Fast Movers: America's Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience

I was loaned this book by a friend because of my interest in aviation and my work as a docent at an Air Museum near my winter home in Arizona. I had expected it to talk about the planes and pilots of the Viet Nam War, but I did not expect the eye opening experience that this book turned out to be. John Sherwood steps on some toes in this book and as a result some of the reviews herein reflect personal displeasure when his stories come too close to home or cut too close to the bone. I found the book to be a sobering experience and one which awoke much of the anger that many of us felt about how this war was conducted, not only by the generals, but more especialy by the politicians all the way up to LBJ. The fact that we dropped eight million tons of bombs in SE Asia and lost over 8,500 planes and helicopters without winning the war is an unsettling fact. However, bombs do not deliver themselves and real people were in those planes and helicopters and a great many of them lost their lives in this mishandled piece of business. It is the spirit of those that fought, even when their hands were tied by the ones in charge with foolish rules of engagement that is at the heart of the story that is told. It is not a pretty story. It is often a story of the raw underbelly of war, but it is a story that needed to be told and John Sherwood, an official U.S Naval Historian tells it without fear or favor. Had the war been managed in that fashion, the outcome would have been much different. He has my gratitude for doing it.

The air war over Southeast Asia showcased the proud, dedicated Americans who unselfishly did what was asked of them. This group, highly motivated though they were, was unfortunately misused and mismanaged by the very government that sent them there. True or not, many still feel that if they had been allowed to do what they had been trained for, most of their friends would still be alive, and Vietnam would not be seen as a "loss." Indeed, the common retort was "We were winning when I left."The new book Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience takes a hard look at some of those men and what ultimately inspires them. Author John Sherwood, official historian of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, is well suited to bring this long-overdue book to the public. He realized that most books dealt only with air war tactics. Few examined the warriors themselves. With over 300 interviews and extensive research, Sherwood attempts to reveal the personal side of these pilots. Contrary to most opinions, these men wanted to be there, to test themselves against the most hostile environment ever designed. They were the "fast movers", those who flew jet fighters and attack aircraft. In all, 14 pilots are examined here: some Air Force and some Navy, some famous and some not. Whether battling the North Vietnamese defenses or trying to survive in such places as the Hanoi Hilton, these military professionals proved they had "the right stuff." John Sherwood tells their story well.Robert S. DeGroat, Flight Journal

Sherwood's gripping account of fighter pilots in the Vietnam War is one of the most insightful and well-written accounts of that bloody conflict I have ever read. Growing up listening to my father's tales of life as a ground crewman at Da Nang in '68, I could well imagine plight of the brave men featured in "Fast Movers." Sherwood does honor to those men who fought in that unappreciated war, while capturing the spirit of their comradery and the pain of their suffering. No account of warfare can be without controversy, and to be sure, "Fast Movers" will raise some. Memories fade and personal accounts are shaped by the passage of time-- especially those of combat veterans. The author can only do his best to cross-check facts with others who were there. If minor discrepancies in the oral history arise, we can only accept that such is the nature of the media. From this reader's perspective, I can only say that this account rang as true to me as the memories of my father's experiences were to him.

In Fast Movers: Jet Pilots And The Vietnam Experience, John Sherwood focuses on fourteen jet fighter pilots, one at a time, to guide the reader through each phase of the Vietnam War air campaigns. Together, these lively and impassioned individual struggles demonstrate and document the difference that a single courageous pilot could (and often did) make. Fast Movers describes the thrill of the hunt, the suffering captivity in the Vietnam POW camps, the off-duty and aerial combat experiences that made up the totality of the combat jet pilot experience. Fast Movers is highly recommended reading for military buffs and historians.

Top notch telling of the story that has waited too long to be told: how the privileged class of warriors known as "top guns" suffered many of the same post-Vietnam War stresses that those of us in the infantry felt upon returning home. These guys were modern Kamikazes flying almost daily missions into the mouth of the cat (we grunts always felt as if we were in the other "end"). Although "Tomcat" feels that he deserved more space in the book (this man is a hero for what he did for his fellow POW's), the book is nonetheless a 5 star read. It is also an important document that preserves these experiences as our generation ages and the stories are lost forever.