Customer Reviews
Must read for everyone - By: Philip Nasskau, 27 Dec 2007 
Chickenhawk has to be not only the best Vietnam War book, but also the best helicopter book.
I read this book in a matter of hours, I just couldn't put it down. Mason describes the situations with such clarity that you can almost shut your eyes & feel the thumps of the rotor blades as you follow his encounters into hastily-prepared landing zones & you feel his horror at having to switch from transports to gunships. It certainly makes you respect the intricacies of piloting rotorcraft.
If you're an aviation nut, or just enjoy reading you simply must read this book before you die.
A great book - By: G. C. blackwood, 15 Sep 2007 Unlike other reviews, I do not feel I need to qualify my comments with precision- this isn't a great book about Vietnam, or war, or flying- this is a great book, plain & simple. It's a rollercoaster ride, with highs of excitement, lows of despair- alll told with a breath-taking honesty- you WILL care about the author. Two female friends of mine with no interest in the military read it & were thouroughly moved. I read quite a bit, & I rate this as highly as anything I've ever picked up. If you read this, you won't be disappointed.
A powerful honest account:- well written - By: T. Dyer, 11 Aug 2007 Mason has written a extremly detailed & moving book which seems to capture the despair felt by so many vets,the pointless waste the gross loss of life on both sides.... but none the less a great read.
Excellent ! - By: Johnboy257, 11 Jul 2007 As the cover says, "The best book to come out of Vietnam". This is a hard hitting book which is very well described. Approx. 50 pages in, you are already riding in the chopper with 'Bob' Mason. A sorry tale but a very true one.
Destined to become a legend - By: M. P. Dixon, 27 May 2007 First person narrative of combat seems to falll into two courts, the first being self indulgent & blinkered, the other insightful & wide ranging. Mason's book is a vivid, moving & harrowing account of his life as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, a strange world many miles from home. From his initial delight at being selected to become an Army pilot, through the frustrations of learning to fly, the joy of passing his pilot's course through to his arrival in Vietnam, Mason writes with pathos & honesty.
His rapid disillusionment with the War, the homesickness for his love Patience back in America, the near misses with death, & his descent into a mist of drink & drugs to keep him sane enough to be able to continue working in such a harsh environment & moving & well written. There is a definate edge of sadness about Mason's story, & it is possible to see from his first hand accounts of fighting & military decision making, why Vietnam ended in disaster for the Americans.
If you are looking for an academic study of the War, then this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a blunt, honest & harrowing account of one mans personal experience then you MUST read this book.
There is no attempt to glorify war, indeed Mason makes much of his own ignorance of the realities of combat. This is not meant to a political text either, & there is nothing about the reasons for the war.
In the genre of first person reflective narrative of war, this should become one of the classics, & is up there with the Great War's Old Soldiers Never Die. A truly fascinating read, & one that should be on the book shelf of anyone with an interest in military history.
