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Palace Cobra: A Fighter Pilot in the Vietnam Air War
Palace Cobra picks up where Ed Rasimus's critically acclaimed When Thunder Rolled left off. Now he's flying the F-4 Phantom and the attitude is still there.
In the waning days of the Vietnam War, Rasimus and his fellow pilots were determined that they were not going be the last to die in a conflict their country had abandoned. They were young fighter pilots fresh from training and experienced aviators who came back to the war again and again, not for patriotism, but for the adrenaline rush of combat. From the bathhouses and barrooms to the prison camps of North Vietnam, this is a gripping combat memoir by a veteran fighter pilot who experienced it all.
The wry cynicism of a combat aviator will give readers insights into the Vietnam experience that haven't been available before, and the heart-stopping action will keep readers turning the pages all night.
In the waning days of the Vietnam War, Rasimus and his fellow pilots were determined that they were not going be the last to die in a conflict their country had abandoned. They were young fighter pilots fresh from training and experienced aviators who came back to the war again and again, not for patriotism, but for the adrenaline rush of combat. From the bathhouses and barrooms to the prison camps of North Vietnam, this is a gripping combat memoir by a veteran fighter pilot who experienced it all.
The wry cynicism of a combat aviator will give readers insights into the Vietnam experience that haven't been available before, and the heart-stopping action will keep readers turning the pages all night.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
24 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 25, 2021
Almost gave this book a four star rating, and asked myself why not a five? Couldn't think of a reason! This is Ed Rasimus' second book. The first book chronicled his first tour in Vietnam flying the F-105 as part of Wild Weasel teams. This book covers his second tour, where he has transitioned to flying F-4 Phantoms as part of the same strategy. Wild Weasel teams were designed to identify and target North Vietnamese SAM (surface to air) missile sights and destroy them to protect other air missions.
Plenty of recounts of the excitement of flying missions while avoiding these missiles, flak and enemy fighters mixed in with what life was like living at air bases in Thailand. Raismus also gives his opinion on the bureaucratic management of the war, and has an appendix listing the aircrews that were shot down during these engagements. The flying portions are not so technologically over-detailed to lose readers, but still interesting to those more familiar with the cockpit. Now I have to find his first book and read it!
Plenty of recounts of the excitement of flying missions while avoiding these missiles, flak and enemy fighters mixed in with what life was like living at air bases in Thailand. Raismus also gives his opinion on the bureaucratic management of the war, and has an appendix listing the aircrews that were shot down during these engagements. The flying portions are not so technologically over-detailed to lose readers, but still interesting to those more familiar with the cockpit. Now I have to find his first book and read it!
October 9, 2017
Palace Cobra follows Rasimum's second tour in Vietnam as an F-4 during the Linebacker campaigns. In the years since When Thunder Rolled, Rasimus had been an instructor pilot and personnel officer, and he wanted to get back to flying fighters while there were still fighters to fly, even if that meant facing flak and SAMs again, and wrecking his marriage in the process.
By 1972 the war had become thoroughly routinized. Bureaucratic absurdities proliferated in the air bases, which were much the same as they had been in 1966. Rasimus slotted right in, becoming a hunter-killer pilot who specialized in going after SAM sites with cluster bombs.
In Palace Cobra, Rasimus opens up a little, speculating about how the war was fought, the ability of airpower to force a decision, and the culture of fighter pilots in Thailand in the 1970s. It's amazing how much more gregarious and personable the war becomes when there's another person sitting in the same cockpit as you, making the same desperate prayers about flak.
Having read them back to back, I recommend both of Rasimus's books. They're similar, of course, but just difference enough it's worth reading both.
By 1972 the war had become thoroughly routinized. Bureaucratic absurdities proliferated in the air bases, which were much the same as they had been in 1966. Rasimus slotted right in, becoming a hunter-killer pilot who specialized in going after SAM sites with cluster bombs.
In Palace Cobra, Rasimus opens up a little, speculating about how the war was fought, the ability of airpower to force a decision, and the culture of fighter pilots in Thailand in the 1970s. It's amazing how much more gregarious and personable the war becomes when there's another person sitting in the same cockpit as you, making the same desperate prayers about flak.
Having read them back to back, I recommend both of Rasimus's books. They're similar, of course, but just difference enough it's worth reading both.
