9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Feel What It is Like to Save a Life with Dave Richardson, August 18, 2008
I have to start by saying that I love to read true stories - the good, the bad and the ugly :) This is a good one.
Dave Richardson is a man who was sent to Vietnam in the late 60's and he chose to be a helicopter rescue pilot while he was in the war. This put him in a position to have some fascinating experiences and it gave him a chance to see his faith in action during trying and dangerous times.
Vietnam Air Rescues started out as a book from a father, to his family. It was the chance to share his experiences and to help the family understand what he did during his time in Vietnam. A big part of the book are Dave's recollections and pictures from his rescues. There are many pictures throughout the book which are a great addition. I should mention that Dave does remind us that the pictures were taken over 30 years ago and most were taken under "less than favorable" conditions. Some of the pictures are out of focus, but when you read the content and realize what he was doing at the time he was taking the pictures, a bit of fuzz should be ignored.
The book begins with Dave Richardson's "Totally Unauthorized History of the Vietnam War". He shares his reflections of the war and his time overseas. He also explains the various editions of the book. The first edition was written for Dave Richardson's family, but as others requested copies, slight changes were made to make the story appropriate for other readers.
Dave shares many interesting details throughout the book, a jargon section, information about a typical day, details about the missions he flew, he shares maps of the area and full details on each of his rescues.
I feel that the personal feel is very obvious in the book. It feels like a friend is telling you about a year in his life and you get involved in the things they did to kill time when they had time to spare. We also feel the tension as he struggles to rescue a pilot who was shot down, realizing that a mistake would mean death for a number of people. It was never a situation where he only had to worry about his own life.
I interviewed Dave Richardson on my radio show and I got the chance to learn so many additional details. Learning more about how a person handles a helicopter added more tension to the rescue sections.
Imagine a chance to talk with Dave Richardson and Kenny Fields about the rescue where they met. Both men wrote books about their experiences. One of the interesting things is that these two books give us the perspective from the air and the perspective from the ground. Dave was days from going home and he agreed to go out one more time. Little did he know what would happen over the next 48 hours. Kenny Fields was stranded on the ground and the rescue planes and helicopters had a very difficult time reached Kenny Fields.
If you would like to learn more about what happened behind the scenes this is a great place to start. There is no grandstanding, no political undertones and no agenda in Vietnam Air Rescues. But, there is a great story told from an author who is proud to share his story with us.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Collection of Important Stories, July 31, 2008
What a great book! Written with simplicity in mind---the book was written for the author's children, not for publication---it is an easy read with a big story behind it.
Richardson describes on several occasions his feeling that the hand of God was present on many missions when he probably should have died, but did not. This book is both educational and inspirational. I enjoyed this read very much.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vietnam Air rescues, May 7, 2008
Holy Cow...The Jolly Green pilots were even more heroic than I thought. Read this book to get a true feeling of what it was like day by day for a Jolly Green pilot---in the cockpit on harrowing rescue missions, and on the ground with lots of obstacles. As a Navy combat pilot who flew over the same area as described in this book, and also one who was rescued by the Jolly Greens, I still never fully realized how really dangerous the average Jolly mission was till reading this book. And, the author has done a superb job of describing the Jolly pilot's interesting but harsh, dangerous living conditions up north when not flying. Written with an evident heart felt emotion, it's a quick read.
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