BOOK REVIEW: RATTLER ONE-SEVEN.

 A VIETNAM HELICOPTER PILOT'S WAR STORY.

Yet another book from my library. I hope the reader is not getting fed up with all these Vietnam books, I wanted a change of topic. I have another couple of Vietnam books to review and will then move to another subject.

Although not to the same standard as the classic "Chickenhawk" book about flying helicopters in Vietnam, this is a good book.  The author joined the army straight after graduation from high school in 1968 and, on a whim, applied to be a helicopter pilot. He passed the tests and became a warrant officer helicopter pilot. In due course he arrived in Vietnam in May 1970.

The bulk of the book describes in good detail the various missions and general military life of the "huey" pilot. The author was clearly a dedicated officer and constantly strove to improve his skills if for no other reason than to enhance his survival chances. He became a Senior Aircraft Commander which demonstrates great skills and towards the end of his tour was probably the most experienced pilot in his unit.

Most of the authors work involved supporting the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) as by that stage of the war US involvement was diminishing. In addition the North Vietnamese army was providing most of the enemy opposition as the VC had been eliminated during the Tet offensive. These factors combined to give the combat an entirely different perspective with US pilots coming up against substantial heavy anti aircraft weapons manned by well trained soldiers while trying to support operations by less than effective ARVN troops who suffered one defeat after another.

After the war the author trained as a fixed wing pilot and secured his professional pilots licence and became an airline pilot.  Despite the inevitable bad memories the author concluded that his war experiences had been generally positive in developing his character and he remains proud to have done his duty.

Overall a good book and recommended.