June 7, 2020
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
I've been reading up on the air war in Vietnam. I flew USAF fighters for 24 years but never saw combat, and it's a hole in my experience. Ed Rasimus writes about flying the way I try to write about flying, in a way that explains things simply to readers who don't share a military or aviation background, yet is able to hold the attention of fellow military pilots.
This is Rasimus' second memoir of the Vietnam air war. He served two 100-mission combat tours there, the first flying single-seat F-105s in the late 1960s, the second flying the two-seat F-4 in the last year of the war. This memoir covers the second tour; I will probably read the earlier memoir soon, since I'm a big single-seater fan.
I was most impressed by Rasimus' honest, straightforward approach to writing about his marriage and sexual activities while away in Thailand. Most aviators turned writers are too prudish to cover this aspect of the fighter pilot life.
I was also impressed by how well Rasimus integrated the larger story of the Vietnam air war, the decision-making and strange restrictions imposed by political and military leadership, by writing about it as it affected the men he flew with. No polemics, no rants, but the kind of knowledge military pilots would have had to understand to do their job, because higher level decision-making had a direct impact on how Rasimus and his peers fought the war: fighter pilots and backseaters were the only ones taking the war to the enemy in North Vietnam, and the effect of restrictions was immediate, severe, and often fatal.
Another Goodreads reviewer commented that anyone interested in pursuing a career as a military fighter pilot would get a lot out of this book. I think that's a good point. Sure, much has changed. Then again, not much has changed at all. The lieutenants and captains who lived through Vietnam were the majors and lieutenant colonels running flight training and fighter squadrons in my day, and everything we did was based on what the USAF had learned in that war. That generation is living in retirement now, but when I myself retired in 1997 the USAF (and the fighter pilot business) was still modeled very much on the way we did things in Vietnam. Add lessons learned in Desert Storm and subsequent campaigns, and I bet it's still much the same.
A very good read, and I'm looking forward to Rasimus' earlier memoir.
I've been reading up on the air war in Vietnam. I flew USAF fighters for 24 years but never saw combat, and it's a hole in my experience. Ed Rasimus writes about flying the way I try to write about flying, in a way that explains things simply to readers who don't share a military or aviation background, yet is able to hold the attention of fellow military pilots.
This is Rasimus' second memoir of the Vietnam air war. He served two 100-mission combat tours there, the first flying single-seat F-105s in the late 1960s, the second flying the two-seat F-4 in the last year of the war. This memoir covers the second tour; I will probably read the earlier memoir soon, since I'm a big single-seater fan.
I was most impressed by Rasimus' honest, straightforward approach to writing about his marriage and sexual activities while away in Thailand. Most aviators turned writers are too prudish to cover this aspect of the fighter pilot life.
I was also impressed by how well Rasimus integrated the larger story of the Vietnam air war, the decision-making and strange restrictions imposed by political and military leadership, by writing about it as it affected the men he flew with. No polemics, no rants, but the kind of knowledge military pilots would have had to understand to do their job, because higher level decision-making had a direct impact on how Rasimus and his peers fought the war: fighter pilots and backseaters were the only ones taking the war to the enemy in North Vietnam, and the effect of restrictions was immediate, severe, and often fatal.
Another Goodreads reviewer commented that anyone interested in pursuing a career as a military fighter pilot would get a lot out of this book. I think that's a good point. Sure, much has changed. Then again, not much has changed at all. The lieutenants and captains who lived through Vietnam were the majors and lieutenant colonels running flight training and fighter squadrons in my day, and everything we did was based on what the USAF had learned in that war. That generation is living in retirement now, but when I myself retired in 1997 the USAF (and the fighter pilot business) was still modeled very much on the way we did things in Vietnam. Add lessons learned in Desert Storm and subsequent campaigns, and I bet it's still much the same.
A very good read, and I'm looking forward to Rasimus' earlier memoir.
August 28, 2012
I should have read the book before this one first. Maybe it would have christened me on Rasimus' style better than this one. While I enjoyed many parts of this book I really felt he rambled on too much. He dragged his stories out instead of cutting to the chase. The part of the book covering pre Vietnam (pre his next tour) seemed extensive, too extensive. Good details for pilots or those training or wishing to be a pilot though. I imagine it is very good for that demographic.
March 18, 2023
Weaker than his first book, When Thunder Rolled.
September 18, 2018
A fascinating first hand account of the latter days of the air war in Vietnam, written about the Author's second tour in Vietnam. Ed Rasimus had written a book about his first tour as well which I will definitely be checking out (I read this one first as I wanted to get some insight on what flying an F-4 Phantom is actually like, considering it is one of my favourite aircraft.)
