U.S.Navy Seawolves: The Elite HAL-3 Helicopter Squadron in Vietnam Review

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(More customer reviews)First I wish to congratulate the author for a pleasant and fast read.
Joe, you sir should have remained silent and kept us wondering about your obvious lack of historical knowledge. Instead you choose to make ridiculous statements and remove all doubt ........
First, US Navy Seawolves is written not about Mr. Kelly or his missions, it's about how and why the Seawolves were created and how they did there jobs. If you had read the Dan's first book you would know this.
You state the stories are not first hand accounts. From what area of your all knowing Seawolf and SEAL history is this statement based? Yes they are first hand accounts from the people that WERE THERE! Did you bother to read the preface?
You again state your expertise on Vietnam era weaponry. Which nomenclature is incorrect and what are you so sure about? Joe you obviously don't know anything about the SEALs or Seawolves.
"Myopic glamorization of death.....were you there? What part about WAR and reality don't you like? I think Mr. Kelly did a great job in conveying the circumstances and situations without excessive gory details. As to your concern of historical presentation of facts, I can assure you the accounts describes are true and confirmed by SEAL Team One personnel, Capt. Spencer, and the other people mentioned in the forward. If you had read it you would know this.
Regarding the rocket window account. It is stated as an accident in the book. Did you really READ the entire book?
Lt. John Luscher provides the first hand accounts of the actions in question during the Tet offensive. If you have issue with his history, call him and ask!
You state "As is the fact that the helicopters could fly 120 MPH three feet off the ground through the streets of Saigon and take corners at full speed. Sorry, but that all seems like quite a stretch." Well Joe, I WAS THERE and would be willing to offer you ride to see just what a UH1-B can't do.
As I stated above, I was there and give the author high marks for being as accurate and clear as possible. This book provides a third person view of what really happened to a group of brave soles that few have heard of and history for the most part chooses to forget.
If and when I get the opportunity to meet the author, I plan to shake his hand for those of us that never came home protecting people like you "Joe."


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There were no dry runs for Seawolves in Vietnam. They put their lives on the line—every time.In the Viet Cong-infested Mekong Delta, where small SEAL teams were always outgunned and outnumbered, discovery brought swift, deadly consequences— and a radio call for backup from the United States Navy's very best: the Seawolves. The whir of approaching rotor blades signaled their arrival as they tore through the jungle at treetop level, gunners hanging off the skids, shooting M-60s, raining down their lethal mix of high explosives and incendiary death.Seawolf Dan Kelly describes the origins of this extraordinary outfit. Put through a training program unlike any other, these men emerged to perform unparalleled feats of courage. The stories of these elite warriors capture America's real heroes in all their guts and glory, and demonstrate why the Seawolves are known as the most successful and most decorated unit in the Vietnam War.

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Never Fight Fair: Inside the Legendary U.S. Navy Seals Review

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(More customer reviews)This book consists almost exclusively of interviews, printed verbatim, with former (and a few still active) Navy SEALS. As such it is quite different from almost all other books with a similar subject matter.
The interviewed SEALS come across as fairly average guys except that they liked adventure, didn't require a secure home life and were willing to take risks. The degree to which these SEALS displayed being rather average surprised me. In particular I had assumed that members of elite military forces would be fairly intelligent, but the impression I got from reading these interviews was that high intelligence was definitely not a requirement.
In a way the honesty displayed by this book is refreshing. The SEALS aren't made to look like supermen or even heroes. They were men who had elected to do a particular job, received training for that job and then went out and did it. Often they were successful, but often things went wrong, sometimes with fatal results.
One third of the book covers the Vietnam War during which the SEALS were involved in a lot of real combat. But the Vietnam War has two problems relative to a modern book about the SEALS: it happened 30 years ago and the USA lost that war.
The last half of the book covers developments and experiences since the Vietnam War. This includes up-to-date information about the newest diving and parachuting and water-borne landing techniques, all of which I found quite interesting. But this part of the book includes no real combat experiences except for a few pages about Grenada (including a disastrous mission where four SEALS died parachuting from a plane that was flying too low) and the Gulf War in 1991 (a 4-page story about a group of four SEALS who saw the Iraqi army advancing on them and wisely retreated without firing a shot).
In conclusion, if you're looking for a book about how utterly fantastic the Navy SEALS are then you should steer clear of this one. If you're curious as to what kind of men enjoy jumping out of airplanes at 37000 feet and getting their eyeballs frozen, and prefer honest accounts that include disastrous missions where men died and objectives were not met, then this is a good source.
Rennie Petersen

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They go in first, they go in fast, and they do whatever's needed to get the job done. Their motto: The only easy day was yesterday. The only rule: Win. From their early days in World War II through the jungles of the Caribbean and Vietnam to the shores of Qadhafi's Libya and Iraqi-controlled Kuwait, the elite, highly disciplined military units that came to be known as SEAL teams have done the dirty work of war. Behind enemy lines, under cover of darkness, on sea, air, and land, they conduct the high-speed, high-adrenaline operations that never make headlines but always make the enemy pay -- and make victory possible. This is the book for the real stories, straight from the SEALs themselves. The combat experiences the SEALs share -- the daring rescue missions, the underwater demolition operations, the withering kill-or-be-killed firefights -- come vividly and brutally to life as never before, in NEVER FIGHT FAIR!

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Navy: An Illustrated History: The U.S. Navy from 1775 to the 21st Century (Illustrated History (Zenith Press)) Review

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(More customer reviews)There is a chart on page 180 showing the U.S. Navy enlisted rank structure that is blatently innacurate. It shows that a Petty Officer 3rd Class is an E-3 which is incorrect. A Petty Officer 3rd Class is an E-4. The remianing ranks from Petty Officer 2nd Class through Master Chief Petty Officer are also incorrect. According to the chart, a Master Chief Petty Officer is an E-8 and the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy is an E-9. All Master Chiefs are E-9's. An E-8 is a Senior Chief Petty Officer. This is such basic information that it makes you wonder what other innacurate information is in this book. HMCM(FMF) USNR Ret.

