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My Secret War
Pilot narrative by a Skyraider pilot who flew in the secret war in Laos during the Vietnam war.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 19, 2022
This book is definitely for people who like to read about flying. If old prop driven tail draggers are not your interest then pass on this one. This is a reread for me; I originally read this back when it first came out. It is an excellent memoir written in a captivating style. (Full disclosure: when I saw the author next to the Schweizer 1-26, the sailplane pilot in me wanted to rate this a 5. Memories of Hemet and El Mirage came back.) The description of how flying becomes an obsession is vivid. He repeatedly describes exactly how he had to fly that airplane, which was an A-1 Skyraider. You soon feel his obsession with flying and the love of an airplane that is so unique for the time and war he's flying in.
The book deals mostly with his one year flying the A-1 out of Thailand over Laos from 1969 to 1970. There are a lot of descriptions of flying in bad weather and the challenges of this slow moving aircraft. There is a nice glossary at the back for those not familiar with military jargon. The author does an EXCELLENT job of describing flying without resorting to terms that only pilots would understand. This makes it a very good read for the average person. Much of the book, according to the author, is taken from the journal he kept when flying. You really feel like you're listening to a 24-25 year old talking about what is happening "now" and not like someone reminiscing.
As the title implies this is about the "unofficial" air war the US fought from Thailand over Laos. There's quite a lot of writing about the combat but again this book is mostly about the flying. One area the author touches on very well are his higher military leaders ??? (need a noun there for stupid, incompetent, a$$h@!es, I'll think of something later.)
For example, "but also had done something that, in the Commander's words, 'had never been done before'; we had folded out wings. And quite often, in the new military, if something hasn't been done before, doing it is complete sacrilege."
I like the way he expressed the difficulty of saying in words what one must experience in order to comprehend. For example, "When someone is about to enter that arena wherein he may be mortally wounded, it appears folly to detail facts about the infinite classroom of life into which he has just enrolled."
Overall a very good read and it has held up very well after 42 years. My final observation is that if you read it you will see the beginnings of the institutional dry rot that currently exists in the US military. If you ever wondered why the US can't win wars any more it's because the seeds planted long ago have come to fruition.
The book deals mostly with his one year flying the A-1 out of Thailand over Laos from 1969 to 1970. There are a lot of descriptions of flying in bad weather and the challenges of this slow moving aircraft. There is a nice glossary at the back for those not familiar with military jargon. The author does an EXCELLENT job of describing flying without resorting to terms that only pilots would understand. This makes it a very good read for the average person. Much of the book, according to the author, is taken from the journal he kept when flying. You really feel like you're listening to a 24-25 year old talking about what is happening "now" and not like someone reminiscing.
As the title implies this is about the "unofficial" air war the US fought from Thailand over Laos. There's quite a lot of writing about the combat but again this book is mostly about the flying. One area the author touches on very well are his higher military leaders ??? (need a noun there for stupid, incompetent, a$$h@!es, I'll think of something later.)
For example, "but also had done something that, in the Commander's words, 'had never been done before'; we had folded out wings. And quite often, in the new military, if something hasn't been done before, doing it is complete sacrilege."
I like the way he expressed the difficulty of saying in words what one must experience in order to comprehend. For example, "When someone is about to enter that arena wherein he may be mortally wounded, it appears folly to detail facts about the infinite classroom of life into which he has just enrolled."
Overall a very good read and it has held up very well after 42 years. My final observation is that if you read it you will see the beginnings of the institutional dry rot that currently exists in the US military. If you ever wondered why the US can't win wars any more it's because the seeds planted long ago have come to fruition.
October 17, 2025
Drury describes what it was like flying the A-1 Skyraider, aka SPAD, over Laos. Contrary to his fellow pilots flying fast jets over Vietnam, the A-1 went in slow and at lower altitudes. This meant being more vunerable to AA fire, despite the fact that the A-1 could suffer quite some damage and still fly home.
The A-1 was also used during rescue missions, flying under the Sandy callsign, and Drury was part of this select group of pilots. The Sandy missions were dangerous, but they did their best to haul their fellow aviators from hostile territory. This makes for some tense reading.
Drury wrote this book based on the notes he kept during his time there. So it does describe what he felt at the time. After the war he might have felt differently towards the war he had been participating in, but he kept the text 'as is'. It also shows how big a gap there was between the guys doing the dangerous flying and the guys flying desks.
Good read!
The A-1 was also used during rescue missions, flying under the Sandy callsign, and Drury was part of this select group of pilots. The Sandy missions were dangerous, but they did their best to haul their fellow aviators from hostile territory. This makes for some tense reading.
Drury wrote this book based on the notes he kept during his time there. So it does describe what he felt at the time. After the war he might have felt differently towards the war he had been participating in, but he kept the text 'as is'. It also shows how big a gap there was between the guys doing the dangerous flying and the guys flying desks.
Good read!
