DISCOVER THE EXHILARATING TRUE STORY BEHIND THE ACTION-PACKED CLASSIC FILM 'GOOSE AND MAVERICK MOVE OVER . . .' Admiral James Stavridis ________ March 1969. American jets are getting shot down at an unprecedented rate over Vietnam. In an urgent effort to regain the advantage the Admirals turn to a young naval aviator called Dan Pedersen. Officially, the programme he set up was called the US Navy Fighter Weapons School. To everyone else it was known simply as TOPGUN. Pedersen's hand-picked team of instructors - the Original Eight - were the best of the best. Together, they revolutionised aerial warfare and rediscovered the lost art of fighter combat. This is the extraordinary, thrilling story of how TOPGUN saw America reclaim the skies, by the man who created it. ________ 'It's hard to read Dan Pederson's Topgun and not think of Tom Cruise. A pleasure to read' Wall Street Journal 'Direct, vivid and unvarnished. A high-flying, supersonic tale' Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers 'Topgun earned Dan Pedersen the title of American Hero' Washington Times 'A riveting seat-of-the-pants flight into the lethal world of the fighter pilot' Dan Hampton, author of Viper Pilot

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Written on the front lines in Vietnam, "Dispatches "became an immediate classic of war reportage when it was published in 1977.
From its terrifying opening pages to its final eloquent words, "Dispatches "makes us see, in unforgettable and unflinching detail, the chaos and fervor of the war and the surreal insanity of life in that singular combat zone. Michael Herr's unsparing, unorthodox retellings of the day-to-day events in Vietnam take on the force of poetry, rendering clarity from one of the most incomprehensible and nightmarish events of our time.
"Dispatches "is among the most blistering and compassionate accounts of war in our literature.

The gritty and engaging story of two brothers, Chuck and Tom Hagel, who went to war in Vietnam, fought in the same unit, and saved each other's life. One supported the war, the other detested it, but they fought it together. 1968. It was the worst year of America's most divisive war. Flag-draped caskets came home by the thousands. Riots ravaged our cities. Assassins shot our political leaders. Black fought white, young fought old, fathers fought sons. And it was the year that two brothers from Nebraska went to war. In Vietnam, Chuck and Tom Hagel served side by side in the same rifle platoon. Together they fought in the Tet Offensive, battled snipers in Saigon, chased the enemy through the jungle, and each saved the other's life under fire. Yet, like so many American families, one brother supported the war while the other detested it. Tom and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel never set out to be heroes, but they epitomized the best, and lived through the worst, of the most tumultuous, amazing, and consequential year in the last half century. Following the brothers' paths from the prairie heartland through a war on the far side of the world and back to a divided America, Our Year of War tells the story of two brothers at war, serving their divided country. It is a story that resonates to this day, an American story.

The southernmost region of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) encompassed the vast Mekong River Delta, and area covering 10,190 square miles. Three major rivers run through the Delta, the Song Hou Giang (aka Bassac) and the Song Mekong, which broke into three large rivers (Song My Tho, Ham Luong, and Go Chien). The Nhon Trach delineated the Delta's eastern edge. In all there were some 1,500 miles of natural navigable waterways and 2,500 miles of man-made canals and channels. The canal system was begun in 800 AD and its expansion continued up to World War II. The nation's capital, Saigon, lies on the Delta's northern edge. Few roads and highways served the region with sampans and other small watercraft via the canals being the main means of transportation.
At least 70,000 Viet Cong (VC) were scattered over the area controlling up to a quarter of the population. Three Army of the Republic Vietnam (ARVN) divisions as well as various paramilitary forces battled the VC in the marshes, forests, and paddies. In 1965 the military situation in the Delta had deteriorated and the decision was taken to shore things up by committing a joint Army and Navy Mobile Riverine Force. This force was unique in its composition, mission, and the special craft in which it operated. The Army component was the 2d Brigade, 9th Infantry Division; the Navy component was River Assault Flotilla One. The various watercraft assigned to the Mobile Riverine Force are the subject of this book. These included much-modified landing craft, purpose-built patrol boats including Swift Boats and Monitors, and a variety of auxiliary and support vessels. Task Force CLEARWATER, a much smaller operation in the extremenorthern portion of South Vietnam, also used these craft.