Chickenhawk by Robert Mason

[Dave Homewood]

For many years, perhaps two and a half decades, many people have told me "Have you read 'Chickenhawk'? Your HAVE to read 'Chickenhawk'!"
'Chickenhawk' is the true story of author Robert Mason's service as a Bell UH-1 "Huey" helicopter pilot in Vietnam with the US Army's Air Cavalry during 1965 and 1966.

I had never actually seen a copy of the book so never had an actual opportunity to read it. But last week I happened to find the next best thing, it is on Youtube as an audiobook. So over several nights I have listened to this book being read, and read very well by some unknown reader.

And wow, everyone was right, the story is amazing. Such a detailed account of the life of those guys who flew the Iroquois, or Huey, in combat. I really had no idea just what long hours, hard flying and extreme danger those guys were in. Most Vietnam films and stories I have come across place all the emphasis on the grunts on the ground, and the helicopters are simply props in the background that help to progress the grunts' stories.

There are parts in this book that are hilarious, parts very enlightening about how the Iroquois was to fly and to operate in combat, parts that are simply terrifying and horrific, some of the stories will make you cry listening to the shit that was going on there. The book not only tells the story of the war from the pilot's view and how his experiences changed him along the way but also shows what a mess the Americans were making in that country, how the military superiors really never seemed to have a clue of what they were doing half the time, how the press bulletins were completely misleading the public, and how stupid and pointless the war was, even as early in the piece as 1965. And sadly so much of that sort of thing rings true for the wars they have been waging fifty years later.

The recording is long but well worth it. Sadly it ends very abruptly and I think there may be more to it, so now I will have to get a copy of the book to find out how it ends! But, absolutely highly recommended!

[Dave Homewood]

I actually think the story would make an excellent script for a mini-series in the Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Generation Kill mould. it needs a Stephen Spielberg-Tom Hanks treatment, that would be amazing

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Chickenhawk is still periodically reprinted.

I was in a local bookstore in Masterton a few months ago and another customer was picking up a copy he had ordered.

I've gone through about four copies over the decades, usually because somebody has borrowed mine, then it hasn't returned and I couldn't remember who I loaned it to, so I eventually purchased a replacement copy.

I've probably read it about four or five times over the years.

[The Red Baron]

If you PM me your adress Dave I send you the Chickenhawk book.

[Dave Homewood]

Hi Warwick, thank you very much, but I have had a couple of similar offers, so we'll see what comes of them first, cheers.

[No longer identifiable]

Like many others here I read the book years ago and was enthralled by it. I especially thought the bit about stealing an ice machine (lifted out of an army PX compound by Huey in the middle of the night) for the officers mess was bloody hilarious.

Some years later I read Robert Mason's second book that tells how he came to end up in jail, and although it was interesting it did not match, in my opinion, his first effort.

[kiwicorsair]

It is a heck of a good read , particularly the ending and postscript. I don't know how many times I have re read it over the years.


The newer printing has more of his pictures as he was a great photographer as well as being a top chopper pilot.


Ranks up there with Jarhead as a chronicle of what is like to be in combat and afraid like any normal person. May they never butcher it on the big screen like they did with Jarhead.

Also check out "The Eyes of Orion" 4 American Army Tanker Officers experiences during the Gulf War and of course "Generation Kill"

[Dave Homewood]

Jarhead was a great film, but I don;t recall any combat. That was it's thing, a war film with no combat. Was there combat in the book?

Generation Kill is a bloody excellent TV series.

As a teen, in the years before and during the time I joined the RNZAF, I thought Tour of Duty was an amazing series, but I have Series 3 on DVD now and man what a sappy load of crap it was.

[aileronroll]

Robert Mason also wrote a sequel called "Chicken Hawk, Back to the world" which takes up were Chicken Hawk left off. You can probably still find a second hand copy on amazon, well worth a read also>

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Sept 20, 2016 9:36:32 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

As a teen, in the years before and during the time I joined the RNZAF, I thought Tour of Duty was an amazing series, but I have Series 3 on DVD now and man what a sappy load of crap it was.

The best thing about Tour of Duty wasn't the television series per se, but the soundtrack, because the producers released a huge number of CDs of the hit songs from the era which featured in the series and I obtained copies of all of those CDs, which had most of the 45s I listened to while growing up through late childhood and my teens. I still play those CDs from time to time.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, the Tour of Duty soundtrack tapes and CD's formed the backdrop music to my early RNZAF career, they were always playing in the background in barracks at GSTS and 4TTS when we had downtime. They were very popular indeed. I still have several of the tapes somewhere.

[kiwicorsair]

Sept 20, 2016 9:36:32 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Jarhead was a great film, but I don;t recall any combat. That was it's thing, a war film with no combat. Was there combat in the book?

Generation Kill is a bloody excellent TV series.

As a teen, in the years before and during the time I joined the RNZAF, I thought Tour of Duty was an amazing series, but I have Series 3 on DVD now and man what a sappy load of crap it was.


