Sherman Lead: Flying the F-4D Phantom II in Vietnam

by Gaillard R. Peck Jr., Dan Druen (Foreword by), Richard E. Hawley (Foreword by)

Overview

Sherman Lead is the gripping story of a year flying the F-4 Phantom in combat during the Vietnam War, told through the eyes of a US Air Force fighter pilot. Operating out of Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand in 1968–69, Gail Peck and his squadronmates were tasked with flying combat missions into North Vietnam and Laos at this time as part of Operations Rolling Thunder and Steel Tiger.

The F-4 was heavily involved in the air-to-ground mission at this time, with targets being well defended by enemy anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles. Gail Peck's arrival in-theater coincided with the beginning of electro-optical and laser guided "smart" bomb combat operations. There were periods of fierce combat interspersed with lulls and the fighting was intense and unforgettable to those who participated. Some men lived through it, and others died without a clear understanding of why.

Written by a pilot who flew near-daily combat missions, this engrossing book is the story of one man, his colleagues, and his machine—the mighty F-4 Phantom—at war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472829375
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	340,921
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Gaillard R Peck Jr. is an Air Force Academy graduate and retired US Air Force colonel. He graduated top of his class during pilot training, but was denied his career goal of a fighter assignment, instead being retained as an instructor. F-4 training eventually followed this initial interval, along with an immediate combat assignment to the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. He subsequently flew 163 combat missions, many of which were conducted at night, and was awarded the Silver Star and three Distinguished Flying Crosses. He later served as an instructor in the MiG-17 and later both the F-5E and MiG-21 as a 'Red Eagles' aggressor pilot in the program known as Constant Peg. His career continued with assignments to Saudi Arabia during the Iran/Iraq War and as an operational F-15 Eagle pilot and commander in Japan. Peck retired from active duty in 1988, and since 1998 he has been an F-15C, F-22, and Special Ops academic instructor at the USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments /Foreword /Introduction /Prologue /1. So how did we get mixed up in Vietnam? /2. Getting into fighters /3. Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, the 433rd TFS and a Taste of Combat with Electro-Optically Guided Bombs /4. Party Suits and Howdy Hats /5. Dumb Bomb Combat Almost Every Day /6. Snakes and Lizards and Golf /7. Night Combat with Brian McMahan and Norm ‘Phenius’ Fogg /8. Christmas Day 1968 – a Combat Mission and then Christmas Dinner with the Grays /9. Laser-Guided Bombs /10. A Bad Night – Sherman Lead is Down /11. The Club, R&R and LBFMs /12. Silver Star Mission /13, Plain de Jars and the area known as Barrel Roll /14. Jeb Stewart is Down /15. Paul Bannon and Peter Pike – Down /16. ‘Poppa Wolf’, Ray Battle, Brings One Home /17. Men on the Moon /18. A Broken Jaw, a Cancelled Assignment and a ‘Dear John’ Letter /19. Sherman Lead Repatriated – At Last /Postscript /Index

Editorial Reviews

02/25/2019

In his second military memoir, a tech-heavy work, retired Air Force Colonel Peck (America’s Secret MiG Squadron) writes about his experiences flying F-4D Phantom II jet fighters during his 1968–1969 Vietnam War tour of duty. An Air Force Academy graduate whose nickname was “Evil,” Peck received the Silver Star for his actions in a January 1969 mission during which he “was subjected to some of the most intense and accurate antiaircraft artillery fire ever experienced by aircrews” in the Vietnam War. The book includes details about what life was like for Peck and his fellow pilots and crew at their headquarters at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base (including their trips in borrowed jeeps to their favorite tailor, Raja Wongse, who made them custom flight suits and embroidered shirts, followed by “a rub and a scrub” at a bathhouse), his R&Rs and “other escapades” in Bangkok and Honolulu, and a few long passages describing bombing missions written by his pilot systems operator Steve Mosier. The text is heavy on acronyms and technical terms (“Our weapons loads consisted of CBU-/s, Mk s with and without fuse extenders, and... SUU- flare dispensers”) and contains the occasional diagram of a flight path or bomb targeting strategy. The slice of life details are nice, but this will appeal mostly to readers interested in the technical aspects of aerial warfare. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

“Sherman Lead” will bring home to readers the stark reality of waging an air war against a determined enemy. I highly recommend this book to those interested the tough battle that was fought to stop the infiltration of men and supplies into South Vietnam” —Colonel Gary Baber, USAF, Retired

“Gail Peck writes as well as he flies and tells it like it was. I flew with Colonel Peck in combat and he is the real deal both in the air and on the page” —Ed Cobleigh, Author of 'F-4 Phantom: A Pilot's Story'

“If you want a deep dive into what it was like to fly fighters, Sherman Lead gives you a view of the Air War experienced by Satan's Angels pilots and WSOs.” —Steve Mosier, F-4 Phantom Pilot

“Peck's stories are compelling. Peck's stories are true. And how would I know? I was there.” —Mike Davison, F-4 Phantom WSO

"[Peck’s] deeply personal and starkly honest memoir of his year as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War captures those realities in a series of vignettes. It is the perspective of a gung-ho junior officer staring down death on 163 combat missions, many flown at night." - Aviation History

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