Document created: 1 September 06
Air & Space Power Journal - Fall 2006

Thunderchief: The Right Stuff and How Fighter Pilots Get It by Don Henry. Pelican Publishing Company (http://www.pelicanpub.com), 1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna, Louisiana 70053-2246, 2004, 295 pages, $22.00 (hardcover).

Author Don Henry describes Thunderchief as “a novel in the form of a memoir.” Set in the midst of the interminable Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam in 1966, the book blends dramatically realistic combat flying with worrisome psychological introspection. The story describes how a fictional character named Ashe Wilcox, one of the initial lieutenants sent to Thailand to fly the F-105 Thunderchief in combat, grows from rookie to seasoned veteran under the mentorship of the equally fictional “Hunter,” a legendary fighter pilot. A Korean War prisoner of war and full-blooded American Indian, Hunter is a consummate aerial warrior held in awe by his fellow pilots. Thus the book’s title has a double meaning: the term Thunderchief not only functions as the nickname of the F-105 but also symbolizes Hunter’s Indian character.

Readers will notice that the mind-set of the F-105 pilots flying Rolling Thunder differs noticeably from that of today’s pilots. Many Vietnam War aircrews bound by ridiculously restrictive rules of engagement (ROE) developed an intense and lasting sense of bitterness. Heavy loss rates proved the reality of the danger they faced. Completing a 100-mission tour of duty stood as a great achievement in an era when our military lost literally hundreds of F-105s each year. In Thunderchief, Hunter teaches Lieutenant Wilcox to be intensely suspicious of generals and intelligence officers. Obsessed with combat flying and repelled by the prospect of an assignment to the Pentagon, Hunter deliberately crashes his plane into a North Vietnamese bridge on his final mission. In modern aerial combat (quite different from that in Southeast Asia), losing a plane is rare. Few of today’s pilots relish Pentagon tours, but fewer still would fly a kamikaze mission to avoid one. Perhaps only veterans of the air war in Vietnam really understand the mind-set of aircrews in that conflict.

Thunderchief will remind readers of other Vietnam War accounts such as Jack Broughton’s Thud Ridge and Ed Rasimus’s When Thunder Rolled—both of them outright memoirs. Henry’s book, however, more closely resembles a historical novel. Why the author decided not to write a memoir about his own experiences remains unclear. Presumably the book reflects his personal experiences, but fighter pilots do have a reputation for hiding their feelings. No doubt Henry chooses to express himself through the imaginary Ashe Wilcox. Some of these expressions fare better than others. His combat narrative is gripping, but the parts that describe Wilcox’s interactions with women seem stilted and unreal. Clearly the lieutenant is no romantic.

Many readers will appreciate this book as a good wartime adventure story despite its dark psychological aspects. Suffering heavy casualties while fighting under unreasonable ROEs has a corrosive effect on the aircrews depicted in Thunderchief. Overcoming fear and courageously attacking the enemy, mission after mission, epitomizes the “right stuff” mentioned in the title, and completing a 100-mission tour represents a mark of courage for the F-105 pilots. These men performed their duty honorably and often heroically, but let us hope we never again subject our aircrews to a campaign like Rolling Thunder.

Lt Col Paul D. Berg, USAF
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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