Cheating Death: Combat Air Rescues in Vietnam and Laos Paperback – May 30, 2006

Great read for anyone seeking a book on what the pilots went through fighting the Secret War inSoutheast Asia. The book was in outstanding condition and a decent price.

Good trip down memory lane of my time with the 602nd ACS/FCS(C) in Thailand in 1968-69.

While I am an avid history buff, I will admit that my knowledge of the Vietnam War is a bit sketchy. Until I picked up this book, I had no idea that we even flew propeller aircraft in the war, or the potential that each pilot rescue had to become a major air and ground engagement. George Marrett did a nice job of adding to my knowledge.=== The Good Stuff ===* First and foremost, the book has some absolutely spell-binding content. It is simply amazing to me that a single person could handle as many simultaneous tasks as the combat rescue pilots were able to manage, and Marrett does a nice job of explaining the complexity and details of what these men accomplished.* Marrett is pretty honest with his readers. He discusses fear, doubt, anxiety, and his emotions, both during the actual combat rescues and later sitting in the "officers club". Probably the best chapter of the book is written after he leaves Vietnam, and begins to wonder just what the whole purpose of all the sacrifices was. Looking back, I am not sure we ever answered that question.* There was a nice mix of the technical and human sides of his experiences. i am not a pilot, have never been in the military, and have never been shot at---but I finished the book with a decent appreciation of what it took to fly (and learn to fly) a rescue mission.* While the book bogged down in a couple spots, and can get somewhat repetitive, I ended up reading the book in two or three sittings, and it held my interest throughout.=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===*Marrett writes in the understated style, commonly found in people that routinely risk their lives in dangerous jobs. While i am not a fan of overly dramatic and semi-hysterical prose, the author takes it a bit too far. The danger, risks and absolute terror that these pilots felt can easily get lost in the stoic, understated prose. It takes a bit of an effort to stop reading for a minute and think about what you actually read.Someone actually was flying a prop-driven plane, low and slow, over state-of-the-air anti-aircraft weapons, combining the roles of combat pilot, navigator, search and rescue officer, and forward air controller while bullets were literally whizzing by. And the consequences of a mistake? Death, a horrible captivity, or at the very least a nasty couple days in the jungle.* Other than the final chapter of the book, where Marrett admits his doubts about the purpose of the whole war, the author never really gets above the level of tactics of an individual rescue. He avoids any mention of the strategy of the war, the geopolitical goals of the US, or any short and long-term consequences of Vietnam. It would have been interesting to see his take on these subjects.Marrett studiously avoids any contemplation of the cost/benefit of the efforts spent rescuing pilots, or their remains. He takes it on faith that "we don't leave Americans behind", and acts accordingly. But I did get the feeling that he may have had some doubts about risking and losing live soldiers to rescue deceased ones. Given the risks he took and friends he lost, It would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on the subject.=== Summary ===I enjoyed the book, and walked away with an appreciation for what these pilots went through. There were some parts that I felt could have been better, or at least expanded upon, but I would recommend the book to anyone with an interest in Vietnam and especially the actions of rescue teams.

He told what it really was like to do their jobs . Bless them all. Thanks for a great book

George Marrett flew the awesome A-1 Spad as a search and rescue pilot and rescue commander in the secret war in Laos. A fighter pilot and Air Force test pilot, Marrett found himself in 1968 in an airplane that was cutting edge in 1945. The Spad’s top speed (in a dive) was 320 knots. That’s not even climbing speed in jet.The A-1 mission was to fly low and slow. On Firefly days, it was to hit targets with myriad weapons hanging from 15 hard points. The single engine Spad carried more weapon weight than the venerable B-17 and B-24. At other times, Marrett stood standby for search and rescue missions when the call sign became Sandy. Often enough, too often, the Sandy’s and Jolly Greens (H-3, HH-3 & H-53 helicopters) launched to find and attempt to rescue downed American pilots.The coordination required for a rescue was massive and intricate with many flights of fast movers dropping bombs and with Sandy’s shooting rockets and 20 mike mike and dropping their own CBU’s and bombs. All the while, the NVA were shooting back with anti-aircraft guns of various calibers. Dangerous. Dangerous stuff every minute. Often enough, a Sandy or Jolly or jet would go down in the midst of the rescue thereby compounding the problems.Sandy lead controlled the whole affair. In the midst of it all were the survivors on the ground being tracked by enemy forces and communicating (most of the time) with the Sandy on small UHF survival radios.Rather than go on and on, pick up this extraordinary book by a courageous Air Force Pilot, a Sandy pilot. The stories are stunningly vivid. The characters are ever-so memorable. Friends saved and friends lost. Oh my! Marrett is a fine writer with an eye for detail. I’m certainly glad he survived and also glad he saved the lives of so many aviators who were in the jaws of death. To George Marrett, hand salute.

