Historical Center Historian Writes Book On Vietnam Air War

[darrels joy]

Historical Center Historian Writes Book On Vietnam Air War

By Audrey Leble', Naval Historical Center Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- A Naval Historical Center (NHC)
historian's new book on the Vietnam War, released in May,
gives an "in the cockpit view" of the conflict which ended 29
years ago.

"Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War," by Naval
Historical Center historian Dr. John D. Sherwood, takes a new
look at one of the most expensive and controversial aspects of
America's long involvement in Vietnam, the naval air war.

The book's focus is on the critical end game, especially the most
intense year of the air war - 1972. During that year, North
Vietnam launched the first, large-scale conventional attack on
South Vietnam of the war, and the United States fought back
with some the most innovative air campaigns of the war,
including President Richard Nixon's Linebacker bombings of
North Vietnam and the Navy's mining operation against
Haiphong.

"'Afterburner' explores these monumental post-1968 air battles
by looking closely at the backgrounds and experiences of 21
Navy and Marine fliers involved in different aspects of the air
war," said Sherwood.

Together, these "dramatis personae" represent a broad
cross-section of the personnel who fought in the Navy's air war
over Vietnam. Collectively, they shed light not only on the
Navy's operations during the period, but also on the institutional
culture of naval aviation during America's longest war.

Sherwood works in the Contemporary History Branch of the
NHC. He has written two other works of air power history:
"Officers in Flight Suits: The Story of American Air Force
Fighter Pilots in Korea," and "Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the
Vietnam Experience."

"This is history at its best," explained John Lehman, Secretary of
the Navy 1981-1987. "Sherwood provides at once a whole new
understanding of the final stages of the air war in Vietnam, and a
thrilling volume of valor and adventures in naval aviation."

For related news, visit the Naval Historical Center Navy
NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/navhist.