Portland Public Library

Saving Bravo, the greatest rescue mission in Navy SEAL history, Stephan Talty

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

contains biographical information

platesillustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Saving Bravo

bibliography

1016476603

Stephan Talty

the greatest rescue mission in Navy SEAL history

"The untold story of the most important rescue mission not just of the Vietnam War, but the entire Cold War: one American aviator, who knew our most important secrets, crashed behind enemy lines and was sought by the entire North Vietnamese and Russian military machines. One Navy SEAL and his Vietnamese partner had to sneak past them all to save him"--, Provided by publisherAt the height of the Vietnam War, Lt. Colonel Gene Hambleton's memory was filled with highly classified information that the Soviets and North Vietnamese badly want. When Hambleton was shot down in the midst of North Vietnam's Easter Offensive, US forces placed the entire war on hold to save a single man hiding amongst 30,000 enemy troops and tanks. After other missions fail, Navy SEAL Thomas Norris and his Vietnamese guide, Nguyen Van Kiet, volunteer to go in on foot. Talty describes the riveting story of one of the greatest rescue missions in the history of the Special Forces. -- adapted from jacket"The pulse-pounding, untold story of the Navy SEAL mission to rescue an airman carrying top secret Cold War intelligence, downed behind enemy lines. At the height of the Vietnam War, few American airmen were more valuable than Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton. His memory filled with highly classified information, he knew secrets about cutting-edge missile technology that the Soviets and North Vietnamese badly wanted. When Hambleton is shot down behind enemy lines in the midst of North Vietnam's Easter Offensive, U.S. forces place the entire war on hold to save a single man, hiding among thirty thousand enemy troops and tanks. Airborne rescue missions fail, killing eleven Americans. Finally, Navy SEAL Thomas Norris and a Vietnamese commando, Nguyen Van Kiet, volunteer to go after him on foot. They glide past hundreds of enemy soldiers, but it takes them days to reach Hambleton, who, guided toward his rescuers via improvised radio code, is barely alive--starved and hallucinating after eleven days on the run. In this deeply researched story, award-winning author Stephan Talty describes the extraordinary mission that led Hambleton to safety. Drawing on dozens of interviews and access to unpublished papers, Saving Bravo is the riveting story of one of the greatest rescue missions in the history of the Special Forces."--Dust jacket

Prologue: The river -- Gene -- Dark knights -- The SwaneePrologue: The river -- PART I: Gene. Midwestern ; Rocket man ; Korat ; The boys in the back ; The time of useful consciousness ; Ernie Banks ; Blueghost 39 ; Tucson ; Blowtorch jockeys -- Part II: Dark knights. Joker ; Yesterday's frat boy ; "Their glowing trajectories" ; Tiny Tim ; Futility ; "I know we're going to die" ; Low bird ; The Division -- Part III: The Swanee. The real John Wayne ; The hurricane lover ; When the moon goes over the mountain ; The first at Tucson National ; Dark encounter ; The grove ; Clark ; Places like the moon ; Zeroed in ; Esther Williams ; "Some kind of rescue" ; The sampan ; Journey's end ; "Lay that man down" ; Beyond a normal call of duty ; The returns ; "As comrades"