Holding The Hand of Darkness - Brossura

Hood, Arthur

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1450231586 ISBN 13: 9781450231589

Casa editrice: iUniverse, 2010

Riassunto

During the fifties the Cold War grew around us. Insidious, it rose to a crescendo in October of 1962 when John Kennedy proved the concept of peace by maintaining overwhelming deterence. The men who provided this deterence were professionals who believed in the righteousness of their country and the honor of its leaders. In the decades that followed that honor eroded. For whatever missguided reason Lyndon Johnson chose to escalate American presence in Vietnam even though Kennedy chose to pursue a policy of withdrawal prior to his assasination. Our professional military was not privy to the political maneuvering that was taking place, as Johnson was lying to the American public about the Vietnam buildup. We began covert ground and air operations in 1964. These operations were denied by the government but escalated continuously to the end of the war, with covert operations continuing for some years after the peace agreements. After the 'ghost attacks' by North vietnamese gun boats on August 4, 1964 congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, abdicated its Constitutional duty to make any declaration of war and handed that decision to the President. This step, incidentally, deprived the American fighting man the legal protection of the Geneva Convention. This book reflects the attitude of the professionals who were tasked with prosecuting this war. I have chosen three incidents that I was personally familiar with and researched them in detail. They are the shoot down of Whaler Five Seven, Red Marker Four and Owl Seven. We have learned nothing from the mistakes of this war.

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L'autore:

Art grew up on the Boston waterfront. At fifteen he started going to sea in the Merchant Marine and served in the engine rooms of various ships. At twenty he was lured by an Air Force recruiting commercial to takie the Aviation Cadet examinations. Much to his surprise, he was accepted and made the career change from ships to airplanes. This led directly into the Cold War and Vietnam conflict. Art started writing for aviation and flying safety magazines in the early sixties and served as the wing historian for the 28th Bomb Wing for several years during the Vietnam conflict. His combined civilian and military flying time amounts to near ten thousand hours and he has flown more than two hundred combat and combat support missions. He and his wife of fifty one years have three children and live in central Minnesota. When the snow is off the ground he rides his motorcycle and, during the cold season, restores bikes from the sixties and seventies.

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• Editore: iUniverse
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1450231586
• ISBN 13: 9781450231589
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 248