Thud Ridge Author Jack Broughton Slips the Surly Bonds

We lost another Vietnam air war hero. Former USAF Colonel Jack Broughton died on October 24, 2014, at the age of 89. He is the author of two incredible books about flying combat missions in the most heavily defended area in the history of aerial warfare, Route Pack VI, the area around Hanoi, North Vietnam. Colonel Broughton won four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and the highest Air Force decoration, the presidentially-awarded Air Force Cross

Stars & Stripes: “In his 1988 book, ‘Going Downtown: The War Against Hanoi and Washington,’ Broughton labeled Johnson and McNamara as ‘Washington weenies’ and asserted that pilots and other aviators died because they were prohibited from hitting anti-aircraft emplacements and other “sanctuary” sites in North Vietnam. The U.S. ‘lost a bunch of good people and good machinery all over Southeast Asia with their outhouse mentality on war,’ Broughton wrote. . . . ‘Thud Ridge,’ which does not have the political tone of the other two, is often assigned reading for Air Force pilots in training.”

Read “Testing the Rules of Engagement During the Vietnam War” and Colonel Broughton’s obituary in the New York Times.

Here are links to Col. Broughton’s Vietnam air war books, Thud Ridge and Going Downtown. I read both of them and highly recommend them.