Chickenhawk is a book written by Robert Mason about the air war in Vietnam, as seen from behind the plexiglass windscreen of a Huey Slick. Mason leads us from pilot training through his assignment to the 1st Cav, his transfer to Vietnam, his 1000 mission tour of duty, and his return home.
The book is disarmingly candid and straightforward, Mason's carefully unemotional prose allows the facts of misjudgement, destruction, mutilation and war to have their own devastating effect. Mason draws you into the world of the Vietnam helicopter pilot, endless cold sweat nights before and after repeated landings in enemy-ringed landing zones, showing the human and the technical side of combat aviation.
I recommend this read to anyone and everyone. The narrative is riveting, I could not put it better than this passage from the back of my copy:
"Rich, often relentless memoir... had me trembling, fidgeting, wanting it to stop, wanting to get those guys up, off the LZs . Powerful scenes made me cry. Others were hilariously funny... Anyone who served in Vietnam... should read Chickenhawk. Anyone who wants to learn more about the war or who likes exciting reading should read it."
John Del Vecchio (The Thirteenth Valley), Philadelphia Inquirer
He puts it as well as I can. An excellent read.