num_pages: 376
description: [An] intimate account of a Forward Air Controller working with the Special Forces on their secret operations in South Vietnam and Laos . . . Dont miss it! (John Prados author of Storm Over Leyte ).Originally published in 1991 this classic work has now been revised and updated with additional photos. It is the story of how in Vietnam an elite group of Air Force pilots fought a secret air war in Cessna 0-2 and OV-10 Bronco prop planesflying as low as they could get. The eyes and ears of the fast-moving jets who rained death and destruction down on enemy positions the forward air controller made an art form out of an air strikeknowing the targets knowing where friendly troops were and reacting with split-second life-and-death decisions as a battle unfolded.The expertise of the low slow FACs as well as the hazard attendant to their role made for a unique birds-eye perspective on how the entire war in Vietnam unfolded. For Tom Yarborough who logged 1500 hours of combat flying time the risk was constant intense and electrifying. A member of the super-secret Prairie Fire unit Yarborough became one of the most frequently shot-up pilots flying out of Da Nangengaging in a series of dangerous secret missions in Laos. In this work the reader flies in the cockpit alongside Yarborough in his adrenaline-pumping chronicle of heroism danger and wartime brotherhood. From the rescuing of downed pilots to taking out enemy positions to the most harrowing extended missions directly overhead of the NVA here is the dedication courage and skill of the fliers who took the war into the enemys backyard.
language: English
title: Da Nang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Gunsight View of Flying with SOG
publisher: Casemate Publishers