Fox Two: America's First Ace in Vietnam

by Randy Cunningham, Jeff Ethel

I am a fighter pilot by heart, and I love turning and twisting through the skies in search of a good fight. But this is more than a story of aerial combat. It is a story of a ship, USS Constitution, and the men who sailed her, their feelings, thoughts and actions during the Vietnam conflict. Fox Two describes many of our air-to-air combats, recorded as they happened. We didn't win them all, but lessons learned and some of the restrictions that we had to live with - and in some cases die with - should be known by every American so that your sons will not pay the same price as did many of our men in a war we weren't allowed to win.... From 1965 through 1971 the US Navy scored 29 kills with Sidewinders. During the time period of this book, Navy pilots were credited with 23 Sidewinder kills and one Sparrow kill. All five of my victories were made with the Sidewinder, making Lieutenant (jg) Bill Driscoll and me the first US aces of the Vietnam War. Thus the Title, Fox Two. --- excerpts from book's Preface

Genres: Military History, Biography, History, Aviation, Nonfiction

161 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1983

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long before he was the Corrupt and notoriously Sexist/Homophobic Republican Senator who pleaded guilty and went away for bribery Fraud and Tax evasion with Defence Contractors in 2005, Randy Cunningham was a fighter pilot, flying F-4 Phantoms off the USS Constellation and hunting MiGs. While there are some signs of his later political bent, and of his inherent self centered nature, this is mainly a taut thriller about the Air War over North Vietnam, and the aerial dogfighting, F-4/F-8, and Air Force jets against the Russian and Chinese Built MiG 17/19/21s that occasionally came up amongst the SAMs and AAA defending against the "Alpha Strikes". "Duke" (after John Wayne-really) Cunningham got a couple of MiGs during his tour- impressive enough- but then erupted for three MiGs in a Single Mission! Given that he was flying a plane armed ONLY with Missiles-while his opponents all had the Cannon that all Fighters should carry-it's a real feat of arms. He's ready to tell you all about it.

The aerial bits are really good and very interesting, as the Phantom is a 2-man Aircraft, with a Weapons officer in the back seat- another set of eyes- and a mind that can focus only on Tactical Solutions. There is cool dialogue remembered from 20,000 feet over Haiphong. Cunningham is certainly at his best in describing Tactics and Mission elements- weakest when talking strategy or his personal life. The Macho is strong- and the self deprecation rings hollow. But the pace of operations means you get a lot of the good stuff- and not too much of the blah blah.

For Junior readers, there are enough adult themes, so it's probably best for the 14 and over set- but thrilling in the air. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast its a real feast- cool B/w pics in my edition- and the amount of great info on Carrier Operations in the Gulf Of Tonkin means useful info for Scenario/Diorama crowd- and for the enthusiast. Falls in with some of the other books I have read on the topic- with better descriptions of some of the aerial tussles. A good addition to the Vietnam War, Air War, Carrier War, and Cold War shelves- but not required reading.

[Paul Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Randy "Duke" Cunningham was a Top Gun student pilot who out fought his instructors on occasion and became a legend in the USN as a fighter ace of the Vietnam war flying the powerful F4 Phantom with RIO Willie Driscoll. His flying skill in real combat and ACM practice was up there with the great pilots like Chuck Yeager, "Screwball" Beurling, "Sharky" Ward, Werner Voss and others. There were only two Vietnam war aces for America with just one being United States Navy (Duke) and his victories include 3 in 1 mission including a protracted dogfight going into vertical rolling scissors and Yo-Yos against a very skilled Vietnames (Or Russian?) pilot. This latter combat gave him his 5th victory and he was shot down on the way back to the carrier, being rescued. His later career included becoming a Top Gun instructor and it is no co-incidence that the film from 1986 uses a lot that could be said to bear some semblance to the Top Gun training, combats and return as an instructor of "Duke" Cunningham. Like a lot of heroes, such as "Pappy" Boyington, "Screwball" Beurling, "Billy" Bishop VC, Raymond Collishaw, Hans-Joachim Marseille, "Sailor" Malan, Chuck Yeager, and Brian Carbury (Battle of Britain pilot)- he had his faults, as most humans do but the book should be read with a view to how Cunningham fought in this war. A great pilot, a great book and judge the man on his flying, not on his flaws. Paul Davies Aviation Historian.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Randy Cunningham describes what it was like flying an F-4 over Vietnam. I really liked the detail of it and the way the actions in the air were described. Doing so, he does not forget how important his RIO, 'Willie' Driscoll, was. 'Willie' was always behind Randy in more ways than one. He also praises all the young men that had to perform a very important job in one of the most dangerous working spaces on the planet, the deck of an operational aircraft carrier.

The actions are described in such a way that you just want to read on and on. Air combat however is no easy to follow arena, so the reader has to focus and try to follow along with what is happening and were the different aircraft and threats are. Not always an easy job, but making for a very interesting read. Some of it can be rather funny at times, but most of the time flying a combat aircraft is a deadly and very serious business. Danger is always lurking around the corner.

I think that this book does a wonderful job in making the reader experience what it all was about and how dangerous things could become in an instant.

Despite a small page count it still packs a punch.

[Erich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The “Duke” pulls no punches in attempting to place the reader in the cockpit during his recounts of aerial combat in SEA. For the non-initiated, myself included, it’s pretty easy to get turned around while trying to follow the dueling in the skies. It doesn’t take away from this being a first person, factual account of one of the only aces of the conflict’s experience during the last few years in the air over north Vietnam. A must read for aviation enthusiasts.

[Brendan Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written like a coke-fueled avalanche of random memories, with sporadic information about the air war, rather than anything as organized as typical memoirs usually are. Highly entertaining, though. Duke may be a stellar pilot, a corrupt politician, and an all-around horrible human being, but a writer he is not.

[Chris Tschirhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important to read if you are into the Vietnam air war but not all that well written.

[Fintan Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book, loved reading it. Extremely vivid dogfights, shame what happened to him in 2005 however. Puts a slight dirty glint on it

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regardless of what he did as a Congressman, Randy Cunningham was the First Ace of the Vietnam War and this can never be taken away from him. This book is a factual accounts of his experience while deployed on the USS Constellation during the Vietnam War. It relates not only the air missions he went on, but also the frustration placed on members of the military by the Rules of Engagement put on them by Politicians.

The only reason it did not receive an "it was amazing" was that sometimes he went into too much detail of not only his, but other pilots during the war.

Recommend this book to all ex-carrier sailors, especially the Connie Crew.

[David Vanness · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of us who lived the Vietnam era, it was a valuable insite into one side of the 'war-antiwar' debate. When this was published it was falsely charged to be a government publication. This is one of nine volumes read while in PT recovery from surgery.

[Tom Nolan]

paperback