CODE WARRIORS: A Year in Vietnam

by William Wood

With the Vietnam war raging and protests mounting at home, Josh Hudson, a veteran communications analyst is ordered to Viet Nam to head up the analysis team at a small unit flying out of Pleiku. Before leaving the States he meets Jenny Appleton, active in the anti-war movement. As Hudson assumes his duties he slowly finds his dedication and principles challenged by the terrible losses and the seemingly endless nature of the war. Although convinced their analysis is correct, the callous disregard for the truth frustrates the men of his unit. When, after long months their analysis is proved correct - others take credit to cover their own failures. Through his correspondence with Jenny and a witness to the callous disregard for truth, reality and the lives of the men engaging the enemy he finds he must decide between the future he had planned before the war and the challenge of drastic change. This is the story of men who did their duty proudly and made the most of their opportunities within the confines of war. With their work classified Top Secret, they knew they could never reveal the whole truth.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 9, 2018

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Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

For background, I was "ditty bopper" in Det.1, 6994 S.S. from 1966 to 68. I am not familiar with either Det. 2 or 3's operations but the relationship of Analyst and "back crew operators" brought back a lot of memories as did the R&R experiences. Also, I was an A1C, not an NCO so my relationship with our commander and the NCO's was quite different. Where it all came together was the mission and what we tried to accomplish during our time in Vietnam.
I would question the need to include graphic descriptions of the sex encounters.
All in all, it was well worth reading and brought back some memories (50+years old)

[charles hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flying Vietnam

Interesting personal account of one man’s life after tech school. Inner workings of the military well represented. I feel a common thread with the author as I served in Saigon with the 6994th fm March 1969 until March 1970.

[Anthony Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a Staff Sergeant analyst (202) at the 6924th Security Squadron at Danang from December 1969 to December 1970, so this book brought back many memories. Despite a few minor errors that can be written off to memory loss, the book is fairly accurate from a technical standpoint. Although the names were changed to protect the innocent, I and other USAFSS vets "know" these characters well. Although I never flew the ARDF missions, I had several friends who did, from both Pleiku and NKP. Their stories match the story line in this book quite well.

I'm pleased to see the USAFSS story coming out of the shadows. There were many ground intercept stations around the world in some extremely remote locations - St Lawrence Island and Shemya in the Aleutians, Pakistan, Turkey, Taiwan, northern Japan, and Korea, to name a few - that were manned by talented and dedicated men (no women in USAFSS until the mid 70's) whose activity was so highly classified that their contributions are only now beginning to be recognized. The mission was also airborne in C-130's, EC-135's, and C-121'a in addition to the EC-47's, several of which were lost to either accident or hostile action.

Thank you Mr Wood, and I look forward to reading more of your work.

[Daryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

More in the Analytical Side of the Intelligence War

Not about code breaking, but still an excellent novel about what our intelligence folks experienced in the military and in Viet Nam during the drawdown following the Tet Offensive of 1968. The Air Force Security Service experiences were similar to what we experienced in the Army Security Agency. Brought back some fond memories too. Highly recommended.

[Roland Mulligan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Different USAF Story

Code Warriors brought back some memories of friendships long forgotten, drinking at NCO clubs, traveling to interesting and exotic places, and of course, the career military culture. A very pleasant and down-to-earth read.