MWSA Book Review

Outlaws in Vietnam

Author:  David L. Eastman

Publisher:  PER Publishing

Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA

Great book about the 175th Aviation Company - The Outlaws

Author David Eastman treats the reader to an insider view of one of the best aviation units in the Delta during the Vietnam War.  This was a totally different kind of war and his historic look back at the 175th Aviation Company from 1966 through 1967 is a real snap shot of that special kind of helicopter warfare.  His book, “Outlaws in Vietnam,” is a masterpiece of writing.  It loses nothing in the details and the historic reconstruction of memories.  The author takes us along on the missions and we get to meet some of the men in the unit.

The action is a real accounting of what it was like.  This book will take you on a flight of adventure safely from your sofa but emotionally you will be with this group of men all the way from the beginning to the end.  You will get your money’s worth of this unit’s story along with some black and white photos.

David does a great job writing this historic memoir.  The MWSA gives it's highest rating of 5 Stars to this book.

Excerpt from Outlaws in Vietnam:

"The Delta night rang out with sounds and muzzle flashes from the firefight being waged far below our circling Huey.  The Viet Cong were in a treeline next to a cleared area immediately under the ship.  At 2,500 feet, we were safely watching the forces engaged below.  As usual, the cool air at altitude relieved us from the tepid, 80-to-90-degree temperature on the ground, where troops traded fire with the VC element they were in contact with.

I smoked another cigarette, a menthol-laced Salem, as Andy, my copilot, turned the ship in another racetrack turn, using up time at our assigned place in the sky until the brass told us to go in for the medevac for which we'd been called out.  For a new guy, my peter pilot was handling the bird well, and I could tell, even across the cockpit, that he felt my acknowledgment of his growing skills with this D-model."

THE AUTHOR

Author David L. Eastman lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where he writes a nature column for local newspapers, publishes articles on natural history in various periodicals and hosts a radio column.  He has a Master's degree in Forestry from the University of Washington.  He is a member of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, although he no longer flies, leaving that for the birds.

MWSA's 2004 Silver Medal Award for Military Unit History