A-1 Skyraider in Vietnam: The Spad's Last War, The

Sea Power, Sep 2003 by Gardner, Sherry L

THE A-1 SKYRAIDER IN VIETNAM: The Spad's Last War, by Wayne Mutza, Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Military History, May 2003. 216 pp. $49.95. ISBN: 0-7643-1791-1. Wayne Mutza, author of several books and articles, served with the U.S. Army as an airborne infantryman, helicopter crew chief, instructor, and adviser to the Vietnamese Air Force.

During the Vietnam War, the Skyraider was flown by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, and the South Vietnamese Air Force, often at low-altitudes and in the face of sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses that resulted in heavy losses. Mutza looks not only at the plane, thought by many to have seen its heyday during the Korean War, but also at the warriors who flew it. Rich with the narratives of Spad pilots and ground crews, the book lays out the broad range of Spad operations with a detailed list of every Skyraider that flew in the war and the colorful units to which they were assigned. With 300-plus photographs, appendixes, bibliography, and notes.