About Volume 4

This is the fourth and final volume in the series, Vietnam to Western Airlines, which has become the most comprehensive oral history of the air war in Vietnam in print. The four book series includes stories from all the services that flew combat in Vietnam, it includes all the aircraft types and different missions flown in the war, and the stories cover the entire time frame that American ground troops and airmen served in Vietnam and at Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin.

The first chapter in Volume 4 begins in July 1962. Written by Bob Fritzler, it chronicles the beginning of the air war with the arrival in Vietnam of the second Marine Corps squadron to be sent to the war zone, HMM-163, flying unarmed H-34 helicopters out of Soc Trang, in the Delta south of Saigon.  One of the last chapters takes place in the summer of 1972, fully 10 years later, with Ted Demosthenes and Marine Corps squadron VMA-211. Ted was flying the A-4E out of Bien Hoa, just west of Saigon, during the drawdown of American units and after the Marines had been pulled out of Chu Lai. Both squadrons worked strictly with ARVN troops as there were no US combat troops in Vietnam in 1962 and all US infantry units had been withdrawn by mid-1972.

Where would one go to meet and have access to this diverse group of Vietnam veterans? Bruce Cowee found them as his fellow pilots at Western Airlines, hired by the airline starting in early 1967 and ending with the last Vietnam veteran hired in April 1986, just days before the merger between Western and Delta Air Lines was announced.The fact that they met after the war as pilots for Western Airlines is the thread that ties them together.

Bruce’s respect and admiration for these men is obvious throughout, and it was only because they had a common bond that he was able to earn the trust required to complete this project. As he says in the Epilogue, “They were ordinary men who did extraordinary things yet never thought they did….they inspired me with their heroic and selfless acts.”

The photo on the front of the dust jacket is of an A-4F from Navy squadron VA-212. The aircraft is loaded with six 500 pound MK-82 bombs and is on a “Cat Shot” from USS Bonhomme Richard on April 16, 1968. It is headed for a “Steel Tiger” mission, interdicting the Ho Chi Minh Trail in South East Laos. The photo was provided by Peter Reed. The photo on the back is of a Western DC-10 taken in the mid-1970s and was provided by Bob Homann. You’ll note that the dust jackets on the four volumes depict the four aircraft types operated by Western Airlines when Bruce Cowee was first hired by Western. They are the B-737, the B-727, the B-707/720B, and the DC-10.

About Volume 3

This is the third volume in the series, Vietnam to Western Airlines, and with these chapters the Vietnam stories of close to 100 Western pilots have been chronicled, with more to come in Volume 4. When the first volume was released on Veterans Day, 2013, it was intended as a stand-alone book. The incredible reception these books have received among the Western pilot group has brought more and more pilots forward who are willing to tell their stories from the time frame of 1963 – 1975. That is close to 55 years ago for some of them and the fact that these stories are still fresh in their minds, accompanied by photos that would have been otherwise lost to history, gives added importance to this project. When the second volume was released on March 31, 2017, it came in at just over 600 pages. There were enough additional stories and enough work in progress to justify a third volume. As with the second volume it was also completed in record time and there is still ample material and interest for a fourth volume. What started out as a simple history project and a tribute to Vietnam veterans has taken on a life of its own.

This volume is a continuation of the oral history of the air war in Vietnam, with stories written by the men who were there and flew the missions. The fact that they ended up meeting after the war as pilots for Western Airlines is the thread that ties them together. All the uniformed services who provided combat pilots, and all the types of aircraft and missions these pilots flew, are included in this volume. The chronology of the book covers the air war from its beginning. The first chapter in this volume takes place in May 1963, more than a year before the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that began the air war over North Vietnam. The last chapter takes place during the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975. The stories cover a 12 year period of our country’s history that profoundly affected these men and all of those who served in Vietnam.
Bruce’s respect and admiration for these men is obvious throughout, and it was only because they had a common bond that he was able to earn the trust required to complete this project.

The photo on the front of the dust jacket is an A-4E from Marine Corps Squadron VMA-211, “The Wake Island Avengers”, in the fall of 1968. Flown by 1/Lt. Jim Lawrence USMC (and PROUD of it!), it is configured with six MK-82 500 lb. general purpose slick bombs and is on the way to a Direct Air Support mission. The photo was provided by Jim Lawrence. The photo on the back is of a Western Airlines B-707, circa 1972, and was provided by Bob Homann.