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"Profusely illustrated with dramatic paintings, evocative photographs and informative maps, this book conveys the fascinating history of the U.S. Navy. It tells of the officers and men who fought the battles and created strategies, tracing the progress and expansion of technology and tactics from the early colonial days through the furious combat of World War II at sea against Japan to shielding the nation from the threats of the Cold War and today facing the challenges of the twenty-first century." Accent on Tampa Bay Magazine "In 1775, a new congress formed what would evolve into one of the world's greatest military organizations: the U.S. Navy. NAVY celebrates this, using paintings, photos, and maps to trace the evolution of the Navy during the wars it fought. Both black and white and color illustrations, from photos to artistic representations, make NAVY an excellent survey – and it comes from a military historian who has already written several Navy history books. It's an excellent choice for any military library and for any general-interest collection seeking an accessible, lively format documenting Navy strengths and evolution." California Bookwatch In 1775, the newly created American Congress took the first step in the formation of what, some two centuries later, would become the largest and greatest navy in the world. From those days of John Paul Jones and his associates who dared to challenge Britains Royal Navy, the mightiest navy the world had ever seen, Americas Continental Navy has grown, along with the country, to become the worlds foremost naval force. Today, the United States Navy is a highly sophisticated armed force that is capable of projecting military power to all corners of the world. This in-depth volume describes the battles, the ships and aircraft, and the great naval captains of American history who shaped it into the premiere seaborne military force in the world today.Profusely illustrated with dramatic paintings, evocative photographs and informative maps, this book conveys the fascinating history of that force. It tells of the officers and men who fought the battles and created the strategies, tracing the progress and expansion of technology and tactics from the early colonial days through the furious combat of World War II at sea against Japan to shielding the nation from the threats of the Cold War and today facing the challenges of the twenty-first century.

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Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces (Special Warfare) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is factually flawed and execrably written. the author can't even spell the names of some of his alleged primary sources (he cites Ron Yaw instead of Ron Yeaw; he cites Bucky Burruws instead of Bucky Burruss). He gets the specifics of the capture of Che Guevara wrong, making Felix Rodriguez a Green Beret instead of what he was, a b-contract foreign national cia agent operating under the cover name Felix Ramos Medina. The Green Beret involved in Che's capture was a Special Forces major named "Pappy" Shelton. he refers to the first co of Delta Force as Colonel "Charles" Beckwith. Beckwith was never known as Charles; he was always Charlie. he uses information from the marcinko bio, rogue warrior, as if he had actually interviewed marcinko, when he is simply appropriating copy from the book. He puts Marcinko on furlough from Petersburg prison in february, 1991, waiting for a federal marshal to take him back to prison. That is just plain fiction writing--and bad fiction at that. When Kuwait was liberated, marcinko was under lock and key at Petersburg. he gets so much information just plain wrong that one wonders whether or not his editors ever did any fact-checking on the manuscript, or ever checked his qualifications to write a book like this. Twilight Warriors is a third rate clip job that never deserved to get published in the first place.

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Every army has them. Every nation needs them. Now enter the world of...Twilight Warriors.Deadly Scud hunts in the Gulf War. Daring hostage rescue missions at London's Iranian Embassy and the Japanese Embassy in Peru. Special Forces go where no one else will...and do what no other army would dare...Now, in vivid, fascinating detail, journalist and counterterrorism expert Martin C. Arostegui tells their stories: secret training exercises in the Australian desert; pitched warfare in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East; and some of the most X-rated R&R strikes ever carried out around the world. From the weapons they use to the secrets they guard, this is the explosive story of the few, the elite, and the brave-- with the skill and daring to take on any enemy, any place, any time...Includes 8 pages of photographs!

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The Vital Guide to Military Aircraft: The World's Major Warplanes Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a concise book describing more than 100 military aircraft from all over the world, including helicopters. One page is devoted to each aircraft, with 2 color pictures and lots of information. The planes are arranged in alphabetical order of the names of the manufacturers, regardless of country of origin. Books this size are supposed to be visual guides, the kind you want to take with you to air shows. I feel that the planes should be grouped by shape and size, so that you can compare similar planes easily. In this book, if you want to compare F14 and F15, you have to look under Northrop Grumman for F14 and Boeing for F15.
With so many books on aircraft out there, you probably can buy a better book than this. However, in view of the low prices, especially for used copies, I recommend it for casual readers.

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A concise, highly detailed and superbly illustrated reference work to the most important combat aircraft in operation throughout the world today. With detailed text, full program and service details, plus complete type specifications, this volume provides the key data for well over 100 military aircraft in front-line service worldwide.

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U.S. Naval Aviation Review

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(More customer reviews)Great super size book with lots of color and B/W photographs. Complete history of US Navy's aviation from first aircraft shipborne trials to modern time operations. Color photographs are superb and by itself are more than worthy enough even for the full price of the book. There is also a special section on the US Navy's Blue Angels Team and aircraft.

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Since its founding in 1911, U.S. naval aviation has been characterized by courage and innovation. Today's sophisticated crews owe their careers to men like self-taught flyer Eugene Ely, who, wearing a football helmet and a bicycle inner tube as a life preserver, was the first man to take off and land on the deck of a ship. In this comprehensive account, historians, authors, and experts, as well as active duty and retired Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers, contribute essays on naval aviation history and past and present aviators. Oversized and magnificently illustrated, this book will be cherished by aviators and the countless others who have been inspired by the feats of U.S. naval aviation.

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