If you've read "BAT-21" or "The Rescue of Streetcar 304" or any other book about a downed pilot, this will show you the other perspective - that of the flyers trying to rescue them.George Marrett gives us an account of A1 Skyraider pilots involved in strike missions as well as rescue missions with call signs of "Sandy". Early in his tour Capt. George Marrett was involved in the rescue of a US Navy pilot Streetcar 304 (who wrote of his experience on the ground in his own work  The Rescue of Streetcar 304: A Navy Pilot's Forty Hours on the Run in Laos .After a brief introduction of his training and previous experience as a test pilot, the author leads the reader through a tour of a pilot flying the prop-driven Skyraider low and slow over the jungles of Laos. The Skyraider was able to carry a plethora of weapons under it's wings and could loiter over the battlefield for hours, making it ideal to support rescue missions by suppressing local enemy opposition.As a Sandy pilot, Marrett is able to relate to the reader the courage, fear, aggressiveness and professionalism of himself and his fellow Skyraider pilots. The author is honest an reveals the true feelings of men involved in combat and how true courage is the conquering of very real - and normal - human fear. The reader is left with a vast amount of respect for the men who flew these missions and survived or "went down".The author chronicles his tour, missions and fellow pilots, some of whom survived their tour, others who were taken prisoner after having to bail out and those who never came back. This is a good work that gives the reader the perspective of the rescuer instead of the rescuer. A good read that I recommend with four stars.

This is a well written account of what it was like to fly A-1 Skyraiders in Laos and Vietnam during '68 and '69. The tale is somewhat straightforward - i.e. largely describing each stand out mission in a linear format - but the book does not suffer from this approach. Also, the writer does a very good job at bringing his fellow aviators to life - those who lived, died and went missing at the time of his tour. For those who are aficionados of the air war in Vietnam, or that other war that occurred "over the fence", this book will represent a valuable addition to any library. Highly recommended.

The guy wrote it how it went, it's hard to believe that they lost friends on missions and carried on with the mission, but that's the military way.

George Marrett tells the story of a very brave and selfless group of men - of which he is certainly one.As well as recounting his own experiences flying hair-raising rescue missions and bombing raids in Laos and Vietnam, he also describes what happened to his fellow pilots - those lucky enough to be rescued and those that weren't.For aircraft buffs, the book also covers a lot of detail about the Skyraider.I've read a lot of Vietnam and aviation memoirs and this book is definitely in my 'to keep' pile.George Marrett has written a fitting tribute to those men who, as the book's cover says, spent their tours 'Cheating death so that others may live'.

After I read several books about aerial warfare in Vietnam and read often about the "Sandy" pilots, I wanted to know more about those men and their dangerous and daring rescue missions. I enjoyed this book very much because George Marret didn't hesitate to write even about his mistakes. An excellent account of a pilot who flew low and slow in a propeller driven Spad. The dedication of the Sandy pilots to rescue downed pilots is incredible. The Sandy an Jolly Green pilots dodged heavy ground fire to save downed pilots and many of them payed the highest price. A really gripping book !

Great read! Ties in with so many other books I've by Sandy drivers and FACs. It's only been the last decade that I've started ready heavily about the Secret Wars surrounding the Vietnam conflict. The book links so many other men's stories into one thread!