Still a classic!!! | Chickenhawk

The definitive first-hand narrative about the helicopter war in Vietnam | Chickenhawk | Robert Mason

books:


	• Chickenhawk Robert Mason Viking Adult, 1992 - 339 pages average customer review:based on 112 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Hats off !!

So much said about this amazing book. Up there with the top five VN books, not really sure...maybe even top two.
What makes it great ? I would have to say his honest skillful writing and ability to tell about his experience in Vietnam foremost as a helicopter pilot but also as a human being, sharing his strengths and weaknesses with the reader.
I think in my case he's the real "Biggles", not wanting to belittle the consequences of war.
The photo of Mason "trying to act normal with his family" when returning from his tour is speaking for itself....with a 1000 words.
No one is more shocked than I.

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Still a classic!!!

I first read this book 22 years ago and was amazed by the action in this book. I gave some serious thought to getting a helicopter pilot license, but life got in the way and that has not happened. I just came across the title recently and decided to buy it again. Wow, did I forget a lot in those 22 years. This book is an excellent read.

The book tells the tale of Bob Mason and his military flying career. He was a Huey slick pilot in Vietnam. The writing is fantastic, but sad. It covers a very dangerous and stressful time in Bobs life. I guess I would be pretty stressed out if I had "the little people" shooting at me every day. I cannot even begin to cover the detailed missions where the writing is so intense it makes you feel as if you are right there with him. If you like action, you will like this book.

The books ends at a very low point in Bobs life, after he is discharged from the Army. He spirals into heavy drinking, nightmares, and lots of prescription medications to try to find some peace and get some sleep. That sounded like a tough time in our history because even civilians on the street would call him a "murderer". He was a helicopter pilot, he did not shoot people (even the people trying to shoot him) I never could understand why civilians would punish a soldier instead of the politicians that are actually running the show. But thats another story for another time.

I highly recommend this book.

Maybe its time to look into that helicopter pilot license again?

Chris

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The definitive first-hand narrative about the helicopter war in Vietnam

It's hard to imagine a more powerful, or insightful "pilot's eye" non-fiction book about the helicopter war in Vietnam, than Robert Mason's Chickenhawk. Everyone has something to learn about the war, and its effects on the soldiers who fought there, from this seminal work. Easily the definitive first-hand narrative on the subject, Mason's empathetic, coming-of-age perspective, witnesses his cowardice (chicken) and courage (hawk) in combat. His story is impossible to put down, honest, and sometimes humorous. The tragedy, and horror of human conflict, are written indelibly, in this readable tale, that puts the sound of thudding rotor blades in your ears, the gritty taste of Pleiku dust in your mouth, and leaves the vision of graceful, burning, machine gun tracers, coming out of the jungle at night, etched forever in your memory.

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Better than Army regulations!!

I read this book when it first came out in hardback just as I was preparing for my officer branch selections in ROTC. The first chapter alone is an excellent primer for anyone interested in going to Army flight school and maybe the best preparation for the Army's AFAST test!!
Mason's honest and humble account of his entire warrant officer, flight school and combat experiences in Vietnam are just incredible. This book is full of humor and a real soldier's story.
After serving ten years on active duty as an officer and Army aviator I came to more fully appreciate Mason's biography and how it prepared me for that career.
Now I bought a copy for my son who is enlisting for the warrant officer aviator program this summer ~ I can't think of a better piece of material to get started with.

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This is a great book!

I read this 20 years ago & never forgot it. I just re-read it & nothing has changed. This edition has 2 afterwards and pictures, which are a nice addition.

More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war in Vietnam. This is Robert Mason?s astounding personal story of men at war. A veteran of more than one thousand combat missions, Mason gives staggering descriptions that cut to the heart of the combat experience: the fear and belligerence, the quiet insights and raging madness, the lasting friendships and sudden death?the extreme emotions of a "chickenhawk" in constant danger.

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