On June 18, 1965, thirty B-52s took part in the first Strategic Air Command B-52 bombing mission in Vietnam, a mission that, if carried out successfully, might have halted the war in its tracks. Before two of the aircraft could deliver their payload, they collided midair, killing eight men as both planes exploded over the South China Sea. In Collision Over Vietnam, Lieutenant Don Harten, a pilot in the combat mission, recounts the harrowing yet miraculous true story of how he survived the B-52 collision and how he lived through the crash of his rescue plane to fly almost 200 more missions in the war. A remarkable account of comradery, courage, and loss, Collision Over Vietnam is sure to make its name in history as did the brave men who fought in Vietnam.

Midair is a true account of one of the most remarkable tales of survival in the history of aviation – a midair collision at 30,000 feet by two bomb-laden B-52s over a category 5 super typhoon above the South China Sea during the outset of the Vietnam War. Authored by Craig K. Collins, the nephew of B-52 pilot Maj. Don Harten, Midair is an historically important work that is about more than survival. Interwoven through Harten’s dramatic story of his million-to-one struggle against near-certain death is a previously unexamined look at how America had developed an aerial battle plan that would likely have ended the Vietnam conflict in under a month during the late winter of 1965. Instead, the country’s war planners and politicians veered off course and into a bloody eight-year quagmire. Harten was on the February 1965 top-secret mission – a massive B-52 bombing raid of railways, supply depots, and airfields in and around Hanoi – that was called off in mid-flight. That mission and battle plan was mothballed until Dec. 18, 1972, when it was dusted off and dubbed Linebacker II, effectively ending the war within a week. Over 120 B-52s bombed Hanoi-area military installations for eight consecutive days. As a result of the heavy bombing, the North Vietnamese declared a truce, attended peace talks in Paris in early January and signed the Paris Peace Accords, ending hostilities in Vietnam on Jan. 27, 1973. It is the gripping tale of a young Air Force officer’s first combat mission that instantly pulls the reader in and never lets up.

"The Americans in Vietnam, 1954-1973"--Jacket subtitle.

Nicky Venditti, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot with a love of fast cars and practical jokes, went to Vietnam in 1969 and was dead in 11 days, killed by an Americal Division grenade training explosion at Chu Lai. The full story of the incident did not come out until the author, David Venditta (a different spelling), Venditti's cousin, made a chance discovery that began a decades-long effort to find out exactly what happened, what the Army did about it and who was held responsible. This book documents the Army's mishandling of the incident and the effects on the families and friends of Venditti and of the two other young soldiers who died with him.

Helicopter pilots in Vietnam kidded one another about being nothing but glorified bus drivers. But these "rotor heads" saved thousands of American lives while performing what the Army classified as the most dangerous job it had to offer. One in eighteen did not return home. Tom A. Johnson flew the UH-1 "Iroquois" -- better known as the "Huey" -- in the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the First Air Cavalry Division. From June 1967 through June 1968, he accumulated an astonishing 1,600 flying hours (1,150 combat and 450 noncombat). His battalion was one of the most highly decorated units in the Vietnam War and, as part of the famous First Air Cavalry Division, helped redefine modern warfare. With tremendous flying skill, Johnson survived rescue missions and key battles that included those for Hue and Khe Sanh and operations in the A Shau and Song Re valleys, while many of his comrades did not. His heartfelt and riveting memoir will strike a chord with any soldier who ever flew in the ubiquitous Huey and any reader with an interest in how the Vietnam War was really fought.

The author discusses her eight day trek through the Vietnamese jungle after surviving a plane crash and how the lessons learned during that experience prepared her to be a mother to her autistic son.

Catkiller 3-2 provides unique insights into the role of the tactical air controller, airborne (TACA) in I Corps as seen through the eyes of one of the pilots who flew low-flying, unarmed, single-engine aircraft in support of Marine ground units during the Vietnam War. When Gen. William Westmoreland changed the Marines' role in I Corps into a combat one, the Marines found themselves in need of more fixed-wing aircraft to handle the TACA missions. The advance party of the Army's 220th Reconnaissance Aircraft Company (RAC) arrived in Vietnam in late June 1965 thinking they were going to be assigned to III Corps Tactical Zone. However, because of the shortage of existing Marine Birddogs, the 220th was immediately reassigned to I Corps and came under the operational control of the Marines. No other work details the tactics, restrictions, aerial maneuvers, and dangers experienced by the Army pilots and Marine aerial observers flying these missions. As young lieutenants and captains, they had at their beck and call as much authority to request and control artillery and air strikes as ground commanders of much higher rank. Raymond G. Caryl provides unrivaled examples of the cultural mores, attitudes, and recreational activity of these young pilots and observers supporting the ground forces.