Chickenhawk

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Summary: A book anyone must try.
Review: After reading this book three times already, I must say it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. Mason manages to hand in a very realistic picture of the every day life as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, actually he does it so well that I could never doubt him being there in person. As I see it, Chickenhawk is a 'must'for any flight lover and for anyone who is interested in a realistic historical document about the Vietnam war, spiced with tons of humor. Remember not once being 'stuck'so deep in the book that I forgot having my lunch... Roy Shoocman

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Summary: First of the Helicopter Books
Review: Back in the late 80's, Robert Mason's "Chickenhawk" appeared on bookshelves. Mason's personal story of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam was the first of it's kind and has since spawned a number of personal helicopter stories, and they all owe the market being opened by Robert Mason. I was still in high-school when the book out and I wanted very much to fly helicopters for the US Army at the time. After reading this book I was not sure what to do, I was scared at the thought of being shot down in battle, but also saw the pride in what the helicopters pilots had done in Vietnam. This was also the first book I recommended to my father to read, a two tour veteran of Vietnam himself. I have gone back and reread "Chickenhawk" at least 4 times over the years and it still holds up so well, and I still feel like someone hit me in the stomach everytime I get to the end and read those last few lines.

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Summary: Excellent book...
Review: I picked this book up at the library a number of years ago while I was reading various books about the Vietnam War. It was a very good read and told the story pretty well. I especially like the stuff about the training and grouping with other pilots. I also liked the stuff about the emotions as they were going to war.

I remember seeing the first part of the trailer for "We Were Soliders" as the helicoptor pans across the screen and thinking that they were going to make a movie of this. I wish that were true because I think this book would lend itself pretty well to being a movie.

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Summary: If you're going to read one book on Vietnam, this is it.
Review: Whilst this book concentrates on the Vietnam experiences of a helicopter pilot, it also captures "the way it was" for all combatants. With clarity and immense detail, Mason reminds us of that incredible transition from civilian to soldier many of us went through and how miraculously the processing enabled us to cope with events and experiences of the war. The coping lasted until the end of your tour or until you were "full up" and getting a little frayed at the edges. A major element in holding men together in the insane stresses of combat is the fact that all those about you are doing the same thing - and nobody wants to be the first to crack. The resulting scenario is hundreds of men seemingly cruising unaffected through a roller-coaster ride in hell. Using the same dry humour and understatement that was part of survival tactics at the time, Mason takes you on that ride, but kicks you in the stomach with an ending you struggle to comprehend. Meantime, Mason's plain English descriptions of learning to fly choppers are so breathtakingly realistic the average reader could jump in a Huey and take it for a joy ride on the first reading. This is one of those books where, on turning the last page you want to pick up the phone and chew the fat with the author

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Summary: Writing at its best!
Review: This book starts off as a story about a private passion, and takes us through Mason's classes learning to fly helicopters. From there it turns into a novel like Conrads "Heart of Darkness". The book takes you deeper and deeper in small incremental steps until at the end you glimpse the personal private hell of one mans vision of war. When I put the book down I literally gasped. Mason drops you in so fast you just don't see it coming. The transition is brilliant and effective. Mason really makes you see his inner soul in a way I have never seen before. And because he takes you with him in his joyous flights from training school to the war in Vietnam, you are still with him when he falls down hard on his return. A great book if you like helicopters, even better if you don't like helicopters.

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Summary: Gritty, frank, honest.
Review: From his beginnings training as a Huey pilot, through his war experiences to the end of this account of what war does to men, Mason's writing grips you. This is mainly due to his frankness and openness in not only describing what he saw, but how it affected him. Anyone who can hold a readers attention through a detailed description of helicopter flight training deserves credit. This book gives you a sense of how it must have been to serve in VietNam as well as a sense of how war impacts on people.

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Summary: In the top 3 books I've ever read
Review: Something about this books stays with me through the years. I'm about to reread it after not touching it for a decade, even though the details of the book and its haunting ambiance and message are still with me. Not many books can do that to readers. The book is written with an immediacy that is compelling and leaves you feeling as if you were there . . . you have seen what Mason has seen, felt what he has felt, smelled what he has smelled, and you come away with a deeper understanding of what it means to be robbed by brutal war of some essential "you-ness." As a teacher of college English and literature, I find myself discussing this book whenever discussions of Vietnam and what it's done to our society (and individuals) arise. As a human being, I've been profoundly affected by the power of Mason's story and the prose with which he shares it. Do not miss reading this important work!

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Summary: The best (or at least my favorite) book I have ever read.
Review:

Perhaps due to my own fascination with helicopters, I have read Chickenhawk upwards of a dozen times. Each time I am pleasantly surprised to discover that I am still enthralled by it. The mix of technical information on helicopters and Mason's personal experiences makes for a real page-turner. His underwrought style is perfect to balance against the truly horrific and action-packed events of his tour of Vietnam. The final pages bring the reader, and Mason, back home to "the world," with the realization that to those who served, the Vietnam War will never be over. The sequel, Chickenhawk: Back In The World, is also highly reccommended. It is generally the story of how Mason came to write Chickenhawk and his adventures adjusting to life after Vietnam. Buy them both.

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Summary: Lived the LIfe
Review: I never knew this book existed, but being an ex Army chopper pilot with the 1st Cav in Vietnam, I found this to be the most realistic book ever written on this subject. I identified with every single word. Not like the junk you see in the movies.
Probably in the top 5 books on any subject that I've ever read

Rating:
Summary: worth reading
Review: This is the first book I've read on this topic, so I can't compare it to any others. It was certainly very, very good.

I found it a difficult read, probably because I only read magazine articles, and am not used to reading stuff with dialog or narratives.

I think that you get a pretty good idea of how pilots coped with getting in and out of dangerous areas, often under attack.

Mason decides not to re-enlist after returning to the U.S., even though he's promised Captain's bars. Is he nuts? I guess he'd have to be nuts, just to survive the awful things he had to endure while flying. He flew a Huey slick, that is, he carried troops and supplies. (a** and trash, as he calls it)

My main interest was how helicopters work and how pilots deal with tough terrain. I suppose search-and-rescue helicopter stories would interest me equally.

You'll read about his opinions on the war, and how the horrors of war really messed him up. The book gives a quote stating that helicopter crews, infantry and the Marines always have the highest mortality.

The book gave some insight into what the Vietnam war was like. To me, that was just a bonus, as I really only read it to learn about helicopters.

This is the first book I've read about helicopters or combat. It was time well spent. If you care, he's written a sequel about how he messes up badly when he gets back to civilian life.
I personally will pass on it, though if its written as well as this book, could be a good read for someone who's interested in the psychology of ex-soldiers.