LBJ's Hired Gun: A Marine Corps Helicopter Gunner and the War in Vietnam

Many Vietnam memoirs have appeared in recent years, but not a single one has the humor, pathos, poignancy, and often sheer hilarity of John J. Gebhart’s riveting LBJ’S Hired Gun. As Gebhart tells it, he was a “smart—mouthed college boy” who joined the Marines to see the world and “dust a few black pajamas for Uncle Sam.” Two grueling tours of duty later (1965—1967) he returned home as a sergeant after surviving 240 combat missions (12 air medals) and being shot down twice. On his chest was ...