Coming All the Way Home: Memoir of an Assault Helicopter Aircraft Commander in Vietnam

by Fred McCarthy

In 1968, twenty-one-year-old Fred McCarthy transitioned from the monastic life of a seminary student to that of a U.S. Army helicopter gunship commander in Vietnam. Despite preparation from a family tradition of decorated combat service, a strong sense of patriotism, a love for aviation, and a desire for adventure, he got far more than he bargained for. Written after 50 years of reflection, reading, and study, this memoir tells both a universal story about war, adventure, and perseverance and, also shares the intensely personal experience of the Vietnam War and its legacy for those who fought in it. McCarthy describes many of his missions, reflects on the nature of being a combat helicopter pilot, and processes the experience through his poetry, letters home, and reflective analysis.

207 pages, Paperback

Published July 14, 2021

Reviews

[John R. Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Fred's book then read it again. I couldn't put it down. Its a gut wrenching memoir. As a two tour Vietnam Vet serving on some of the same ground in the Mekong Delta the second read made me shiver. Fred flew above it, a hell of a lot more dangerous than walking through it. In 1967 I was an Infantry officer spending my time with RF/PF soldiers slogging through the Delta swamps. Fred's book is another book in the making. He covers the waterfront, the letters home. The photos and stories around them are a dose of reality you can't comprehend unless you've been there and done it. Then the mortar attacks, my God! We didn't have continuous mortar attacks that Fred had - on my second tour in 71' and 72' in the Central Highlands we had Chinese rocket attacks. They weren't continuous. I didn't buy the farm there but my Sgt, standing ten feet from me did. Fred had to get to his chopper. We had to get to our bunkers. On page 109 Fred says, "I ran down the hallway in the Viking quarters as fast as I could and hit my knee on the screen door, tripped and fell flat on my face; but I got right up and kept going....a mortar exploded in front of me and beyond the flight line." The VA rated Fred as a 50 percent disabled Vietnam Vet for service-related conditions. In 2014 he had a laminectomy with titanium plates and screws that hold together the lower part of the back. Fred doesn't trash the Army or the war as some combat authors have. He's proud to have served. His letters home are a book unto themselves plus his work with the many local orphans. He also respects the reality of the politics of the Vietnam war and does a great job in his chapter about Historical lessons learned. Fred says,"most Americans don't know that Ho Chi Minh made multiple attempts to communicate with President Truman. He sent the President thirteen letters that were never seen by Truman. In these letters, Ho Chi Minh expressed his feelings that he was similar in his beliefs to our Founding Fathers." Fred says, "we are left to speculate whether cabinet-level administrators with conflicting agendas caused this to happen." Reading Fred's well researched chapter left me and might you with the conclusion that we didn't have to go to war in Vietnam; however, as Fred makes clear, we all did and are proud of our service. "We did the best we could as soldiers and aviators with the information and assignments we had at the time." By the end of his tour Fred had logged 1,300 flight hours of helicopter missions in Vietnam, and made it through the Tet Offensive of 1968. What a great service Fred has performed by bringing the rare reality of what combat service and duty an assault helicopter commander in Vietnam performed for his country.

[Wayne Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book accurately tells the story of a personal battlefield experience, from all angles and elevations. A very good read from takeoff to landing.