Angel's Wing: A Year in the Skies of Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: thoughtful, readable, affirming book well worth reading
Review: Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Joseph R. Finch has written a thoughtful, readable, affirming book about being an Army aviator in Vietnam during 1969. Angel�s Wing; a Year in the Skies of Vietnam isn't "Rambo" or "Apocalypse Now"; it's "the war" as thousands of pilots and crewmembers knew it but made accessible in a way that few will beyond a small circle of family or friends. Joe wove together the mundane and the dramatic, and related both in terms that someone who wasn't there can easily grasp. Perhaps more important, he has informed this narrative with insights gained later during a highly productive career cut short by medical retirement. The title is a play on words. The Angel�s Wing was the nickname for a geographic area in Vietnam west of Cu Chi. That is where Joe�s unit -- A Company, 25th Aviation Battalion (The Little Bears) -- had its base. Joe also gives Angel�s Wing two implied meanings. First is a protecting presence to which Joe attributes his survival. Second is the basic role Army aviation plays for ground soldiers, whose lives often depended on the skill and courage of their brothers in the air. A great strength is the book�s conversational tone. Part of that comes from Joe�s unassuming nature. Part comes from the fact that the major source was letters Joe wrote home and his mother saved. Possibly the greatest value of this book is its discussions of the human aspects of Army aviation -- things they don't teach in flight school but that every military flight school graduate should know about. The business of the military is war, and war is breaking things and people. A cost of doing that business is being responsible for that breakage. Mistakes and tragedies occur. Joe is forthright in talking about such things, as well as about how those things affect those who commit the acts -� a subject very often swept under the carpet in a de facto conspiracy of silence among both those directly involved and those around them who don�t really want to know the bad news. As an example, Joe relates an incident where a Viet Cong guerrilla fired at their aircraft. The door gunner killed the VC, who turned out to be a nursing mother. He also relates having to watch an armored column get shot up under conditions that prevented doing anything to help and how that experience affected him as a person and a pilot. For the non-aviator, Joe provides a real service in explaining key technical aspects in layman�s terms � e.g., autorotation and density altitude. He also explains tricks of the trade, such trading off fuel and weight carried for time of flight and vice versa. These are critical judgments that pilots constantly make but ground people often never even realize exist. He also tells about the strain that some kinds of flying impose � notably, tight formation flying at night, which is a skill that makes U.S. Army Aviation the predominant force of its kind in the world today. There are a few minor flaws that an editor/publisher ought to have caught. Some are simple spelling/word choice -- e.g., ordinance (law) for ordnance (weapon). Some reflect the lack of knowledge that often exists among operators -- e.g., gattling for Gatling (gun), FUGAS for fougasse (improvised flame munition), and Himmelman for Immelman (aerobatic maneuver). Some slips could give a knowledgeable reader pause � e.g., 175 inch for 175 millimeter guns and Silver Star as the "second highest" award for bravery, rather than third � behind the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross. Ironically Joe received the Silver Star in recognition for his unflinching support to ground soldiers. Perhaps the slip simply reflects Joe�s indifference to formal awards and his focus on the real quality of people and action that should underlie awards. I have confirmed these errors with Joe. He acknowledges them and will correct them in any future edition. Possibly the best measure of Joe�s credibility is the photographs, generously donated by fellow members of his unit. Comrades don�t knowingly help people who misrepresent them. In that sense, Joe has the implied testimonial of those others who served in the Little Bears. This unit and its members compiled a highly creditable record and rightfully enjoy high regard among Vietnam vets. In short, this is a book well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Angels Wing
Review: The Angel's Wing was a "very bad place" to the helicopter pilots of Viet Nam but to the men on the ground the "Angels" were the pilots themselves. For the pilots it was the hotly contested no-mans land along the Cambodian border. To those soldiers on the ground who were injured or hungry or needing support, the helicopter units like the "Little Bears" and so many others, were the Angels who came upon "rotary" wings. The book is also a story of the soldiers in those helicopters who made the rules up as they went. They learned as they lived and died.
I have had the good fortune to have Joe Finch as a friend and as a professional peer for many years. A deeply religious man and a courageous aviator, he has met and challenged death in war and in peace. "Angels Wing" is a good read for those interested in the helicopter war. Written from the perspective of a "twenty something" Lieutenant, it as an absorbing chronicle of the men who flew in, and upon, the "Angels Wing."

Rating:
Summary: Angels Wing
Review: The Angel's Wing was a "very bad place" to the helicopter pilots of Viet Nam but to the men on the ground the "Angels" were the pilots themselves. For the pilots it was the hotly contested no-mans land along the Cambodian border. To those soldiers on the ground who were injured or hungry or needing support, the helicopter units like the "Little Bears" and so many others, were the Angels who came upon "rotary" wings. The book is also a story of the soldiers in those helicopters who made the rules up as they went. They learned as they lived and died.
I have had the good fortune to have Joe Finch as a friend and as a professional peer for many years. A deeply religious man and a courageous aviator, he has met and challenged death in war and in peace. "Angels Wing" is a good read for those interested in the helicopter war. Written from the perspective of a "twenty something" Lieutenant, it as an absorbing chronicle of the men who flew in, and upon, the "Angels Wing."