100 Missions North: A Fighter Pilot's Story of the Vietnam War

Bell, a retired Air Force brigadier general, offers an engrossing account of his missions against heavily defended targets in North Vietnam at the controls of an F-105 fighter-bomber. His powers of description are outstanding: air-combat buffs will thrill to his knuckle-whitening recall of the 1966-1967 action as he searches for ways to confuse the defenses (MiG fighters, surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft fire) and deliver bombs at night in bad weather. Bell also recounts his between-missions experiences, which include his abduction by a band of Thai thugs and various R&R adventures. His is the first air-combat memoir from the Vietnam War to describe the intense and unpredictable social life of Air Force pilots on a Southeast Asian base--in this case the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base north of Bangkok, where the 355th Tactical Figther Wing was stationed. (Apr.)