Air Commando Chronicles: Untold Tales from Vietnam, Latin America, and Back Again

by Robert L. Gleason, Colonel Robert L. Gleason USAF

This is a story of heroic young men answering a clarion call for what and where they knew not . . . untried in the crucible of combat, toddlers during World War II and too young for Korea, but full of zeal and ready to prove themselves worthy of their warrior calling. General John L. Piotrowski, USAF (Ret.) In 1961, a few select officers, Non Coms, and young enlistees across America were asked to blindly commit, in a secret interview, to serving the U.S. government in far-flung corners of the world, in remote and hostile territory, knowing that their government might deny they were members of the U.S. military, or that they were acting on their government's behalf. Air Commando Chronicles traces events surrounding the recruitment and training of a unique USAF tactical unit (code name JUNGLE JIM) and its deployment as the first U.S. tactical unit to enter Vietnam in 1961 (code name FARM GATE) an insight into the history of America's involvement in Vietnam. Author Bob Gleason "This book should illuminate a notch the history of America's involvement there during 1961-1962, which has been generally ignored." This secret mission went well beyond the oath of duty normally administered to members of the U.S. military, and no other person could have written this story. Colonel Gleason's immersion in the Vietnam saga from the beginning to the end was almost total. Few, if any, individuals have viewed the Vietnam war from as many different perspectives, over as long a period, while serving in so many different capacities. The "untold tales" of Air Commando Chronicles should prove interesting and informative to both military and non-military readers.

150 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000