And boy was I not disappointed, I immensely enjoyed reading about the foible, strengths, and weaknesses of the Phantom, and though there is quite a bit of technical jargon and abbreviations, there is a glossary that can aid the uninitiated.
Of course the Phantom aspect really grabbed my attention, it is most certainly not the focus of this book. Nor is the focus about getting bogged down in the politics of the war (though there is a small amount contained within the pages as well). No, what this is really about is the story of a man who loves to fly, and his experiences of doing so during Vietnam. The result is a personal story of some triumph, disappointment, brutal honesty, hilarity, compassion and above all else, what it means to be human during periods of conflict.
And boy was I not disappointed, I immensely enjoyed reading about the foible, strengths, and weaknesses of the Phantom, and though there is quite a bit of technical jargon and abbreviations, there is a glossary that can aid the uninitiated.
Of course the Phantom aspect really grabbed my attention, it is most certainly not the focus of this book. Nor is the focus about getting bogged down in the politics of the war (though there is a small amount contained within the pages as well). No, what this is really about is the story of a man who loves to fly, and his experiences of doing so during Vietnam. The result is a personal story of some triumph, disappointment, brutal honesty, hilarity, compassion and above all else, what it means to be human during periods of conflict.
January 25, 2026
It’s a nice book about the air war, it covers his second tour of tour of duty, the first being in an f-105 thunderchief. Book covers a lot of his experiences learning and comparing tje f4 to then 105 and the difference. He contrasts the days of Rolling thunder bombing by sight alone to that of Linebacker’s CCRP. I’d mostly recommend only if you’re into aviation, otherwise it’s a lot of jargon that doesn’t make sense inter spliced with stories from his time on the ground which are fun.
November 1, 2024
He has a way with words. He scratches the technical itch that combat aircraft junkies get, but also is such an interesting thinker. He shares the way he views the world, physically and mentally. You go on missions with him, watch him on his down time, hear his thoughts and opinions in a way that is enticing. Great piece of literature.
March 6, 2018
Great Book well written by someone who has seen Vietnam up close and personal.
I hope are elected officials take the time to read this book and learn the lessons from Vietnam has they apply to today!
I hope are elected officials take the time to read this book and learn the lessons from Vietnam has they apply to today!
February 27, 2025
cool memoir about a very weird war in one of my favorite airplanes;
he writes the action very well but I especially liked hearing about his experiences in Vietnam as a country as a foreign soldier and the personal as well as interpersonal things that entailed
he writes the action very well but I especially liked hearing about his experiences in Vietnam as a country as a foreign soldier and the personal as well as interpersonal things that entailed
May 5, 2018
A must read for every tactical aviation enthusiast and Southeast Asia conflict buff. Loved it from the start to the end.
January 10, 2019
Not as good as "When Thunder Rolled", but still enjoyable.
May 15, 2019
A good read.
Recommended reading even though it strays at times into areas better left to those it involved. The politics of war are unusually the cause of war.
Recommended reading even though it strays at times into areas better left to those it involved. The politics of war are unusually the cause of war.
July 24, 2019
Compelling tales of the Vietnam Air War
April 10, 2012
Great inside look at the air war over Vietnam as the war drew to a close. A little of a let down after "When Thunder Rolled" which, in my opinion, had a lot more tension. Still, Rasimus is a great writer. Easy to read and he blends the technical details with the story so well it's almost seamless.
June 7, 2012
A fighter pilot's fighter pilot. Raz tells the day-to-day story of a fighter pilot at war. He's not famous (apart from some circles in fighter lore) - this adds all the more to the story. So many books are about famous figures and famous battles. I imagine this is the story that many lived; however few could write it like Raz did. One of my favorites and a def re-read.
April 4, 2011
An account of the end of the Vietnam war by a F-4 fighter pilot. More a collection of short stories ordered in somewhat a chronological order. It was interesting to me only because of my interest in aviation.
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September 2, 2016Another crushing (good) book about the air war in Vietnam. Anyone flying the F-105 in that war deserves a hero's accolades. I know each of them gave his all and then some more. Good read. Good book. Highly recommend.
Read
January 26, 2011This book is about a fighter pilot's SECOND tour in the Veitnam war. (The first one is in the book "When Thunder Rolled") Flying the F-4 he once again dodges SAMs.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews