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Chickenhawk Paperback – 24 Aug. 1984
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Robert Mason
(Author)
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Print length400 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherCorgi
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Publication date24 Aug. 1984
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Reading ageBaby and up
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Dimensions12.7 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
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ISBN-100552124192
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ISBN-13978-0552124195
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Product description
Review
Compelling... A hypnotic narrative ― The New York Times
Chickenhawk is one bloody, painfully honest and courageous book -- Martin Cruz Smith, author
The best book to come out of Vietnam -- John Del Vecchio, author of The 13th Valley
From the Back Cover
As a child, Robert Mason dreamed of levitating. As a young man, he dreamed of flying helicopters - and the U.S. Army gave him his chance.
They sent him to Vietnam where, between August 1965 and July 1966, he flew more than 1,000 assault missions. In Chickenhawk, Robert Mason gives us a devastating bird's eye-view of that war in all its horror, as he experiences the accelerating terror, the increasingly desperate courage of a man 'acting out the role of a hero long after he realises that the conduct of the war is insane,' says the New York Times, 'And we can't stop ourselves from identifying with it.'
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : Corgi; paperback / softback edition (24 Aug. 1984)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0552124192
- ISBN-13 : 978-0552124195
- Reading age : Baby and up
- Dimensions : 12.7 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 13,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer reviews:
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About the author

Robert Mason was born in Plainfield, NJ in March 1942 and moved to DelRay Beach, FL as a small child. He grew upon a chicken farm, dreaming of flying, earned his fixed wing pilot's license in high school, dropped out of the University of Florida after two years and joined the Army to learn to fly helicopters. He spent a 1965-66 in Vietnam flying a Huey slick in B, 229, 1st Cav and the 48th Aviation Co. He wrote his best selling memoir, Chickenhawk, seventeen years later. Weapon, a novel about a military robot who wouldn't obey orders followed, then Chickenhawk: Back in the World, about the difficulties he faced after the war, and Solo, a sequel to Weapon in which Solo moves to NYC, thinking he will fit in.
Customer reviews
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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The book tells the tale of Robert Masons time in Vietnam as a pilot of a Huey helicopter. He serves a 12 month stint there which was the normal length of service for a US soldier. The author has a good sense of humour and great wit, he regales some great stories and I quite often found myself laughing out loud. Of course this is a book about war and he does not pull any punches here. He describes in detail many many stories and sights that people will find harrowing. Painting vivid and graphic pictures of how young men died. He describes the overall feeling of futility from the war, about how the people they are there to 'supposedly' save, the Vietnamese people, don't seem to want them there at all. Quite often Robert finds it difficult to tell whether the Vietnamese people he crosses paths with are enemy or foe.
The book explains a lot the complexities of flying a helicopter under constant fire and enemy attack. Some people would argue that the helicopter pilots had it easy. I would not agree with this. I imagine it takes a huge amount of bravery to fly a large helicopter, which is a big target, into a hot LZ that is under attack from machine guy fire, mortars and heavy machine guns. Robert explains the toll this takes on his mental state.
If you are looking for a good book about the Vietnam war, and about the Huey, which was heavily used in the Vietnam war. This is the book for you.
I heard a radio interview with Robert Mason a few days ago. Chickenhawk? I recalled reading the book all those years ago and how it moved me profoundly then. I grew up around military helicopters, my father was a helicopter engineer in the army.
After reading Mason's account of his time in the war, flying the fabled Huey helicopters, the writing still has the same effect. Mason writes with brutal and frank honesty. It is visceral and raw. Death becomes a routine encumbrance, taking hits to the aircraft expected.
A shocking indictment on the folly of war and the madness of a war that cost over 58000 US lives and millions of Vietnamese civilians and combatants.
A sobering book and one I strongly recommend.