Jarhead the book is mostly set during Desert Shield and then Desert Storm , there isn't much combat apart from Swofford seeing the aftermath of air and artillery strikes. I guess I read the book first before the film. The movie has very little to do with the book , many of the characters and scenes in the book are either missing or distorted in the movie. I will just say that you should read the book if you thought the movie was great - the book will blow you away.


Generation Kill Is hard to beat - the use of several actual Force Recon Marines makes it even better 

[flyinkiwi]

For me when I think of the Vietnam war as far as rotary aircraft are concerned, there are two books which are a must read: Chickenhawk and Low Level Hell (by Hugh Mills). Honourable mention goes to Snake Pilot by Randy Zahn, but those two are head and shoulders above the rest.

[ZacYates]

I've not yet read Snake Pilot but it's on my list. Low Level Hell is a must-read. Then again, I am a 500 fan.

[Mustang51]

If all interested in helo ops then see if you can get hold of two books.... unfortunately their names escape me just this second but they detail the life and training of one particular pilot flying first in Northern Ireland then training onto the Apache and his/their ops in Afghanistan. The second book was written to 'flesh-out' some of the ops mentioned in the first book. Frustrating not being able to remember but in each is a description of the Battle of Jug Room Fort. A UK Marine corporal - I think - was missing in that op and they went back in to retrieve him. Other Marines strapped to the side of Apaches under fire...... I'll try to dig them out tonight when I return home. One of the pilots in the unit was a woman and under heavy fire she exhausted completely all of the Apache's ordinance. That gives you an idea of the ferocity of the action.

[flyinkiwi]

Sept 22, 2016 8:50:50 GMT 12 Mustang51 said:

If all interested in helo ops then see if you can get hold of two books.... unfortunately their names escape me just this second but they detail the life and training of one particular pilot flying first in Northern Ireland then training onto the Apache and his/their ops in Afghanistan. The second book was written to 'flesh-out' some of the ops mentioned in the first book. Frustrating not being able to remember but in each is a description of the Battle of Jug Room Fort. A UK Marine corporal - I think - was missing in that op and they went back in to retrieve him. Other Marines strapped to the side of Apaches under fire...... I'll try to dig them out tonight when I return home. One of the pilots in the unit was a woman and under heavy fire she exhausted completely all of the Apache's ordinance. That gives you an idea of the ferocity of the action.

Are you referring to Hellfire and Apache by Ed Macy? Yes, they are both a great read and well worth the money.

[Mustang51]

Flyinkiwi.... Right on the money there ! The description of him learning to fly the aircraft with one eye and operate the ordinance with the other was interesting to say the least. Both fine reads.

[steveh]

I read Chicken hawk some years ago, hairey is one word that comes to mind about the type of flying that was required to operate successfully in Vietnam. There are many other words spring to mind too, brave, courageous, nuts, mad, the list could go on & on. There have, of course, been others written about similar experiences, a couple mentioned above by Flying Kiwi & that prompted me to ask if perhaps anyone, Flying Kiwi even, could help me in a quest. Even before I read Chicken Hawk I read another, a loaned book which I can't recall the name but the action involved quite a lot of 500 flying, as well as Hueys, I recall descriptions of flying under the forest canopy. There was also a short section where one of the characters in the book says "I hate this place" (Vietnam)to which someone else says something like, be more positive about it to which the response was "I positively hate this place" & so it continued, every response becoming more & more impassioned as to how much he hated that place. Anyone know for sure which book it is I'm referring to, I'd love to read it again.
Steve.

[flyinkiwi]

Sept 25, 2016 12:15:40 GMT 12 steveh said:

I read Chicken hawk some years ago, hairey is one word that comes to mind about the type of flying that was required to operate successfully in Vietnam. There are many other words spring to mind too, brave, courageous, nuts, mad, the list could go on & on. There have, of course, been others written about similar experiences, a couple mentioned above by Flying Kiwi & that prompted me to ask if perhaps anyone, Flying Kiwi even, could help me in a quest. Even before I read Chicken Hawk I read another, a loaned book which I can't recall the name but the action involved quite a lot of 500 flying, as well as Hueys, I recall descriptions of flying under the forest canopy. There was also a short section where one of the characters in the book says "I hate this place" (Vietnam)to which someone else says something like, be more positive about it to which the response was "I positively hate this place" & so it continued, every response becoming more & more impassioned as to how much he hated that place. Anyone know for sure which book it is I'm referring to, I'd love to read it again.
Steve.

Hi Steve, I've only just read your post. Almost all of the Vietnam books you read all speak of the authors disillusionment with the war as they approach the end of their tour. In Snake Pilot there is a recurring refrain of "this place f**king sucks!" whenever something bad happens (like leave getting mysteriously cancelled at the last minute or their hootch getting mortared). To date I've only read one book about Loaches in Nam, Low Level Hell and despite having one of the most dangerous jobs in the war, Hugh Mills comes across as being pretty upbeat about his experience. There are others on my reading list, if I come across it I'll let you know.

[Freighter5910]

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