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Summary: War as real as it can get!!!
Review: I rarely give books 5 stars, but this is one that really deserves any accolades it gets. Mason gives you a feel for flying as he takes you through how to fly a chopper with the aide of excellent diagrams, which i referred back to nearly all through the book. The real interest is in his descriptions of flying in combat, whether evacuating wounded or flying into 'hot zones'. It brings you into the action as much as any book can. This is not comic book fiction. This is a man's story of his war, and what a war it was!!!
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Summary: A Heart-Rending Account From A Viet Nam Vet's "Everyman"
Review: I would imagine that every person who reads this book will interpret it differently based on their own history and experiences. Being an ex-crewchief serving immediately after Mason left Viet Nam, I found this book both profoundly disturbing and cathartic at the same time. Now I realize the truth, that the wounds of Viet Nam will probably never heal, for all participants - the foreigners (French/American), the "Enemy" (VC/NVA), the unwilling civilians, the ARVN, the refugees. It was just too ugly. It was just too much of a corruption of the human spirit. I had almost forgotten how disgusting it was. In a peculiar way reading this book has helped. Now I feel a little better, knowing that I wasn't crazy, jumping up in blind terror in the middle of the night . Or maybe I was crazy, but it's OK. Anyway after 20 or 30 years it gets better. So what have we learned from all this? I think we've learned to displace ourselves from the suffering so we can still exact our deadly vengeance, but not lose sleep over it. Smart bombs. Surgical strikes. Death by video game. What really scrambles people in situations like the Viet Nam war is not the observation of events outside of oneself, but the realization of how one's own psyche has somehow been corrupted by the process.
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Summary: Chickenhawk
Review: This book added a new dimension to my Vietnam library, which is mostly about special forces. Chickenhawk details the mass use of helicopters for delivering and retrieving troops in major assaults. It's also interesting as the author is not convinced the war is just. He routinely sees death and sometimes freak accidents, and slowly goes crazy from the stress.
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Summary: Learn to fly! Learn to live!
Review: Robert Mason just wanted to fly helicopters - and this terrific book puts you so closely into his mind as he learns to fly that you feel as though you could fly one too. Sadly, he paid a high price for his love of flying. This is a great and moving story of how one man was forever altered by Vietnam. Rather than trying to make a statement about the war, Mason sets out to tell his own story. He does so with such honesty that you end the book feeling as irrevocably changed by events as he was. You share his growing panic and trauma as he comes to the end of his tour in Vietnam, and you share his guilt and bewilderment as he tries to cope with living in a peace-demonstrating, hippie-torn America. When you re-read the book - as you induitably will - you'll notice Robert Masons' compassion and humour, his sense of camaraderie, the combination of bravery and reluctance that make him and his comrades 'chickenhawks'.
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Summary: Chickenhawk
Review: This is a very good book it gives you a basic idea what war is like. Though real war can not be fully apretiated this book convinces you of how terrible it is. The book is well written and I highly suggest it. I am already reading it for the second time.
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Summary: Best out of the Nam
Review: I have read most of the books to spawned from the Vietnam war and all are compelling. However, There are really two major forums of conflict during this war, and they are the "air" and The "ground." Mason has captured in the air what John Ketwig (And a Hard Rain Fell) has captured on the ground. For some reason perople think that its safer in the air. Mason will dispell any notion that you may harbor about that fallacy. I have read the book at least seven times and have found something new in each reading. I'm going to order several copies so that I can put them aside for furture reading since I'v already worn out two copies. If you want to condense the entire war into two books, purchase "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason along with "and a Hard Rain Fell" By John Ketwig READ THESE BOOKS!
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Summary: As good as you'll get on the helicopter war
Review: Read this when first published. Having been in the same situations ('68 - '69, 214 CAB), was impressed with the accuracy and realism portrayed. Now out: "Dustoff: The Memoir of an Army Aviator" by Michael J. Novosel. Written in his own hand and as good as Mason's book.
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Summary: Best Helecopter/Vietnam Book
Review: I first read this book while in the Army in 1984, serving as an Air Traffic Controller. It was surreal to read such a riveting account of Viet Nam while occasionally hearing Huey Helecopters flying around the area. It is true to form for the Army experience. Mason's explinations of how helecopters' fly and the tactics he was taugh are excellent. I have read this book 5 or 6 times now. It will make you laugh and it will cause you to reflect. It will also give you a sense of what it must have been like in Viet Nam during the war. It did so for me. I have the upmost respect for Mr. Mason. His follow-up book, Chickenhawk II is excellent also and begins where the first one leaves off.
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Summary: An amazing, insightful view of the Vietnam War
Review: Robert Mason, the author of this book, tells a chilling story with treasured words and experiences about the Vietnam war. He was an expert helicoptor pilot in the middle of a hell called the Vietnam war. This should be a must-read for all generations today. WHEN WILL A SCREENPLAY BE WRITTEN AND THE MOVIE MADE? As a teenager (female) of the 70's, I learned a life lesson about the war through Mason's visions and experiences. Mason is a great writer with a razor-sharp memory, a keen insight to mankind and a wonderful soul. I highly recommend this book to everyone. It will take your breath away. This is definitely on my "top ten" book list.
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Summary: One of the best books on Vietnam I have ever read
Review: Chickenhawk is a exciting and very detailed book on "Nam" This my favorite book.Although some gory details,this book should be read by all war book fans.Better than any movie.I commend Robert C.Mason on his heroism during Vietnam and his awesome memory.I give this book 5 stars.
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