They Called It Naked Fanny: Helicopter Rescue Missions During the Early Years of the Vietnam War

I bought this book because I was stationed at the outpost known as Nakhon Phanom in the early sixties. I knew some of the guys there and a few in the book. I often sat down with a Flight Engineer (A1C Robinson) on the HH43-B helicopter. We used to talk for quite awhile in the Chow Hall between flights. He was shot down and spent- I believe 7 years in prison in Hanoi and after release, he received a commission and eventually retired as a Captain. He gives speeches in various military gatherings, to include Branson Missouri during Veterans Homecoming -usually in Oct or Nov of every year. But enough of that, the book is educational and entertaining as well as a book of military history.

There's a lot of useful first-person accounts here from the men who flew the early SAR (Search and Rescue) missions for the USAF in the Vietnam conflict. Having said that, it's not useful history.There are things this book does well. It records the thoughts and experiences of the men who were sent to do a job without the tools to do the job and who improvised to accomplish their mission. The book shows how unprepared the USAF was at the beginning of the conflict and how the men thrown into the job had to make it work. there are a lot of good stories in this book.However, it's not a structured account that usefully chronicles SAR missions as they progressed through the first years of the war. Sometimes, there are gaps in the timeline. Sometimes, accounts by different men conflict with each other. Considering these men are recording their experiences many years removed from the actual events that's understandable. But, it reduces it's historical usefulness.There's a lot of good here - especially in discovering how the USAF really underestimated how many losses they would have in aircraft and crews and how they were unprepared for efficient and effective SAR. If you want to read an excellent account of a successful SAR that carefully looks at all aspects of a mission, buy "The Rescue of Streetcar 304" by Kenny Wayne Fields about the rescue of a naval aviator lost in Laos.

Two things: first of all I was appalled by the number of mistakes in the book, as I was there and listed into book in errors of both rank and rescue date. Secondly by the author's unwillingness of acknowledge any of the errors. I did write the publisher. As a date of rescue listed in the book, one of which I participated, it was July 16th, not the 28th, as I was back in Florida before the 28th. Also, it did not list all of the PJs that were there and continually mislabeled [i.e.] rank of some that were there.

Interesting early rescues and missions of the early Vietnam era USAF helicopter written about. The HH-43 was a fun to fly, stable in a hover and excellent at higher altitudes. Good to see the early mission finallyy down in print. Now I can look back at some of the ones I was familiar with and some that happened both before and after I left NKP. Now my wife and son can read about some of the events without my foggy mind trying to relate them. Scott and Joe have done a great service for getting it in print.I was at NKP in the early months of 1965. We had 3 helicopters and were the only permanent USAF aircraft on the base during the early part of the mission.

Great book. I was a navy pilot just after that period and learned a lot that I'd never heard about prior to reading this book. Well done and hard to put it down once started.

A well-written and informative book. There was so much that I was not aware of regarding the Viet Nam War; I am glad to learn about this time and these events. The heroism of these helicopter pilots and crew is astounding...what courage and guts they had. Highly recommend!

Father was stationed here as an air controller in 68/69 so I wanted to learn a bit about it; enjoyed the writing and the history lesson. Worth the read if you or family was there.

I was stationed there in the 70's. Somethings never change, but many did. Great History.