Hosted by PJs in Vietnam
Last Update: Monday, July 20, 2009

 

Site Mission:
Provide Pararescue
and
Air Rescue History

Dedicated to USAF men and women, past and present,
who go into harms way to save lives.
 Their motto is "That Others May Live"

 

 

Books About PJs and Air Rescue

 

In December 1994, two gargantuan rogue waves struck the Salvador Allende, knocking down the 450-foot cargo ship in the mid-Atlantic. In the darkness and howling winds, in the midst of a horrific, impenetrable storm, the terrified survivors clung to their lives by the thinnest of threads-out of contact and out of the reach of any ship afloat.

A thousand miles away, one of the world's most elite rescue teams scrambled into action...

This is the gripping and unforgettable true adventure of an astonishing rescue at sea -- a tale of the unparalleled courage and skill of men who endured a record-breaking fifteen-hour, non-stop helicopter ride through bone-jarring turbulence to carry out a mission on the ragged edge of impossibility. It is the story of a unit of the New York Air National Guard, the 106th Rescue Wing, which includes the famed PJs, the Pararescuemen, whose training is so rigorous and standards so high that only a dedicated handful qualify to join; heroes without peer who were willing to brave a maelstrom of forty-foot waves and schools of killer sharks, to risk their own lives "so that others may live."

Paperback book
Length:330 pages
Height:6.8 in.
Width:3.3 in.
Thickness:0.8 in.
Weight:6.4 oz.
Includes 16 pages of authentic photographs.
 

 

 

 
 

 

THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE – THE REAL LIFE HEROES OF THE PERFECT STORM BY SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT JACK BREHM AND PETE NELSON.

 

‘YOU GOTTA PICK SOMEONE UP IN A HELICOPTER, PEOPLE ARE SHOOTING AT YOU – YOU GOING TO SIT DOWN AND REST? YOU GOING OUT ON SICK CALL? IT’S NOT AN OPTION. MAYBE YOU DIE – SO WHAT? AT LEAST YOU DIED DOING SOMETHING WORTHWHILE.’

SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT JACK BREHM IS A PARARESCUE JUMPER OR ‘PJ’. LITTLE-KNOWN, MULTI-SKILLED AND ASTONISHINGLY BRAVE, THE PJ’S PRIMARY MISSION IS THE RESCUE OF PILOTS SHOT DOWN BEHIND ENEMY LINES. THESE ARE THE UNSUNG HEROES WHO SWIM THROUGH MONSTER-SIZED WAVES OR WHO DANGLE PRECARIOUSLY OVER RAGING SEAS. IT WAS JACK BREHM WHO COORDINATED THE RESCUE EFFORTS THAT WERE CHRONICLED IN THE BESTSELLING BOOK THE PERFECT STORM.


 

Senior Master Sergeant Jack Brehm is a pararescue jumper, or a PJ. He is one of the select few members of the US Air Force who have made it through the intensive, gruelling physical and mental endurance tests known as the Pipeline. Little-known, multi-skilled and astonishingly brave, the PJs’ primary mission is the rescue of pilots shot down behind enemy lines. They are the unsung heroes who swim through monster-sized waves or who dangle precariously over raging seas. It was Jack Brehm who coordinated the rescue efforts that were chronicled in the bestselling book The Perfect Storm.

 

That Others May Live not only tells the story of Jack’s life but also shares the stories of fellow PJs, living and dead, who made careers of saving apparently doomed lives, at huge risk to themselves. Thrilling, shocking and utterly compelling, this is real-life heroic action-adventure at its fascinating best.

 

Published: 2001

 

 

An inside look at the Air Force's pararescue operations in Afghanistan chronicles the exploits of the 71st Rescue Squadron as the PJs rescue the crew of a crashed plane from a site 10,000 feet in the Hindu Kush mountains, make a nighttime parachute jump into the heart of an Afghan minefield, and take part in Operation Anaconda.

Author:
Michael Hirsh
Publisher:
Nal Caliber
Category:
History
ISBN:
0451212959
Format: Hardcover and Softcover
Publication Year:
2004

 

 


This behind-the-scenes look at an elite pararescue unit based in Alaska examines their training, the extreme conditions under which they work, and actual life-and-death situations to which they respond--which include high mountain rescue.


