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Type of bind: Paperback
Brand: Osprey Publishing
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.704348
EAN num: 9781846031816
ISBN number: 1846031818
Label: Osprey Publishing
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 112
Printing Date: May 22, 2007
Publishing house: Osprey Publishing
Release Date: May 22, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 178197
Studio: Osprey Publishing
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Seeing considerable combat in the nearly 50 years since its service introduction, the Skyhawk was involved in Vietnam from the very beginning. Navy and Marine Corps A-4s quickly established a presence in Southeast Asia, flying from aircraft carriers and land bases in South Vietnam in thousands of sorties against the entrenched communist forces from Hanoi to the communist supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This book includes details of missions including the siege of Khe Sanh, Lam Son and the contentious invasion of Laos and Cambodia in 1971 and gives a fascinating account of the variety of missions pilots were asked to perform. These operations were not without risk, and large numbers of A-4s were shot down and their pilots killed or, like Edward Alvarez, imprisoned as POWs for up to eight years in appalling conditions.
Officially endorsed by the Skyhawk Association and including first-hand accounts from veteran pilots who flew one of the greatest attack aircraft ever, Peter Mersky provides an insightful account of some of the most thrilling aerial combat missions that took place during Vietnam and the pilots who flew them. The very first book to focus on the A-4's Vietnam service, this title is supported by previously unpublished colour and grey and white photographs with 30 detailed colour profiles.
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Rated by buyers -
Crusader scribe Peter Mersky turns his talents to the F-8's Vietnam War stablemate, the A-4 Skyhawk, in this Osprey 'Combat Aircraft' volume, #69 in the series. For much of the war the 'Scooter' was THE light attack platform, 42 USN and USMC operating various A-4 models. The A-4 community compiled a combat record second to none but at a cost: over 170 pilots were killed in action or became POWs. This inspiring story is well told in this 2007 Osprey volume.
Mersky's book reads like a who's who of the light attack community circa 1964-72: warriors like Bryan Compton, Wynn Foster, Marv Quaid, TR, Mike Estocin, Denny Weichman, Ned Carroll and hard-charging squadrons like the Spirits of VA-76, the Warhorses of VA-55, VA-212 Rampant Raiders, VA-94 Mighty Shrikes, VA-163 Saints, etc. Little space is devoted to the different 'Scooter' models flown; Mersky's book being devoted to exciting missions flown by skilled professionals.
There's an old saying in military aviation: 'Fighter Pilots Make Movies, Attack Pilots Make History.' Peter Mersky's book is an excellent, well-illustrated tribute to the many history-making pilots who flew Navy and Marine Corps A-4s in the Vietnam War.
****
*For an wonderfully-written, first-hand account of flying combat with VA-212, check out Stephen Gray's excellent RAMPANT RAIDER book.
*For full details of all A-4 Vietnam War MiG engagements, see my MIG KILLERS OF YANKEE STATION book.
Rated by buyers -
The A4 was the backbone of the US Navy and Marine Corps' light strike force for much of the very first half of the ten-year struggle in south-east Asia. However, the Skyhawk did not receive the press coverage in the latter conflict that the more glamorous F4 did. While Phantom II crews sporadically battled North Vietnamese Migs, A4 pilots hurled themselves daily at heavily defended targets up and down the southeast Asian peninsula, often paying a heavy price in lives and aircraft. Flying into vast thickets os anti-aircraft bursts mixed with huge surface-to-air missiles took great courage and skill, an to do so repeatedly during a carrier's tour of duty on the line bespoke a depth of dedication and character that can only be wondered at. Although other books on the Skyhawk have appeared over the years, they have usually discribed the jet's overall career. This book. however, focuses exclusively on the A4's most intense period of action in Vietnam and Laos.
Rated by buyers -
There were high hopes for the latest in the Osprey Combat Aircraft series (#69). High enough that our board of directors allowed the official seal of the Skyhawk Association to be used on the front cover. The hopes were met. Peter Mersky wrote an outstanding book that will be on the must-have list of all A-4 fans. While longish, US Navy and Marine Corps A-4 Units of the Vietnam War, the title accurately describes the contents.
As Mersky says in the introduction, "Although other books on the A-4 have appeared over the years, they usually describe the Skyhawk's overall career. I wanted to focus on the jet's most intense period of action." He succeeded brilliantly. Any veteran of the skies over SE Asia will get the chills reading the descriptions of that air war.
Interviews and reports from many Scooter pilots form the meat of the book. This reader noted twenty-seven men he knew personally. Most members of the Association will be able to do the same. Every A-4 squadron that went to WestPac or in-country is covered. (Find one that's not and YHS will buy the subsequent round.) Mersky has succinct descriptions of the phases the war at appropriate places.
The book is profusely illustrated with grey and white photos throughout, a section of colour pictures, and Osprey's forte, colour profiles. In this case, thirty-two Skyhawks from different squadrons and various years superbly--and accurately--drawn by Jim Laurier. The cover painting by Mark Postlewaithe artfully catches the raw thrill of ground attack. (Note: Amazon.com, still shows a preliminary cover as an example.)
No book is perfect, but all this reviewer can find to complain about (other than the crack about, "...the equally [as the A-1] elderly A-4B.") is the separation of captions from the colour section and the profiles. However, that's the way it is in all the Combat Aircraft series and if it keeps the price down...
Writing of MiG encounters, Mersky writes, "'Scooter' pilots were, after all, attack aviators, earth movers, breakers of dykes(sic)." He knows the Skyhawk spirit and it shows.
Rated by buyers -
The full story of the A-4 Skyhawk remains to be told, partly because "Heinemann's Hotrod" remains flying throughout the world. But for a handy reference of the "Scooter's" primary combat use, this latest entry in Osprey's series will be around for years.
As depressing as Vietnam War history can be, Mersky avoids lapsing into a litany of almost daily losses for little military benefit. While losses were heavy (more A-4s were shot down than any naval type), he places Navy and Marine Corps operations in broader context of the waxing and waning combat operations from 1964-73. He demonstrates where A-4s were successfully employed, including the use of early precision guided weapons such as Walleye.
Tailhook aviators will find many familiar names here, including Everett Alvarez, Jim Stockdale, Wynn Foster, Mike Estocin, TR Schwartz, and others. But the day to day warriors also are acknowledged, such as Cdr. Denis Weichman who logged more than 600 A-4 missions.
As always in Osprey publications, illustrations abound. There are 95 grey & white photos plus 13 colour in addition to 32 excellent Jim Laurier profiles and Marky Styling's line drawings.
All in all, a fitting tribute to those who manned up and launched in the classic Skyhawk, doing as good a job as possible for a government that was, at best, indifferent to their fate.
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