Book Recommendation
Candlestick: Night FAC over Laos by James Patrick
Hyland
This
is a terrific book that should be read by Vietnam Vets, military history buffs,
anyone interested in airplanes and flying under stress, and anyone who enjoys
stories of courage and adventure. It is one of the best military memoirs I have
ever read. Having survived a lung transplant in 2013, in July of 2017 the VA
Hospital hired me 20 hours a week to interview veterans and write their life
stories for their care team and their families to read. To date, I’ve written
197 stories. This has developed my already acute BS detector to epic
proportions. Hyland’s book has the ring of pure truth, warts and all. For a
year he flew C-123s over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, calling in airstrikes on North
Vietnamese convoys taking NVA troops and weapons to the Republic of Vietnam to
kill American troops. The 165 missions he flew were highly dangerous. They repeated
faced the kind of anti-aircraft fire the AAF saw over Germany in WWII. He and
his nine-man crew would be on station for up to four hours, getting shot at
most of the time. As a Marine who served in Vietnam a couple of years before he
was there, I can tell you there are children and grandchildren of veterans
alive today who owe their lives to Pat Hyland. I flew on C-123s a couple of
times in and out of Khe Sanh in 1967 (when it was pretty quiet). I had no idea
they were used as FACs. FACs around us were mostly O-1 Bird Dogs with only a
pilot. Regardless, all FACs were heroes, saving countless lives. Hyland and his
crew, and the other FACs who flew with him, deserve a salute, our thanks, and our
gratitude. You won’t go wrong with this book.
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