WINGS OVER NAM/SEALS
My fellow enthusiast
who dig the paperback original men’s adventure series from the ‘70s and ‘80s
will understand when I talk about falling down collecting rabbit holes. As soon
as you think you’ve filled all the holes in your various collections, you
invariably uncover another cool looking series for which you need to look. Owning
full runs of various series is gratifying, but the obsession is actually in the
chase—the pursuit of elusive, affordable, titles as you willingly descend into
the rabbit holes of used bookstores, thrift stores, flea markets, and garage
sales everywhere you go.
Three years
ago, I became hooked on the war novels of Douglas Reeman. This led to a minor
obsession with submarine fiction. Then I was bitten by the Western bug—an
obsession from which I am not yet fully recovered (the Wilderness series by David Thompson, aka David Robbins, is 70 books
long and I’ve got a lot of missing titles).
However, I
thought I had things under control. But, in the middle of 2018, I started rereading
the Saigon Commandos series featuring
a unit of MPs assigned to Saigon during the hottest part of the Vietnam war. The
books were as good as I remembered and I decided to try and pick up the half-dozen
titles in the series I was missing.
This was a rookie
mistake.
The Saigon Commandos led me to other series
by the same author: Chopper—1, War Dogs, Little Saigon. Those in turn got me hooked into a number of other
Vietnam and military based men’s adventure series, a sub-genre I hadn’t mined
before: Night Stalkers, The Black Berets, The Black Eagles, Tunnel Rats,
Strike Fighters, etc. I even began to
recollect the Wingman series, which
is the one post-apocalyptic series I’ve ever been serious about. My wife
sometimes looks at me askance, but since I don’t smoke, drink, gamble, or chase
loose women, she’s pretty tolerant about my used paperback jones.
Recently, I’ve
posted about most of the above series and the authors behind many of the series
pseudonyms. My most recent post was about the long running Vietnam: Ground Zero
series and its precursor series, Scorpion Squad. Those books, written under the
pseudonym Eric Helm were actually penned by co-writers Robert Cornett and Kevin
Randle.
Doing the
research on those series put two other series, written exclusively by the
prolific Kevin Randle, on my radar—the six book Wings over Nam series (originally
written under the pseudonym Cat Branigan), and the fourteen book Seals series (originally written under the pseudonym Steve
MacKenzie). The cool thing is, both series are currently available as e-books on
Amazon under the author’s real name, Kevin Randle.
WINGS OVER NAM
They were
America's elite, battle-hardened flyers...Men who came from every service and
every corner of the war. They lived with the agony and irony that was Vietnam
and flew with courage and commitment. Wings Over Nam is their story.
CHOPPER PILOT
From the
thundering B-52 bombing raids on Hanoi to inserting search-and-destroys in the
jungle, from wielding a death-spewing Spooky to taking out SAM missile sites in
the North, the skies above Vietnam were a hell of deadly million-dollar
machinery, split-second decisions, and death-lock engagements with the enemy.
Now nineteen-year-old David Anderson is a raw pilot in an Assault Helicopter
Company, slamming straight into the strength of the VC. But from his first
mission to Charlie's first invasion it doesn't take Anderson long to discover
that this is a whole new kind of war. With no support from behind and only
death in front of him, Anderson knows that there's only one way to fight in
Vietnam—and that's to do it your own way.
THE WILD WEASELS
There was no
terror like a SAM launch. There was no vengeance like a weasel…Every pilot knew
the NVA was building radar-guided SAM missile sites, but Washington prohibited
any strikes until the death rockets were up and blowing American fliers to
pieces. At the Gunfighter's Club in Saigon the cold beer, blaring rock 'n'
roll, and bare-assed girls can't wash away the bitterness, and Air Force Major
William Taylor knows that something has to be done fast. What he doesn't know
is that stateside, a bunch of green volunteers are testing a modified F-100
fighter. Their mission: learn to fly their killing machines into the very teeth
of the NVA missile sites—and destroy them. Their code name: the Wild Weasels.
When the untested, undertrained Weasels arrive in country, Major William Taylor
will be the first to join them in the blood-red skies of Vietnam—for a
death-defying mission of revenge.
