Full Description
As a 26-year old Marine radar intercept officer (RIO), Fleet Lentz flew 131 combat missions in the back seat of the supersonic F-4 B Phantom II during the wind-down of the Vietnam War. Overcoming military regulations, he and his fellow Marines at The Rose Garden (Royal Thai Air Base Nam Phong) kept sorely needed supplies moving in while moving combat troops out of Southeast Asia. His personal and accessible memoir describes how pilots and RIOs executed dangerous air-to-ground bombing missions in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos--quite different from the air-to-air warfare for which they had trained--and kept themselves mission-capable (and human) while surviving harsh circumstances.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Prologue: What Did You Really Do in the War, Dad?
Section One: My New World
1. Going Down
2. The Base
3. Rules of the Road
4. Liberty
5. Housekeeping
6. Staying Human
7. Task Force Delta?
Section Two: Hops
8. The Phantom, in Brief
9. First Hop
10. Bringing Back the Hose
11. Silence from the Back Seat
12. An Award-Winning Hop
13. Watch Dog and Beer
14. Night Tanking
15. Flying in Laos
16. The Cubi Special Missile Shoot
17. The MiG Mystique
18. The Bunker
19. Frags
20. One Wild Ride
21. The Ten-Degree Run
22. Angkor Wat /Ankle What
23. Drop the Hook
24. Upside Down and Embarrassed
Section Three: Special Times, Special People
25. Gracie L. Zoobreath
26. Me and Mr. Tones
27. Clipper Wins
28. Christmas
29. The Chapel
30. The Brig
31. The Shadow Next Door
32. Salts
Section Four: Things Changed
33. Squadron to Group
34. Operation Sunset
Section Five: Takeaways
35. Takeaways
Epilogue: Going Back
Appendix A. Map of Vietnam and Neighboring Countries
Appendix B. Glossary of Terms
Appendix C. Marine Corps Ranks
Appendix D. Brief Timeline of the Vietnam War
Appendix E. Brief History of VMFA-115
Appendix F. The Rose Garden's Legacy of Leadership
Appendix G. Suggested Reading and Viewing
Appendix H. Brief Career Overview
Index
