Sherman Lead: Flying the F-4D Phantom II in Vietnam

In his second military memoir, a tech-heavy work, retired Air Force Colonel Peck (America’s Secret MiG Squadron) writes about his experiences flying F-4D Phantom II jet fighters during his 1968–1969 Vietnam War tour of duty. An Air Force Academy graduate whose nickname was “Evil,” Peck received the Silver Star for his actions in a January 1969 mission during which he “was subjected to some of the most intense and accurate antiaircraft artillery fire ever experienced by aircrews” in the Vietnam War. The book includes details about what life was like for Peck and his fellow pilots and crew at their headquarters at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base (including their trips in borrowed jeeps to their favorite tailor, Raja Wongse, who made them custom flight suits and embroidered shirts, followed by “a rub and a scrub” at a bathhouse), his R&Rs and “other escapades” in Bangkok and Honolulu, and a few long passages describing bombing missions written by his pilot systems operator Steve Mosier. The text is heavy on acronyms and technical terms (“Our weapons loads consisted of CBU-/s, Mk s with and without fuse extenders, and... SUU- flare dispensers”) and contains the occasional diagram of a flight path or bomb targeting strategy. The slice of life details are nice, but this will appeal mostly to readers interested in the technical aspects of aerial warfare. (Mar.)