GREAT STORY OF COURAGE, VIOLENCE AND INTELLECTUALLY CORRUPT LEADERSHIP

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	• When Thunder Rolled Ed Rasimus Presidio Press, 2004 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

GREAT STORY OF COURAGE, VIOLENCE AND INTELLECTUALLY CORRUPT LEADERSHIP

As a story of courage and combat flying this book sits near the top of the list. Daily missions into the heart of a well defended N Vietnam, flying against targets selected in DC by those with no combat flying experience, training in tactics of successful air campaigns, appreciation for those who did and with the even greater corruption of a lack of commitment.

Somehow Rasimus and his fellow pilots keep getting up after sleepless nights, getting the brief and launching missions into North Vietnam. It is sad to hear of the lives lost dumping bombs on "suspected truck parks" and other secondary targets.

The author was one of those for whom successful completion of 100 missions over N Vietnam was improbable. One wonders how our nation produces those with the skill and courage to fly these missions day after day. Add to the burden the knowledge that far too often the missions were flown against insignificant targets while truly valuable targets were off limits.

The author was blessed with the skills of a fighter pilot and the writing skills normally associated with those sedentary pursuits of a writing career.

Highly recommended.

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Thoughtful, insightful, well written, very good.

Whilst putting you very much in the cockpit Mr Rasimus has at the same time managed to produce a thoughtful, insightful, and instructive book that gives an excellent view of the experiences, feelings and thoughts of what it meant to be a fighter pilot in the early years of the Vietnam war. Highly recommended.

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A Fighter Pilot's story

For some time now I've had a fascination with the F-105 Thunderchief and the men who went Downtown during the Vietnam war. To further my knowledge on the aircraft and the men who flew her I picked up When Thunder Rolled.

Overview
When Thunder Rolled is a pilots view of the F-105 and the missions he flew during the Vietnam War. In this book our Fighter Pilot (I mean this a complement to Mr. Rasimus. I believe it would be a greater honor to call him a Fighter Pilot than by his retired rank, read the book if you want to understand why) gives us a view of the F-105 from training thru his time in Thailand flying missions in North Vietnam.

The Good
Wow! What a book. Mr. Rasimus pulls no punches. In all of the books I've read dealing with a persons own experiences in war I've found very few that are as candid about being scared. Mr. Rasimus tells us about how his initial debate is if he should fly combat mission or not and then flies a couple. I have to think that the fear Mr. Rasimus talks about is more common than many other books would have you believe.

I also loved how Mr. Rasimus mentions the maintenance men who took care of the Thud he borrowed (sorry, everyone knows that a fighter is owned by the crew chief, pilots just borrow it). This is something kind of rare and nice to see.

The description of the environment is great. Referencing stealing hubcaps for what it took to be a fighter pilot over there was sheer genius! Between the use of vernaculars and a simple honest approach, one is able to visualize and feel something of what he was experiencing. I also loved the way Mr. Rasimus takes us thru the base and the missions. From premission briefings thru the return. Interestingly there isn't a lot of focus on the post mission time at the Club.

The Bad
The only one I can readily think of is that the book ended. I loved the story telling. It flows so nicely. The real shame is that we know that our fighter pilot went on to fly F-4's in the Linebacker timeframe. I'd have loved it if this would have been brought together to hear the differences in the aircraft and how the war was fought.

Rating Wise
5 Stars! This is the best personal account I've read from an aviator. A solid read and is a must read by anyone interested in knowing about F-105's, the Vietnam airwar, or about a pilots view of combat.

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When Thunder Rolled

This is the best book along with Jack Broughten's "Thud Ridge" that I have read concerning the Air War in the North, especially as it relates to F105's.If I were to write a book on this subject, this is what I would have written.

Simply the Best!

What a great book! I agree that this is the best of the F-105 books about combat during Rolling Thunder. Such detail! Ras explains everything so well and puts it in words that non-pilots can understand. He even takes you on R&R to a Bangkok niteclub to get a "massage" ;-) The difference between a fighter-pilot and a pilot of fighters is explained. I was at Takhli, the other F-105 base in Thailand, and I remember the Wild Weasel/Iron Hand "F" models. The initial group was sent in and shot down. Then another batch was sent in and shot down. I believe there were five or six airplanes in each group. During that initial period, the crewmembers of F-105F (Weasels)were virtually assured of death or capture. What a slaughter.
I loved the noise of that beautiful bird when afterburner with water injection kicked in. Not to mention the noise when a pilot returned after his 100th mission and went "supersonic" right on the deck. Awesome!!!! Also described in the book was the practice of burning off fuel with the speed brakes open and the afterburner on. I saw this on another 100 mission bird going low and slow with the "finger" extended in a pass just above the runway. This book brings back memories of that. In the meantime, back in the "world" (US)Hippies were coming on the scene. It was a shock to me and many others returning. And, by the way, so much for the "domino theory" - Thailand is still there.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

?YOU CAN ALMOST SMELL THE JET FUEL AND GUNPOWDER. You attack the world?s fiercest defenses at 500 knots and share the ultimate thrill of hurling yourself against almost impossible odds?and winning.
?JACK BROUGHTON, author of Thud Ridge

Ed Rasimus straps the reader into the cockpit of an F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber in his engaging account of the Rolling Thunder campaign in the skies over North Vietnam. Between 1965 and 1968, more than 330 F-105s were lost?the highest loss rate in Southeast Asia?and many pilots were killed, captured, and wounded because of the Air Force?s disastrous tactics. The descriptions of Rasimus?s one hundred missions, some of the most dangerous of the conflict, will satisfy anyone addicted to vivid, heart-stopping aerial combat, as will the details of his transformation from a young man paralyzed with self-doubt into a battle-hardened veteran. His unique perspective, candid analysis, and the sheer power of his narrative rank his memoir with the finest, most entertaining of the war.

?A story that reflects the bravery of the men who flew over enemy territory in a perilous time.?
?The Baltimore Chronicle

?[A] MODERN-DAY RED BADGE OF COURAGE .?
?JOHN DARRELL SHERWOOD, author of Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience

Look for these remarkable stories of American courage in the Vietnam war

DOWN SOUTH
One Tour in Vietnam
by William H. Hardwick

LOST IN TRANSLATION
Vietnam: A Combat Advisor?s Story
by Martin J. Dockery

MEDIC!
The Story of a Conscientious Objector in the Vietnam War
by Ben Sherman

WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE . . . AND YOUNG
Ia Drang: The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam
by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway

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