Xin Loi Viet Nam

No one in Vietnam had to tell door gunner and gunship crew chief Al Sever that the odds didn’t look good. He volunteered for the job well aware that hanging out of slow-moving choppers over hot LZs blazing with enemy fire was not conducive to a long life. But that wasn’t going to stop Specialist Sever. From Da Nang to Cu Chi and the Mekong Delta, Sever spent thirty-one months in Vietnam, fighting in eleven of the war’s sixteen campaigns. Every morning when his gunship lifted off, often to the clacking and muzzle flashes of AK-47s hidden in the dawn fog, Sever knew he might not return. This raw, gritty, gut-wrenching firsthand account of American boys fighting and dying in Vietnam captures all the hell, horror, and heroism of that tragic war.

From the briefing rooms and bombing runs to the dogfights and last ditch bail outs, here are the true stories of the fighting men of Vietnam as told by aviation expert Frank Harvey. This is what it was like to fight in the flame-filled skies of Southeast Asia.

"Vietnam Zippos showcases the engravings made by U.S. soldiers on their lighters during the height of the conflict, from 1965 to 1973. Sherry Buchanan, through the collection of American artist Bradford Edwards, tells the story of how the humble Zippo became a talisman and companion for American GIs during their tours of duty. The engravings gathered in this illustrated volume run the full emotional spectrum with both sardonic reflections - "I love the f***ing Army and the Army loves f***ing me" - and poignant maxims - "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Part pop art and part military artifact, they capture the large moods of the sixties and the darkest days of Vietnam - all through the world of the tiny Zippo."--BOOK JACKET.