fly a combat mission, you need look no farther. Be forewarned, however: SON OF THUNDER is a book that will not be put down.

JD, or should I say "John Ellsworth", I just finished your story! I > liked all of it (except the put down remarks about all us F-4 Jocks)and > will highly recommend it to my 200 Email friends, many of whom are > Retired Air Force Pilots. The exquisite details lead one to believe > that the preponderance of the material was not fiction at all. Having > been there and done many of the same things, thought the same thoughts, > felt the same fears and exhilaration's, and arrived at many of the > identical conclusions, is overwhelming evidence of the books veracity > and power. At least as far as I am concerned. > > God left you and I, and others like us, alive for purposes still being > defined to us. We lost many > friends and comrades. For them not to have a messenger and spokesman > would have meant that they truly died in vain. Thank you for > understanding that calling and answering it with such depth and > dimension! >

I flew the F-100 in Vietnam and this book uses many of the actual call signs and mission particulars that we used in late 68-early 69. It is an acurate and exciting tale of what flying the Super Sabre was really like. Enjoyable reading.

"Son of Thunder" is a deeply affecting novel--a story about love and war full of powerful characters and real life heros I'm not likely to soon forget.