In the introduction to Volume 2 I mentioned how my life has been changed by this endeavor. Volume 2 was released on March 31, 2017, and the change seemed to accelerate over the following several months. The experience has been truly humbling. I had been invited to several reunions and several Western retiree functions in 2017, and my exposure to Vietnam veterans from all walks of life has been an incredible experience and a wonderful education. Coming in the year that the Ken Burns series on the Vietnam War was released, I feel uniquely qualified to comment on that documentary and once again defend the honor of and pay tribute to Vietnam veterans, especially the Vietnam veterans of Western Airlines.

Vietnam to Western Airlines Vol 2

About Volume 2

When Vietnam to Western Airlines was released on Veterans Day 2013, there was never a plan for a second volume. However, the reception this book received within the former Western Airlines pilot group was so positive that the seed for a second volume was planted within a few months. When several of the pilots who were reluctant to put their stories in writing at the time the first book was being put together saw the published book, their reaction to it was overwhelmingly positive. They realized that perhaps it was time for them to tell their stories.The passing of two pilots who had planned to write their stories, John Theorell and Dave Boaz, and a third, Doug Hellwig, who Bruce had pursued about writing a story, put a sense of urgency to the project.Considering what was involved in the collection of the stories and photographs for this second publication, it has been completed in record time.

This book is a continuation of the oral history of the air war in Vietnam, with stories written by the men who were there and flew the missions. The fact that they ended up meeting after the war as pilots for Western Airlines is the thread that ties them together.All the uniformed services who provided combat pilots, and all the types of aircraft and missions these pilots flew, are included in this volume. Thechronology of the book covers the air war from its beginning in August 1964 to its end in January 1973. Bruce’s respect and admiration for these men is obvious throughout, and it was only because they had a common bond that he was able to earn the trust required to complete this project.

The photo on the front of the dust jacket is an F-4B about to leave the arming area, ready for takeoff at Chu Lai Air Base in 1968. The aircraft is configured with 12 MK-82 general purpose 500lb. bombs and is headed for a Direct Air Support mission in Laos. The aircraft is from Marine Corps squadron VMFA-122 and this photo was provided by Denny Dolan. The photo on the back of the dust jacket is a Western Airlines B-727 flying over Mt. St. Helens in the early 1980s and was provided by Bob Homann.

 

About Volume 1

Within a few years of the end of the Vietnam War, the American public was treated to a series of movies portraying Vietnam veterans in the worst light possible. Starting with The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979), to Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and even Forest Gump(1994), Hollywood depicted Vietnam vets as drug users/dealers, rapists, murderers, deserters, suicidal crazies or just plain stupid. But while the American public was having their opinions formed by Hollywood, little did they know they were flying around the country on commercial airliners with at least one, often two, and sometimes three Vietnam veterans in the cockpit.

In Vietnam to Western Airlines, veteran Bruce Cowee presents an oral history of the air war in Vietnam, which includes the stories and photographs of more than 30 pilots who all had one thing in common– after returning from Southeast Asia and separating from the service, they were hired as pilots by Western Airlines. As the chapters begin, Cowee tells his story and introduces us to each pilot, all of them volunteers who served honorably in Southeast Asia and, in most cases, never knew each other until they came home and went to work for Western Airlines. Each of the pilots featured in this book is the “real thing,” their stories spanning a nine-year period from 1964 to 1973, covering every aspect of the Air War in Southeast Asia. These 33 men represent only a small fraction of Vietnam veterans hired as pilots by Western Airlines, with some of their compelling stories having never been heard before, not even by members of their own families ... until now.

The stories in Vietnam to Western Airlines include everything from heart pounding, edge­ of­ your ­seat combat, to the human interest and even comic events that often happen in war. Through it all, there is an underlying theme: a group of young men in their 20s, thrust into situations of incredible excitement and danger, given an awesome amount of responsibility, and responding with performances that defy any measure you could come up with to evaluate them, only to return to an unappreciative and often hostile home front. It all makes an annual flight simulator evaluation or an FAA check ride seem pretty ho-hum. Vietnam to Western Airlines is a long-overdue tribute to the brave men who served in America’s most misunderstood war. In telling their stories, Cowee hopes not only to honor them but to change the stereotypes of these heroic veterans, as portrayed in books and by Hollywood, opening a fresh dialogue as we welcome back a new generation of young men and women from their service in the Middle East.