Rolling Thunder – Historical Novel Kindle ebook Marketing by Mark Berent
Rolling
Thunder – Free Kindle ebook by Mark Berent
Read About USAF Fighter Pilot “Duck Call” Donnie
Higgens.
Since duck calls are rather newsworthy these days, you might find it
interesting to read about Captain Donny Higgens and his use of a duck call in
combat. He plays a major role in my Wings
of War five-book series (which I wrote in the late 80s) beginning with the
free book Rolling Thunder.
Rolling Thunder is an historical fiction
novel of war and politics during the Vietnam air war.
Tom Clancy
calls it "a taut, exciting tale of good men in a bad war." W.E.B. Griffin calls
it "a novel of exceptional authenticity that hits like a thunderclap." Dale
Brown calls it a novel of "great authority and utter realism". It is all of
that, and more: an electrifying novel of men at war in Vietnam, the White
House, and the Pentagon.
With over
200 reviews, Rolling Thunder has a 4.6 rating.
Mark
Berent is admirably suited to write these five historical fiction novels for he
lived each story. He served four years and one day in Vietnam during the period
from November 1965 until August 1973.
As a
captain he flew 265 missions in the F-100 in 1966 from Bien Hoa Air Base in
South Vietnam. While off duty he flew with FACs in their O-1 aircraft to better
understand the war. He also spent much time with the Special Forces' III Corps
Mike Force including going on patrol with them in the Loc Ninh area.
His next
tour was as a major flying F-4Ds out of Ubon Air Base in Thailand. He flew over
200 missions, first as a flight commander in the Night Owl Squadron then as
commander of the famous Wolf FACs. Both units flew over North Vietnam and all of
Laos. Berent spent hundreds of hours over the Ho Chi Minh Trail both as a night
strike pilot and as a fast FAC controlling strikes against guns and trucks he
found on the Trail.
As a
lieutenant colonel he served from July 1971 to August 1973, first as assistant
air attaché then as air attaché, in the US Embassy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (the
Khmer Republic). While there, besides flying hundreds of hours in the U-10 and
C-47 gathering vital intelligence, he also logged time with the Khmer Air
Force in their T-28, 0-1, UH-1, and AC-47 aircraft.
Additionally, he spent much time with Khmer ground forces teaching them
to use air power. In January 1973 when the war was over in Vietnam for U.S.
forces, all of the massive air power resources were made available for use in
Cambodia to support the Khmer Army until August 15th when the last mission was
flown. Due to a fluke in timing, the USAF command post in Saigon was unable to
immediately shift full command to its new site in Thailand. During that period,
Berent and his team ran the air war in Cambodia from a most unusual place.
Mark Berent had three tours of
combat in Southeast Asia and is the holder of the Silver Star, two DFCs, the
Bronze Star, 25 Air Medals, Legion of Merit, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry,
and the Cambodian Divisional Medal.