AN AWESOME TRUE ADVENTURE!  The Heroic Story of Parajumpers On The Edge Of The World... by Bob Drury, Published by Simon & Schuster, 2001... From jacket of book... Because of their low profile, the Air Force's parajumpers, or PJs, are the Special Forces you've never heard of.  Now their remarkable achievements are revealed for the first time in this thrilling account of one season in the life of Alaska's 210th Pararescue Swuadron, the only PJ team devoted to civilian rescues. The lives of countless men and somen-mountaineers trapped on immense 20,320 feet Denali massif, fishermen adrift in the chaos of Bering Strait, lost hunters wandering the endless tundra, and even Navy Seals freezing to death on a glacier the size of Rhode Island- are the responsibility of this uncommonly trained, close-knit unit of thirty citizen-soldiers.............. 

Author: Bob Drury
Publisher: Simon & Shuster
Category:
History
ISBN:
0684864797
Format: Hardcover and Softcover
Publication Year:
2001
 
 

Special Forces: War on Terrorism in Afghanistan

Eric Micheletti, well known editor of Raids Magazine in France is an internationally respected special Forces expert. In this spectacular new book he gives a day by day objective and highly documented explanation of the use of American, British, French and Australian Special Forces in the campaign in Afghanistan from 2001-2003.  Smaller units from Canada, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Germany, Turkey and other countries are shown as well.

All of the key operators are profiled: US Army Special Forces, Special Operations Aviation, Rangers, Delta, PSYOPS, Civil Affairs, USN Seals, USAF Special Operations, Air Combat Controllers, Pararescue, and the CIA.

The book is full of color illustrations, showing operations, equipment, uniforms and weapons of these elite troops.  The author uses laser sharp photographs from the field as well as reconstructions of soldiers and their typical equipment. 


Author: Eric Micheletti
Publisher:
Category:
History
ISBN:
2913903908 
Format: Hardcover
144 pages

9.3 x 12.4 inch format
Publication Year:

 

 
 

In today's war on terror, they make it happen.  Flying into enemy territory under cover of darkness, evading radar by flying feet above the ground, landing where the enemy least expects them, and armed and ready to fight their way out again---these sky raiders deliver US fighters, US firepower, and secret operatives the world over---and they've been doing it since WWII.  In FROM A DARK SKY, author Orr Kelly takes you into the top secret world of the US Air Force Special Operation Teams---men who are trained to swim like Navy SEALS, attack like the Army's DELTA FORCE, and fight like hell anytime and everytime.  In WWII, they were know as Carpetbaggers, making daring drops from B-24 bombers into Europe and ripping through the jungles of Burma and the Philippines in light, fixed-wing aircraft.  In Vietnam, they were "sheep-dipped"---stripped of their commissions, their uniforms, and any formal connection with the USAF---before launching secret missions in converted trainers and O-1 Bird Dogs.  In recent times, these elite warriors have spearheaded America's invasion of Panama and led the way into Iraq.  Whether their specialty is combat control or pararescue, whether they are Carpetbaggers, Ravens, or Nimrods---they are the elite of the Air Force and FROM A DARK SKY is their compelling story.  With photos.

Author: Orr Kelly
Publisher:
Category:
History
ISBN:

Format: Paperback
348 pages
Publication Year: 1977
 
 

 



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On 31 May 1968, Lt. Kenny Fields catapulted off USS America in his A-7 for his first combat mission. His target was in Laos, which at the time was “offcially” off-limits for U.S. attacks. What the planners did not know was that Fields and his wingman were en route to a massive concentration of AAA gun sites amidst an entire North Vietnamese division. Fields—call sign Streetcar 304—was the first to roll in and destroyed the target with a direct hit. Three AAA guns began to fire, but, following his wingman, he rolled in again. This time many more AAA guns opened up and Fields was shot down.

The Rescue of Streetcar 304 is Fields’ exhilarating narrative of the 40-hour ordeal that followed, and what turned out to be one of the largest air rescues of the Vietnam War. Fields recounts close encounters with Pathet Lao guerillas and nearly being killed time and again by friendly bombs. He describes in riveting detail the radio chatter between participants and the stress effects of coping with fear, no food, the jungle heat, wild animals, and sleep deprivation. Before it was over, the U.S. Air Force had flown 189 sorties to rescue Fields, and in the process four pilots had ejected, seven planes were lost or heavily damaged, and one pilot became a POW for five years.

Author: Kenny Wayne Fields
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 978-1-59114-272-0
Format: Soft Cover, 6"x9", 32 photos, 2 maps
384 pages
Publication year: 2007

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Numerous parts of this website require Adobe Acrobat. Click the Get Acrobat Reader link to the left to download a free copy. © Copyright 1999 Robert L. LaPointe. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, in any form or medium, without the expressed written permission of Robert L. LaPointe is Prohibited
 

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