ORDERS TO VIETNAM: A Novel of Helicopter Warfare

Helicopter warfare in Vietnam without civilians, napalm, goofballs, television cameras, ideological discussion (except a few World War II leftovers) or any resentment (or even recognition) of opposition in the United States. A West Point dropout drafted by the Army, Bill Byrnes knows he's an anomaly as well as a ""shame"" to his father, Major General Wilson Campbell Byrnes. His father's rejection is cancelled when the army brat makes Warrant Officer Junior Grade (Army Aviation School) but Bill intends only to pay his two-year dues and then exit into a marine biology career. In addition to the running battle with his father, there's the other war, the rather studied killing off of new friends, his successive promotions and one DFC. His (higher ranking) buddies lack color, and the only questioning of why they are there is ""answered"" with this vague retort: ""I can think of lots worse ways to buy the farm. . . . Such as dying of starvation, or wounds, or being driven out of your mind by fatherly Uncle Ho."" Straining the credibility gap (especially the holiday air in Hawaii), misrepresenting the tiger-lily.