cover image Hunter-Killer Squadron: Aero-Weapons, Aero-Scouts, Aero-Rifles, Vietnam 1965-1972

Hunter-Killer Squadron: Aero-Weapons, Aero-Scouts, Aero-Rifles, Vietnam 1965-1972

. Presidio Press, $24.95 (287pp) ISBN 978-0-89141-394-3

During the Vietnam War, the helicopter assault teams of the 9th Cavalry, a relatively small element of the First Air Cav Division, initiated all the company's major contacts with the enemy and accounted for more than half of its ``kills.'' This collection of 29 tales of combat by veterans of those ``hunter killer'' teams is a worthy sequel to Brennan's earlier collection of 9th Cav reminiscences, Headhunters . Represented here are chopper pilots, aerial gunners, infantrymen and troop commanders. The emphasis throughout is on the danger and adrenaline rush of combat from the viewpoint of the individual soldier. ``I'm not sure I would want to go through it again,'' says one of the vets, ``but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world.'' It is a summation that could be stated by every one of the proud men who tell their stories here. For readers interested in details of the helicopter war in Vietnam (and Cambodia), the book is must reading. (Oct.)