To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam

READ THIS INSTEAD OF CHICKENHAWK!!!

I read "Chickenhawk" before I read this but wished I had found "To The Limit" first.

What did I like most about "To The Limit"? Tom Johnson's outstanding moral character, relatively clean language (especially compared to other Vietnam books), and most of all, INCREDIBLE stories.

Tom Johnson seems like a solid guy with some solid morals. He promised himself that he would remain faithful to his wife before going on tour and held true to that promise and did not have any relations with any other women while on tour. That cannot be said of many of the other men that served during that time including Robert Mason who actually includes quite a detailed account (I only read the beginning of it before I realised just how descriptive he was going to get before skipping) of him being unfaithful to his wife while on his tour.

I also appreciated the relatively clean language of the book. It's not 100%, but compared to most other Vietnam books where dropping f-bombs every other paragraph is the norm, this book is much cleaner. Again, I think many strong Christians have grown up learning to keep their language fairly clean and appreciated Tom Johnson's effort to keep this book a bit cleaner than many of the other Vietnam books.

But most of all, the stories were just amazing. Towards the end of the book I'd read some of the stories and kept thinking "well, he's only got a few weeks left on his tour. There's just no way it can get crazier than that." Wrong. It got crazier. There are some flashbacks that slow things down a bit, but I found they provided some interesting insight into Tom's background and thinking. He does get a bit technical and talk about the actual controls of the helicopter (which I found fascinating as I have contemplated taking helicopter flight lessons) but I don't think it would cause any confusion even for those who have no knowledge of helicopters.

To The Limit was written in a way that made it easy to read and hard to put down. I greatly appreciate the service of all of the men who have honorably served in the military but being Christian I wish the culture in the military had stronger morals. To The Limit is the strongest example I have seen of good moral character in the military with simply incredible stories and will most likely remain my favorite book for a long, long time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very good

Recommended!
Technically sound, but too limited in scope of what was happening in country that impacted on unit.
Needed better closure about Tom

Techinical problems with this book

I loved the sample, but when i got the book i got stuck on page 15.i think i would've liked it but theres technical problems

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book!

This book is.....amazing!! I love reading military books and i have always been interested in history books about war. And this book is my favorite book about any war. Tom Johnson is one of those men who went into a war that mostly the nation turned their back to. But Johnson knew that and did his job to get back. He describe detail about his time in Nam. From him telling what the radio chatter was to the combat, him flying troops in HOT LZs and saving their lives when they needed it the most. Johnson is a hero to my eyes and he should be in yours.

More action than most fiction.

This is a great book about the actions of a Huey pilot in Viet Nam. It is amazing that one person could live through all of this. I did not want to stop reading it at night. It is great to hear the story of an everyday person in an extraordinary environment. I have read many other books about flying during war and this ranks as one of the best.

A great memoir of helicopter flying in Viet Nam

Just finished reading this,written completely from the helicopter pilot's perspective, this is an incredible memoir of UH-1 flying in Viet Nam. I couldn't put it down. This is REAL and intense flying,'To the Limit' is a must for any helicopter pilot! Although any one who wants to know what is was like to fly a 'huey' in the Viet Nam war will thoroughly enjoy this book.

A story of bravery through a chopper pilot's view of combat in Vietnam

I respect any veteran. Every soldier in combat fought with bravery and honor. In Vietnam the chopper pilots were very brave for rescuing wounded soldiers and being there when needed. Many died or wounded helping others. That is true sacrafice.

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