When Thunder Rolled

When Thunder Rolled
by Ed Rasimus

When Thunder Rolled
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Book Summary Information

Author: Ed Rasimus
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-28
ISBN: 0891418547
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Presidio Press

Book Reviews of When Thunder Rolled

Book Review: So THAT is how it was...
Summary: 5 Stars

Ed Rasimus shares a warts-and-all description of life as a fighter pilot. This is not the classic scarf and goggles "fighter pilot" image from World War II. Instead, Rasimus flew the powerful F-105 Thunderchief in Vietnam in 1966 almost exclusively on ground attack missions, a role for which the plane was at best fitfully adapted. And at the same time, it was a job to which newly-minted pilots adapted or simply succumbed to death or capture.

This is one pilot's description of transistor-age aerial combat, before the era of "smart bombs" that (in theory, at least) allow fewer planes to deliver a lesser but more accurate ordnance load. Despite the emergence of some electronic gadgets, fighter pilots in 1966 still relied on a good measure of dead reckoning, which meant that more pilots and more bombs needed to get a lot closer to their targets to achieve a desired level of destruction. But by definition, this put the pilots much closer to the enemy's defenses.

Yet the pilots, all aware of this brutal calculus, committed to performing a tally of 100 such missions. Rasimus explains how he managed to honor this commitment. He also alludes to hurdles posed by the rules of warfare and the military's bureaucratic fabric that put lives at risk-- policies both wittingly and unwittingly implemented by Air Force personnel at all levels.

That Rasimus survived to write this memoir is itself astonishing. Talk about multitasking! The F-105 pilot's attention was consumed by gauges, communications, computations, and all manner of electronic gear. No wonder so many F-105s fell prey to missles, flak, and even obsolete NVAF MiG-17s. If you read this book and and THEN meet the author, be prepared to talk about any other subject, because this book clearly explains "what it was like" to go to war over Vietnam in the F-105.

Summary of When Thunder Rolled

?YOU CAN ALMOST SMELL THE JET FUEL AND GUNPOWDER. You attack the world?s fiercest defenses at 500 knots and share the ultimate thrill of hurling yourself against almost impossible odds?and winning.
?JACK BROUGHTON, author of Thud Ridge

Ed Rasimus straps the reader into the cockpit of an F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber in his engaging account of the Rolling Thunder campaign in the skies over North Vietnam. Between 1965 and 1968, more than 330 F-105s were lost?the highest loss rate in Southeast Asia?and many pilots were killed, captured, and wounded because of the Air Force?s disastrous tactics. The descriptions of Rasimus?s one hundred missions, some of the most dangerous of the conflict, will satisfy anyone addicted to vivid, heart-stopping aerial combat, as will the details of his transformation from a young man paralyzed with self-doubt into a battle-hardened veteran. His unique perspective, candid analysis, and the sheer power of his narrative rank his memoir with the finest, most entertaining of the war.

?A story that reflects the bravery of the men who flew over enemy territory in a perilous time.?
?The Baltimore Chronicle


?[A] MODERN-DAY RED BADGE OF COURAGE .?
?JOHN DARRELL SHERWOOD, author of Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience


Look for these remarkable stories of American courage in the Vietnam war

DOWN SOUTH
One Tour in Vietnam
by William H. Hardwick

LOST IN TRANSLATION
Vietnam: A Combat Advisor?s Story
by Martin J. Dockery

MEDIC!
The Story of a Conscientious Objector in the Vietnam War
by Ben Sherman

WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE . . . AND YOUNG
Ia Drang: The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam
by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway

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