LINEBACKER
They brought
death and destruction to the north—and every mission could be their last...Washington
wanted a safe war, where no American died and the enemy was pounded into
submission. In Guam and Thailand a handful of men were chosen to fight that
kind of war. The operation was Linebacker, and the mission was to use the big,
bomb-ladened B-52s to strike terror deep behind the DMZ. For the men of the
long-range, high altitude bombing squads it was a nerve-racking, soul-scorching
journey over hostile territory, dodging flak while the North Vietnamese gunners
honed their skills. And as the war went from bad to worse, and the bombers
became Washington's weapon of choice, every B-52 man knew he was the enemy's
most hated target—and that being shot down meant a fate worse than death...
CARRIER WAR
Navy
lieutenants David Kincaid and Douglas Bakker honed their flying skills over the
Nevada desert. Assigned to a carrier on the South China Sea, they soared
through South Vietnam's skies, whetting their appetites for the real thing: a
dogfight in the North. But on their first ride over the DMZ the two hotshot
flyers found out that an undertrained, underfed North Vietnamese pilot can kill
like a top gun in the cockpit of a MiG. Knocked out of the skies for the first
time, Kincaid and Bakker would return on a mission of their own. Soon in the
SAM-littered airspace over Hanoi they'd be hunting for a MiG-21 with a cobra
painted on the tail—while in Saigon's Gunfighter's Club the other pilots
would drink a toast and wonder how far two men can go for revenge...
BIRD DOG
Put the dog
on Charlie...They were point men of the air war, and wherever they went the
hammer of death came down…American firepower could deliver pure destruction in
Charlie's lap, but someone had to find him. That's where the daredevil pilots
of the single-engine Cessna 0-1 Bird Dog recon planes made their mark in
Vietnam. Flying unarmed into the enemy's front yard, the Bird Dog pilots shot
flares down on Charlie and spotted him for destruction. And every once in a
while these hardened flyers took their antiquated prop planes even farther into
the heat... like the time a team of sidearm-shooting Bird Doggers fought a
personal duel with a die-hard VC unit in Hobo Woods. Using a one-two punch with
troop-laden Huey's, the Bird Dog pilots planned to spring an ambush. But in the
death and blood of Hobo Woods, it was hard to tell who was out to ambush who...
EAGLE EYE
Another day
of death...You don't hold grudges in Vietnam. One minute you're flipping
someone the bird, the next minute he's fighting by your side—tomorrow you'll
both be hoisting a toast to the dead at the Gunfighter's Club in Saigon. That
is, if you're an elite, war-hardened airman. Alexander Anderson is one—a
renegade aircraft commander who did the suicidal: volunteered for a hit-and-run
operation called Eagle Eye. Flying and fighting with a group of five
helicopters, each carrying six soldiers, the men of Eagle Eye went from the
boredom of their Cu Chi base camp to the mind-numbing terror of VC-infested III
Corps. And then the war-mad fighters did their job too well—and took on a
company of two hundred NVA. Like Anderson said, the next beers would be on
him...
SEALS
In the deadly
world of modern warfare, the art of combat is taken to its awesome limits. Only
one fighting unit has the skill and ruthlessness to handle all this killing
power, making every corner of the globe its field of fire; using with chilling
efficiency every method of infiltration, demolition, deception and destruction
this side of Hell. They're Navy. Those who know about them speak in awed
whispers of the men they call the SEALs...
AMBUSH
Hobo Woods,
Vietnam. Under a devastating attack from a vicious and seemingly countless
enemy, Fire-Support Base Crockett is doomed in spite of the heroism of the GIs.
Bravery is not enough. Neither is air power. There's only one way to stop the
bloodiest assault since Heartbreak Ridge, and that's something nobody's ever
had the imagination, the guts or the damned fool craziness to try before...
BLACKBIRD
The
supersonic SR-71 is a state-of-the-art profile of American military
engineering. So when a top-secret spy flight comes to a crashing end in the
African jungle, someone has to make sure there aren't any pieces for the Reds
to pick up. Someone able to get in where no Westerner has ever gone. Do the
job. And maybe, with luck, even get back out alive....
