Flight Quack

Over fifty years ago, I was a Harvard-trained pediatrician drafted as a Navy Flight Surgeon, thrust into the Vietnam War and onto the front lines, stationed in Dong Ha, leading up to the massive Tet Offensive. It was early 1967 when I arrived.As U.S. Marines, our motto is "Never Leave a Man Behind." That means Medevac helicopter crews were rushed into live combat under the protection of Huey gunships to rescue wounded comrades. During these thunderous extractions, often in a state of sheer terror, I frantically tried to save as many young Marines as I could, practicing crude but life-sustaining procedures in the belly of a chopper, under intense fire, as we fought for our own lives.My first enemy kill came during a night incursion onto our base. I was attacked in my bunker by a teenaged Viet Cong fighter. I stabbed him mortally with a single thrust of my blade. I felt his heart stop beating. In Vietnam, I knew I would either die or go insane. When my close friends began getting killed in action, including a pilot buddy who burned to death when his chopper crashed, I snapped mentally.As I sank deeper into my psychosis, my desire to kill grew stronger. While in-country, I volunteered for the CIA's Operation Phoenix, a counter-insurgency campaign, designed to conduct psychological warfare on local leaders who were enemy sympathizers. I was assigned to assassination teams, strictly targeting civilians. Such missions were extremely risky, but I had a death wish. Unfulfilled, fortunately.Miraculously, I did survive to pursue a career in medical research and law, love my wife and walk my dogs. For my actions, I was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Valor and a Combat Action Ribbon with 3 Gold Stars. However, I'm not bursting with pride. I'm still grieving. It's hard to cope with the guilt of surviving and of what I was directed to do. War is not glorious, like the movies or video games.No one wins. Except those few who greatly profit from it.

This behind-the-scenes account of a USAF career is “an absorbing read, written with the classic humor fighter pilots seem to have” (Flight Line Book Review). From Baron von Richthofen to Robin Olds, the mystique of the fighter pilot endures. The skill, cunning, and bravery that characterizes this distinctive band of brothers is well known, but there are other dimensions to those who take to the skies to do battle that have not been given the emphasis they deserve—until now. You don’t have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s fascinating personal tale, woven around his twenty-eight-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia, Europe to the Middle East, the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot. The anecdotes are absorbing, providing an insight into life as an Air Force pilot, but, in this book, as Colonel Ladd stresses, the focus is not on fireworks or stirring tales of derring-do. Instead, this is an articulate and absorbing account of what life is really like among a rare breed of arrogant, cocky, boisterous, and fun-loving young men who readily transform into steely professionals at the controls of a fighter aircraft. “This book will appeal to a variety of readers with its Vietnam War combat stories and accounts of flying the Warthog in Cold War Europe. Fun, flying, international experiences—you won’t want to put it down.” —Aviation News

A magnificent new printing of this classic edition of John James Audubon’s masterwork In this latest printing of the Baby Elephant Folio edition of Audubon’s Birds of America, the thumbnail images accompanying the descriptive captions are printed in full color for the convenience of the reader. This printing also features an attractive new binding cloth, in a sumptuous teal color. The Baby Elephant Folio presents all 435 of Audubon’s brilliant hand-colored engravings in exquisite reproductions derived from the original plates of the National Audubon Society’s archival copy of the rare Double Elephant Folio. Although many attempts have been made to re-create the splendid illustrations in Audubon’s masterpiece, nothing has ever equaled the level of fidelity achieved in this luxurious edition. Organized and annotated by Roger Tory Peterson and Virginia Marie Peterson, and issued with the full endorsement and cooperation of the Audubon Society, this volume is as informative as it is beautiful. Its fascinating introduction places Audubon in the context of the history of American ornithological art and also reproduces a wide sampling of the work of his notable predecessors and disciples, including Roger Tory Peterson’s own rightfully famous paintings. A new systematic arrangement of the prints, following the modern classification of species, and descriptive captions about each bird allow us to appreciate Audubon's achievement in the light of modern ornithology.

Birding in the Pacific Northwest has never been easier! Birds of the Pacific Northwest describes and illustrates more than 400 bird species commonly encountered in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. This comprehensive, full-color guide is organized to follow the order in which groups and species are presented by the American Union. Range maps for each species provide valuable information for identification.

Capture the esprit de corps of the Marines in action during the Vietnam War. A documentation of the men, the crews, and the machines that flew the wartorn skies of Southeast Asia. Hundreds of dynamic photographs, maps, roster of Association members, and nearly 400 biographies with before-and-after photos of Marines make USMC-Vietnam Helicopter Association: Pop a Smoke a treasure chest of memories and history.

The Adventures of Miss Quack and the Quackinbush Family By: Lawrence Fredrick Williams Sr. Join Miss Quack and the Quackinbush family as they go on many adventures while flying south for the winter! What a fun journey they take, but along the way they find danger! Leaving home, striking out on our own is a great adventure we will all take in our lives. There are great mysteries that lie ahead, along with the learning experience that comes with life and unforeseen circumstances that befall all of us, the good and the not-so-good. The Adventures of Miss Quack and the Quackinbush Family is a whimsical tale to which both the young and the young at heart can relate.

A comprehensive illustrated field guide to the birds of Greater Southern Africa The vast region of Greater Southern Africa—which includes Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—is home to a truly extraordinary diversity of birds. This spectacular field guide covers all of the region’s bird species—resident, breeding, migrant, and vagrant. Covers all 1,198 species recorded in the region, including details of all the plumages and races likely to be seen Features 272 color plates with more than 3,300 illustrations Includes concise species accounts that describe key identification features, racial variation, status, range, habitat, and voice Provides an up-to-date distribution map for each species

This spectacular field guide includes all resident, breeding and migrant species found in Greater Southern Africa. Comprising South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, Greater Southern Africa is a vast region home to a truly extraordinary diversity of avifauna. The latest in the Helm Field Guide series, Birds of Greater Southern Africa describes all 1,170 regularly occurring species that are likely to be encountered in the region, from the Wandering Albatross to the Pennant-winged Nightjar. Featuring 272 colour plates by three of the world's leading bird illustrators, this practical guide also includes concise species accounts describing key identification features, status, range, habitat and voice; distribution maps for each species are also included. Fully illustrated throughout, this is an essential reference guide for anyone visiting or living in this wildlife-rich area.