Eagle Station

by Mark Berent

Overview

It is with good reason that Mark Berent has consistently received this kind of praise. Berent, himself a highly decorated pilot, has seen his share of action, having served in the Air Force for more than twenty years and survived three tours of Vietnam. In his three previous novels, all a part of the continuing saga that Kirkus Reviews has called "one of the best of the Vietnam experience with vivid intensity. Berent's remarkable storytelling places the reader directly into the heat of the battle, dodging missiles in the sky and countering blows in hand-to-hand combat. As Tom Clancy says, "Berent is the real thing."
In Eagle Station, the fourth installment in his Vietnam War series, Berent puts on the heat and raises the stakes, creating his most electrifying tale of war to date. Beginning with a hair-raising cliffside helicopter rescue under heavy fire, and racing toward a climactic ground battle played out in the dark of night, engaging top secret USAF first special operations AC-130 Spectre gunships, Eagle Station is filled with adventure and acts of daring, woven into a compelling and powerful plot.

United States Air Force Academy (Provisional) Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado

Three Young Cadets, Kenichi Tanaka, Joe Kelly, and Manuel "Little Cat' Dominguez, all subjected to the cruel hazing of an arrogant and vengeful upperclassman, band together in a show of unity and strength. Years later, this solemn oath of brotherhood will hold them together, and be severely tested, during cataclysmic events in Vietnam.

Eagle Station at Lima Site 85 Royalty of Laos

Located only 24 kilometers from the North Vietnamese border, in supposedly neutral Laos, Eagle Station is one of the most strategically located and important American radar installations, particularly for the fighter pilots and air rescue squadrons attempting to navigate the North Vietnam skies. When an explosion cuts off radio contact with the site, botching a life-or-death aerial rescue, it becomes clear that some unknown predatory group has set its sights on capturing Eagle Station. But who? Is it the communist Pathet Lao or the North Vietnamese? Or could it be the Soviets' elite Spetsnaz teams?

Returning from Berent's earlier novels, USAF Major Court Bannister and Special Forces Colonel Wolf Lochert join forces, agreeing to prepare the station for the imminent attack, not realizing that ultimately the primary defense will rest solely in their hands.

Oval Office, The White House - Washington, DC

Days before the November 1968 presidential election, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, hoping to steer the vote in favor of Humphrey, prepares to make a major announcement concerning the war. General "Whitey" Whisenand, recognizing the possible devastating consequences of Johnson's move, tries to dissuade the President, but to no avail. When his efforts fail, Whisenand sets in motion his own daring plan.

Hanoi City Hospital, Democratic Republic of Vietnam

USAF Major Algernon A. "Flak" Apple, the first black pilot ever shot down over North Vietnam and captured, lies bruised and unconscious in a hospital bed. After his attempt to escape from the "Hanoi Hilton," Hoa Lo Prison, was thwarted, he had been mercilessly tortured, almost to death, before being sent to the Hanoi City Hospital. But his captors are not yet done with him. Using psychological trickery, they attempt to "condition" him, preparing him for a role in "Valiant Struggle," a top-secret plan that, if successful, could shift public opinion in favor or the communists.

As these unforgettable characters are drawn closer together, as the clock ticks faster and the tension mounts, everything coalesces in a heart-stopping climax. In the skies and on the ground, the siege on Eagle Station is about to begin. And through Mark Berent's descriptive powers, readers will take their places alongside Court Bannister and Wolf Lochert, on a death-defying mission into the heart of the Vietnam War.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940000787359
Publisher:	Mark Berent
Publication date:	11/26/2009
Series:	WINGS OF WAR , #4
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	219,542
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

MARK BERENT

Lt Col Mark E. Berent, USAF (Ret), was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Cretin High
School in St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Thomas College. Later he graduated from Arizona State University under the Air Force Institute of Technology program with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Lt Col Berent began his Air Force career as an enlisted man, then progressed through the aviation cadet program. He attended pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi and then Laredo Air Force Base, Texas flying the T-6, T-28 and T-33 aircraft and then moved on to F-86s at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He served on active duty for 23 years until retirement in 1974. He began his operational flying career in the F-86 and F-100 flying at various posts throughout the United States and Europe. He later served three combat tours, completing 452 combat sorties, first in the F-100 at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, the F-4 at Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, and then in Cambodia for two years to fly things with propellers on them and, through a fluke in communications timing, to personally run the air war for a few weeks.

He has also served two tours at the United States Space and Missile System Organization (SAMSO) at Los Angeles, California working first in the Satellites Control Facility and later as a staff developmental engineer for the space shuttle. In his expansive career he has seen service as an Air Attaché to the United States Embassy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia and also as Chief of Test Control Branch at the Air Development and Test Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. He also served as an instructor at the Air Force's Squadron Officer School.

During his flying career he has logged over 4300 hours of flying time, 1084 of those in combat missions in the F-100, F-4, C-47 and U-10 over North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He has flown 30 different aircraft.

His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, Air Medal with twenty four oak leaf clusters, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, Cambodian Divisional Medal, and numerous Vietnam Campaign ribbons. He completed jump school with the Special Forces at Bad Tolz, Germany. Later, he jumped with and was awarded Cambodian paratrooper wings. He also flew with and received Cambodian pilot wings.

After leaving the Air Force he lived in Europe to establish and direct international operations for the sale of spares for combat aircraft. He has flown many foreign aircraft such as the Swedish Viggen and Royal Air Force Jaguar and Hawk. He also established Berent and Woods Inc, a firm that managed many aviation related activities.

Over the years he had published numerous articles for such publications as Air Force Magazine and the Washington Times and for 18 years wrote a monthly pilot/reporter column for the Asian Defense Journal. Under the name Berent Sandberg he and Peter Sandberg collaborated on three novels. He now has five Vietnam air war flying novels in print, Rolling Thunder, Steel Tiger, Phantom Leader, Eagle Station, and Storm Flight.

Berent states it is never too late for any endeavor: he published the first of his five books at age 58, ran his first Marathon at 59, bought a T-6 warbird and flew in airshows at 64, and rode in his first cattle roundup in Montana at 74.
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"Powerful!" --- Publishers Weekly

"The pride of the Air Force. The challenge of Vietnam."

"A taut, exciting tale of good men in a bad war. Berent is the real thing." --- Tom Clancy

"Rolling Thunder is terrific - a novel of exceptional authenticity that hits like a thunderclap. A decorated Vietnam pilot, Mark Berent knows planes and men and battle, and he whirls them around in a story of uncommon strength. I can't wait for his next book." --- W.E.B. Griffin, best-selling author of Brotherhood of War and The Corps

"Mark Berent writes with great authority and utter realism, immersing the reader in his characters' every sensation and emotion." --- Dale Brown, best-selling author of Flight of the Old Dog and Silver Tower

"The fighter pilot's war - you love it and hate it at the same time, and Mark Berent writes it that way." --- Stephen Coonts, best-selling author of Flight of the Intruder

"Berent tells it like it was!" --- Chuck Yeager

"The best Vietnam air novel I have read. Berent captures the essence of flying men at war, their agony, emotions, courage, and triumph." --- Brigadier General Robin Olds