Reading List

ISBN:

0760323925

Format:

Hardcover, 656 pages

Publish Date:

January, 2009

Publisher:

63

Other Format(s):

From the book: "Ron Clarke saw a shadowy figure running toward the helicopter from the right. He wasn’t certain if it was the downed air force pilot or a Vietcong. At the same time, George Armstrong, manning the machine gun in the forward left personnel door, shouted, “Here they come—let’s get out of here.” He opened fire with his M60 [on enemy soldiers running] toward the helicopter. . . . “Full power,” Clarke shouted to [copilot Jerry] Smith, who shoved the two engine throttles to the stops. Clarke eased up on the collective pitch lever, and the helicopter began to get light on the wheels. Back aft, [Jimmy] Conrad identified the running man as friendly and watched him dive past head first, sliding across the cabin deck on thousands of empty 7.62mm shell casings like the floor was covered with ball bearings. He fetched up under the troop seat . . . grabbing the bench leg to stop from slipping down the tilted deck. As the helicopter accelerated and then climbed . . . the adrenaline-charged helicopter crew began to realize that they were safe and had somehow escaped death or worse." Synposis: Beginning with the birth of combat aircraft in World War I and the early attempts to rescue warriors trapped behind enemy lines, Leave No Man Behind chronicles in depth nearly one hundred years of combat search and rescue (CSAR). All major U.S. combat operations from World War II to the early years of the Iraq War are covered, including previously classified missions and several Medal-of-Honor-winning operations. Authors George Galdorisi and Tom Phillips (both veteran U.S. Navy helicopter pilots) highlight individual acts of heroism while telling the big-picture story of the creation and development of modern CSAR. Although individual missions have their successes and failures, CSAR, as an institution, would seem beyond reproach, an obvious necessity. The organizational history of CSAR, however, is not entirely positive. The armed services, particularly the U.S. Air Force and Navy, have a tendency to cut CSAR at the end of a conflict, leaving no infrastructure prepared for the next time that the brave men and women of our armed forces find themselves behind enemy lines. The final chapter has not yet been written for U.S. combat search and rescue, but in view of the life-saving potential of these forces, an open and forthright review of U.S. military CSAR plans and policies is long overdue. Beyond the exciting stories of heroic victories and heartrending defeats, Leave No Man Behind stimulates debate on this important subject.