George J. Marrett

George Marrett seems to be something of an angry man and really makes no bones about it. This is also quite understandable seeing as his Vietnam adventure was part of the secret war in the skies of Laos, meaning that Marrett and his compatriots didn't even have the perhaps dubious honor of their sacrifices being publicized. In writing this book Marrett seeks to redeem these sacrifices so that contemporary aviators can learn from mistakes made, and so that the story of the rescue teams that show more supported the US strike forces are not forgotten. While Marrett doesn't have as much of a sense of the ironic and absurd that Rasimus displayed in "When Thunder Rolled," Marrett equally pulls no punches in terms of explaining what went wrong and why with the analytic detail of the test pilot he was. show less

The colourful characters and daring rescues of downed pilots engaged in the Secret War in North Vietnam and Laos are vividly captured by one who was there, in some of the most exciting stories ever written about aerial combat. Sandy Marrett and his squadron colleagues flew some of the most dangerous air missions of the war as on-scene commanders, in charge of rescuing the scores of US Navy and Air Force pilots shot down over North Vietnam and Laos.

I enjoy non fiction, in particular, that pertaining to WWII and the period immediately following. This book is a little of both. I enjoyed it however my rating shows not as much as many others. Nonetheless if you are an aviation fan with particular interest in jet flight testing in the 50's, it is worth your time.

Written in an anecdotal style that never seemed to go very deep into any particular aspect of Hughes, his aircraft or his business endeavors.