Customer Reviews

Vietnam Air Rescues

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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.

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.

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.

This was a fast-paced, easy book to read. Good insight on the war, the Vietnamese, also the dynamics of our soldiers in a foreign land. I was amazed at his factual first-hand account supported by photos and documents.
Written in a no-nonsense, straight-shooting style that commanded attention and encouraged "reading between the lines" . . . thought provoking. It stayed with me long after I read the last page. The white light was awesome evidence of God's protection. Thank you Dave (and Kaye!) for your sacrifice and service through a very confusing and painful time in history.

I read this book from cover to cover in just a few hours. This book grabeb my attention from the first page and held it all the way to the end. I could not let go. This is a first hand story of how things really happened over in Vietnam. This story is told from the heart of a truly amazing man. This book is filled with great rescues and some amazing photos. I highly reccomend this book for everyone.
Thank you Sir for your service and sharing it with us.

AWESOME READ! This is a gripping tale, told in a personal manner that descibes a personal commitment to the task at hand. All this and pictures too. Granted some are not the best quality but consider the conditions they were taken under.

I truly recommend this book to anyone interested in the efforts only the U.S. military takes to rescue a survivor, the early years of the war or the other countries involved and effected by the war.

The description of the indigenous people is particularly eye opening.

This is an honestly personal diary made for the Sikorsky HH-3 rescue pilot's family. Expanded and turned into a real book. He is one of the lead players in "The Rescue of Steetcar 304". He has a few minor corrections to the A-7 pilot's nailbiting story. Dave Richardson's book is rivetting. The kind of story you're glad he shared. Even if it is not "top of the line" publishing - especially not the illustrations. But thank you for sharing!

I was a maintenance man at Det. 1, 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, during the fall of 1967, part of Col. Richardson's time there. The enlisted people--including those who flew: the flight mechanics and PJs--lived and socialized together (the title of this review was a battle cry in the airman's club bar, guaranteed to annoy others). So, us folks on the ground knew all about what was going on--the unmarked helicopters and crews with sanitized uniforms staging out of Lima Sites in neutral Laos to fly incredibly dangerous missions to save American lives. I've read Col. Richardson's fine book and I am even more amazed at him and the other Jolly Green flyers than I was 42 years ago (even decades of day-to-day life very seldom feature association with people like these).

Col. Richardson has written a good book and, as someone who had a front row seat, I recommend it highly.

Dave did a great job putting this together. The stories are hair-raising and real. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Well written and documented account of his time in Vietnam. I am taken by the humble way this man presents his service. As another helicopter airman I really enjoyed this book.