RESCUE
For the new
president of a South American country, the worst has happened. His
19-year-old daughter, ripped from the seclusion of a private school, vanished into thin air. His greatest hope in seeing her alive lay with help
from the U.S. But in this Yankee-hating hotbed, it would take nothing less than
super-soldiers to move fast enough to make the rescue before they were noticed.
It was a mission made to order for the SEALS!
TARGET
Zeroing in on
the enemy—through the deadly scope of a sniper’s rifle...When an ominous
traffic change on the Ho Chi Minh Trail signals a bloody repeat of the Tet
offensive, the SEALS are assigned a secret mission across the Vietnamese
border... and into the jungles of Laos. Struggling through this Cong-infested
inferno could put them on the endangered species list. But infiltrating the
hidden enemy stronghold and terminating its leadership—might make them extinct.
BREAKOUT
Making Hell
hotter for the VC is work the SEALS thrive on. But when a bloody ambush
uncovers the secret location of a Cong camp of POWs, search-and-destroy quickly
becomes a desperate mission of mercy. To get the American boys out, Mark Tynan
launches a dangerous clandestine operation into the very heart of the
inferno... only to discover that rescue means infiltrating forbidden territory—and
defying orders from the Washington brass!
DESERT RAID
The clock is
running out for the captive Americans. Walled up in a Mideast hellhole, they
don't stand a chance unless the SEALS can reach them in time. Quick and quiet
as the night, the SEALS start their suicide mission to infiltrate the hostile
desert stronghold—only to learn that the hostages have been scattered
throughout the entire city—whereabouts unknown! It's the eleventh hour, and
unless the SEALS can find a solution, the mission will be aborted—and innocent
blood will flow.
RECON
Screams...
Gunfire... Sudden silence! It was the last radio transmission from American
archaeologists on the trail of a fabled Mayan city... and the beginning of a
SEALS manhunt through the green hell of the Honduran jungle. As the search
stumbles on the scene of human sacrifice and the drums of blood beat once more,
it's up to the SEALS to turn these "ancient adversaries" into...
history!
INFILTRATE
With the U.S.
poised on the precipice of renewed air attack, keeping Charlie from playing
hide-and-seek means sending someone into Hanoi to snatch State secrets. For the
SEALS, it's an underwater suicide mission—from a camouflaged sampan off the
Haiphong coast, down a deadly river run, through the maze of Hanoi's canals, to
the very heart of Oriental darkness. But getting there is the easy part...
ASSAULT
When it comes
to trouble, there's no place like home! What started out as a stateside bash
for Tynan's super-soldiers was now the most desperate search-and-rescue mission
they had ever faced. The kidnap victim: their own Jack Lancer. At stake: their
most vital secrets. The battleground—a jungle called Chicago.
SNIPER
What started
as a secret test was now a Navy nightmare! The project: probe the ESP
communication capabilities of Tynan's troops. The result: short-tempered
sailors who'd rather be fighting than telling fortunes. Except for one—who
thinks he can actually see the future... and believes he must commit an
atrocity to save the world. Mystic or madman, Tynan must stop him—whatever the
cost.
ATTACK
In the deadly
world of modern warfare, the art of combat is taken to its awesome limits. Only
one fighting unit has the skill and ruthlessness to handle all this killing
power, making every corner of the globe its field of fire; using with chilling
efficiency every method of infiltration, demolition, deception and destruction
this side of hell. They're Navy. Those who know about them speak in awed
whispers call them SEALS.
STRONGHOLD
In the deadly
world of modern warfare, the art of combat is taken to its awesome limits. Only
one fighting unit has the skill and ruthlessness to handle all this power,
making every corner of the globe its field of fire; using with chilling
efficiency every method of infiltration, demolition, deception and destruction
this side of Hell. They're Navy. Those who know about them speak in awed
whispers of the men they call the SEALS.
CRISIS
In the deadly
world of modern warfare, the art of combat is taken to its awesome limits. Only
one fighting unit has the skill and ruthlessness to handle all this killing
power, making every corner of the globe its field of fire; using with chilling
efficiency every method of infiltration, demolition, deception and destruction
this side of hell.
TREASURE
Tynan's on
leave from the Navy and hadn't planned on searching the Arizona desert for
gold. But he' out there now, stumbling over the bodies of those who came before
him. And trying to catch up with the ruthless bunch of killers, before they
kill again.
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