What do you think?
Rate this book
Taking Fire: A Vietnam Gunship Pilot's Daily Journal
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Read
April 16, 2021Felt like I was there
This was a good read. The author gave us a different look at his experiences in Viet Nam. It did seem to be repetitive at times, but it is a diary after all. I hope the next person who gets this book has all the pages downloaded. Mine didn't which was frustrating, especially the last two pages. I hate missing out on the very ending.
This was a good read. The author gave us a different look at his experiences in Viet Nam. It did seem to be repetitive at times, but it is a diary after all. I hope the next person who gets this book has all the pages downloaded. Mine didn't which was frustrating, especially the last two pages. I hate missing out on the very ending.
July 19, 2021
I give myself a pat on the back for wading through this to the end. It became so tedious that twice I gave up on it. I did return to it, though, finished it, and can only compare it to the myriad of books I've read about the Vietnam War.
I respect Melin for his service and, as a vet myself, thank him for that service. I thank his wife for typing the manuscript. Discovering on the last few pages that Melin died in 2019 from a disease attributed to Agent Orange contamination, provides witness to the legacy of Vietnam which still destroys with impunity.
It's incorrect to call this narrative a diary. He aptly called it a journal, which is exactly what it was. There's little introspection here, something which a diary would provide. The journal is a black and white representation of his experience with few gray areas explored. Which, I believe, describes Melin to a tee. Melin was a Mormon who obviously believed in good and evil, right and wrong, and lived a life structured upon those beliefs. Indeed, he believed the Lord protected him in Vietnam. How then, I wonder, would he explain lymphocytic leukemia caused by the Agent Orange he came in contact with in Vietnam? I also wonder if the Lord kept an eye out for him, what does that say about all those grunts so horribly maimed and killed in Vietnam? I guess the Lord is selective in who he chooses to keep an eye on during combat.
Melin also tells us there are no atheists in foxholes. Many other narratives about warfare provide this homey but totally absurd reflection. Grunts in foxholes who are being assaulted reflect only on the immediacy of their predicament--staying alive. If they live through the assault, they may thank the Lord. Or, they may just thank the .60 caliber machine gunner whose field of fire included the immediacy of their foxhole.
The main thing this journal provides is the Vietnam War was so different for so many who served there. The difference between Melin's war and that of the typical ground grunt is stark. Melin's experience, while dangerous and violent, also included day after day diversions. A litany of those diversions included almost daily hot showers and shaves, Scrabble, chess, and dart games, body surfing in the South China Sea, passing the football, floor shows at the club, movie after movie, building and remodeling hooches, electricity, fans, ice, cold water, a TV and bed in the hooch, searching for seashells, putting puzzles together, killing sharks in the South China Sea from a helicopter.
Ask a ground grunt what his diversions were.
This narrative was interesting, though tedious. The repetitiveness of the activity wore thin at times. It was a good overview, however, of a combat helicopter pilot's day-to-day existence. Melin fought his war with honor and valor. Still, comparing Melin's experience with that of a grunt is what I took away from this book. I don't belittle Melin's service at all. It was what it was...
I respect Melin for his service and, as a vet myself, thank him for that service. I thank his wife for typing the manuscript. Discovering on the last few pages that Melin died in 2019 from a disease attributed to Agent Orange contamination, provides witness to the legacy of Vietnam which still destroys with impunity.
It's incorrect to call this narrative a diary. He aptly called it a journal, which is exactly what it was. There's little introspection here, something which a diary would provide. The journal is a black and white representation of his experience with few gray areas explored. Which, I believe, describes Melin to a tee. Melin was a Mormon who obviously believed in good and evil, right and wrong, and lived a life structured upon those beliefs. Indeed, he believed the Lord protected him in Vietnam. How then, I wonder, would he explain lymphocytic leukemia caused by the Agent Orange he came in contact with in Vietnam? I also wonder if the Lord kept an eye out for him, what does that say about all those grunts so horribly maimed and killed in Vietnam? I guess the Lord is selective in who he chooses to keep an eye on during combat.
Melin also tells us there are no atheists in foxholes. Many other narratives about warfare provide this homey but totally absurd reflection. Grunts in foxholes who are being assaulted reflect only on the immediacy of their predicament--staying alive. If they live through the assault, they may thank the Lord. Or, they may just thank the .60 caliber machine gunner whose field of fire included the immediacy of their foxhole.
The main thing this journal provides is the Vietnam War was so different for so many who served there. The difference between Melin's war and that of the typical ground grunt is stark. Melin's experience, while dangerous and violent, also included day after day diversions. A litany of those diversions included almost daily hot showers and shaves, Scrabble, chess, and dart games, body surfing in the South China Sea, passing the football, floor shows at the club, movie after movie, building and remodeling hooches, electricity, fans, ice, cold water, a TV and bed in the hooch, searching for seashells, putting puzzles together, killing sharks in the South China Sea from a helicopter.
Ask a ground grunt what his diversions were.
This narrative was interesting, though tedious. The repetitiveness of the activity wore thin at times. It was a good overview, however, of a combat helicopter pilot's day-to-day existence. Melin fought his war with honor and valor. Still, comparing Melin's experience with that of a grunt is what I took away from this book. I don't belittle Melin's service at all. It was what it was...
February 6, 2022
This is a day to day diary of one man’s year of duty as a helo pilot in South Vietnam during 67-68. Some say it is repetitive and boring in their review. Yes, it is repetitive and that’s what day to day service is like. Days of doing the same thing with brief times of terror and fear at first and gradually accepting the situation and becoming aggressive, more risk taking, accepting and dealing with your circumstances. Reading carefully, you see the subtle changes taking place. It is an excellent study of human behavior as the author goes from inexperienced combat assault pilot to seasoned veteran.
February 6, 2023
the way it really was
Those of us who there were forever changed. A day does not go by without remembering who I knew that were killed there. The friendships made there are still strong today. I hope someday younger generations will finally understand what it means to give “Service before Self”. Maybe if they visit the Vietnam War Memorial in DC they will understand more clearly.
Those of us who there were forever changed. A day does not go by without remembering who I knew that were killed there. The friendships made there are still strong today. I hope someday younger generations will finally understand what it means to give “Service before Self”. Maybe if they visit the Vietnam War Memorial in DC they will understand more clearly.
April 6, 2021
A very interesting book about the day to day routine of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Don't expect an exciting book as it wasn't supposed to be written that way, however some nice insights into the daily life of a man enduring the Vietnam war and longing to get home. What I did find interesting was the surprisingly high amount of malfunctions of his guns on his helicopter.
April 27, 2021
Excellent book but dragged on a bit. But......that's the way it was over there. Moments of terror amongst the daily boredom. Was sorry to read after the book that Tom had passed away in 2019. Sadly from agent orange of all things.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews