BOOK REVIEW: CREW CHIEF.

 

Another book from my library. The author served as a mechanic, door gunner and crew chief in helicopter assault companies in Vietnam in 1967-68.

The book is written as a novel rather than as a personal memoir. Therefore it is written in the third person about a character called Jim MacLaughlin and relates the story of his tour of duty as a helicopter crew chief. The author admits the stories told are a mix of personal experience, things that happened to friends and friends of friends and general war stories known to all but without  provenance.

Even with all that in mind I have to say that, based on reading dozens of books about Vietnam, this book is pure fiction. It is inconceivable that so much could happen to one person. I have no doubt that everything related probably did occur over the years to somebody or other but certainly not to one individual in one tour of duty. On that basis the book is "over the top" and loses a lot of credibility, which is a shame. This is perhaps a case where "less is more".

However the book is well written and is exciting to read as long as the reader remembers this a work of fiction based on fact. It does give a flavour of life as a helicopter crew chief and certainly illustrates the dangers for those who served in the helicopter combat environment.

Overall I do recommend this book but as a good story rather than a historical record.