I'm Alive: A Young Fighter Pilot’s Diary of the US Navy Air War in Vietnam, 1964–1965

by Errol F. Reilly, Kevin Callahan (Editor), Christopher P. Callahan (Editor)

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2026

Reviews

[Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)]

MWSA Review

I’m Alive, a biography of Errol F. Reilly (Rile), is written with great attention to detail. When I read that Kevin Callahan and Christopher P. Callahan are Errol Reilly’s stepsons, I understood why. It’s apparent from the Callahan brothers’ work on this biography that they loved and respected their stepfather.

I’m Alive is a story of a novice fighter pilot during the early years (December 7, 1964 to October 23, 1965) of the Vietnam conflict. Rile’s entries in the diary were written with a raw emotion laced with a sense of humor. I felt his depths of sorrow with each loss of a fellow pilot to the heights of excitement when he learned his time in the Gulf of Tonkin was over, and he was still alive. In the course of that year, while fighting an unpopular war, Rile evolved into a hardened combat pilot with a wealth of experience to share with others. And he did just that.

Having recently returned from his third Western Pacific (WESTPAC) cruise and the deadly air war in Vietnam, Rile was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, as a flight instructor. This extraordinary man drove cross-country by himself from San Diego to the family’s new officers’ quarters with four rambunctious stepsons, aged seven to fifteen. When I read that, I knew that Errol Reilly was more than brave; he was fearless. In a wise move, his wife and toddler son flew to Florida to meet them.

Stepsons Kevin and Christopher Callahan are now retired US Navy captains. After organizing and editing their dad’s letters and diary, they produced a historical look at the Vietnam conflict from the cockpit of a fighter plane that will live on. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read I’m Alive.

Review by Nancy Panko