March 17, 2020
I got this book in a box of military and aviation books from an estate sale. It looked interesting and was the first one I read. Drury did a wonderful job describing his flying in Laos during the Vietnam War. He has a true love of flying and it shows. I’m not much of a pilot myself, therefore, ten years later, I began a long Air Force career in a variety of other fields. Drury’s description of squadron leadership and politics really hit home and reminded me of my time in the ICBM field. He described his commanders’ theory that all of the pilots flew combat missions down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. That’s their job. But what is REALLY important is for the pilots to come into the squadron on their days off to perform additional duties, such as Sqdn History Officer, etc. I dealt with the exact same thing. Gotta go into the squadron, be seen, do some busy work, set yourself apart from your peers, so you can get a good OPR and get promoted. Anyway, Drury spent most of his time in Laos flying the single-seat, single-engine A-1 fighter/bomber and I felt like I was looking over his shoulder on every attack or rescue mission he flew. A great read!
March 20, 2014
I didn't even know about the part of the Vietnam air war the author talks about till I read this book. He talks about growing up briefly always wanting to fly. He joined the Air Force just for that purpose. Then he fought tooth and nail to get to fly the A-1. It was a throwback plane in Vietnam. Single engine, propeller driven, dive bomber. The A-10 of it's day. The author flew for a year in Laos (before we were officially fighting there) doing runs on the Ho Chi Minh trail trying to halt the traffic. This is his story. We see some of the same problem other people talk about with some bitterness. Ticket punching leaders who do minimal combat but put themselves up for high decorations, the fortress mentality, not fighting the war to win.
He had some poetical stuff about how awesome flying is. He also talks about some hair rising incidents including some pilot down rescue missions. A good book if you are interested in dive bomber type Vietnam missions or a glimpse of some of the challenges Vietnam aviators faced.
He had some poetical stuff about how awesome flying is. He also talks about some hair rising incidents including some pilot down rescue missions. A good book if you are interested in dive bomber type Vietnam missions or a glimpse of some of the challenges Vietnam aviators faced.
March 7, 2019
I suppose this is as good a description as any of a light bomber pilot's experience bombing Laos. It gets one star from me because it is a dangerous book, misleading the reader about war because Drury apparently has no conception of what war is about for his target countries. It repeats the ugly propaganda of why the war was fought, and about how bad the other side was and how good his own side was. Originally published in 1979, the truth was well known many years before he had this published, and even better known by the time the revised edition that I read was published in 1986.
Looking up Drury's bio, it is no wonder he was full of sh*t. He left the regular air force but remained in the reserve or National Guard for decades after, primarily being ready to blow up world civilization as a B52 pilot. I have no idea if he really believed the BS, but what difference does that make?
Looking up Drury's bio, it is no wonder he was full of sh*t. He left the regular air force but remained in the reserve or National Guard for decades after, primarily being ready to blow up world civilization as a B52 pilot. I have no idea if he really believed the BS, but what difference does that make?
July 14, 2020
It's always the end of the good old days, isn't it? An amazing flying story that captures both the cowboy and the professional.
June 9, 2022
Interesting sliver of the Viet Nam war . . . set in Laos. Flying prop planes and bombing the Ho Chi Min Trail. A year in the life. Interesting story, but he's not a great writer. If it had been much longer, I would have quit, but it wraps up in 217 pages. So, it was okay.
March 12, 2020
I got this one signed.
April 16, 2020
This is an account of Drury's love of flying and his increasing disillusionment with the Air Force command and the conduct of the Viet Nam war. Drury flew A-1 Skyraiders in the First Special Operations in Laos on many types of strike and SAR missions.
Extremely well written.
Extremely well written.
February 23, 2024
Drury is as talented of an artist as it appears he was a pilot. His descriptive imagery brings a bygone era to life and it’s not hard to smell the sun-cracked leather, cigarettes, avgas fumes and burning oil so unique to this corner of the war in Southeast Asia. It’s also clear he is a deep thinker and takes many philosophical and introspective detours during his tour of duty in SEA. Occasionally these mental journeys detailed in the book become a bit verbose but on the whole they give the reader a very approachable view of the scourge of bureaucracy and war from the perspective of someone who signed up simply for the love of flying.
Most attractive in this book are the pure and mesmerizing descriptions of flying a single seat aircraft through everything nature has to offer. Sunsets, sunrises, pitch black nights, violent thunderstorms, clouds full of ice crystals, he puts it all on display in beautiful prose. All welcome reprieves from the violence churning the earth below during this conflict. An aerial war is a strange beast for its pilots going from death-defying, all out combat to tropical paradise, warm food, showers and beds all within a 6 hour span. Drury captures it all. I truly felt like I was walking (or sitting) 2 feet behind him throughout his experience in a tragic war laced with the beauty of human ingenuity at every turn.
Five stars for writing and content.
Most attractive in this book are the pure and mesmerizing descriptions of flying a single seat aircraft through everything nature has to offer. Sunsets, sunrises, pitch black nights, violent thunderstorms, clouds full of ice crystals, he puts it all on display in beautiful prose. All welcome reprieves from the violence churning the earth below during this conflict. An aerial war is a strange beast for its pilots going from death-defying, all out combat to tropical paradise, warm food, showers and beds all within a 6 hour span. Drury captures it all. I truly felt like I was walking (or sitting) 2 feet behind him throughout his experience in a tragic war laced with the beauty of human ingenuity at every turn.
Five stars for writing and content.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews