Hornet 33: Memoir of a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam

Hornet 33 by Ed Deny is both a memoir about the authors year as a slick pilot in Vietnam and also a glimpse into the mind of someone who greatly suffers from PTSD.To be honest the first 7-8 chapters of this book are very tough going and I nearly stopped reading this book before getting that far. Most of this section of the book deals mainly with the authors PTSD and although interesting to glimpse into someone's mind and see what they are thinking, dreaming and how it affects them it is hard to slog through especially with all the repetitiveness going on in this first few chapters.Repetitive writing is in fact a theme running throughout this book. The same thing are said over and over. The author may be trying to get a point across or indeed hammer it home however it does detract quite a bit from the flow of the narrative.If you can make it past the first section the book does get a lot better and the author details some of his flights, thoughts and feelings. Some are described in fairly graphic detail but nothing too bad, especially when you consider what you see on TV and in movies nowadays.Overall a good read once barring the first few chapters and the repetitiveness of the text.

To me, there's no greater first-person book about flying slicks in Vietnam than Chickenhawk. Since reading Chickenhawk, I compare similar books to the Chickenhawk standard. I've gone through several first-person Vietnam books looking for the same satisfaction as what I experienced with Chickenhawk and, until Hornet 33, none came close. I enjoyed Hornet 33 even though there's fewer mission-specific stories and more on how the author went from being innocent boy from El Paso to being forever changed and hardened. While the missions are fewer, they're dramatic. The one at the end of the book will have you exhausted from feeling his stress. He gives us a glimpse into why Vietnam vets come home with troubling visions and suffering from survivors guilt. You understand better what's going through the minds of homeless veterans. I was in Vietnam in 1968. U.S. Army. But I wasn't a grunt. I was a technician assigned to a little compound in the Cha Rang (spelling?) valley about 15km west from the central coastal city of Qhi Nhon. We were sitting ducks and we went through a number of rocket attacks. Somehow, I came home pretty normal but a buddy that was there with me still hears the helicopters in his sleep. Same place with the same experiences, but my friend and I present two different emotional states today. Chickenhawk and Hornet 33 (pronounced Hornet Three Three) are a complementary pair that, together, gives you a broader understanding of the war experience.

Hornet 33, or Ed Denny if you wish, fought one hell of a war. The man performed with honor and fulfilled the mission to the max. BUT, oh my god what he had to go through. A gifted Army Aviator, he did his job with a Huey strapped to his butt. He became IP for the 116th AHC and went to safety school. He flew some easy missions and a lot of dangerous ones. In his year in country, 33 saw and experienced fighting and death, especially death of close friends. One, a home town boy, was blown out of the sky 10 minutes after they'd renewed their acquaintance at the POL. This reminiscence is his valiant and cathartic effort to get beyond the PTSD he lived with for years after Vietnam. I want to believe he has found a place of stability if not peace. Hell, of course it would take a lifetime to come to grips with what happened on his very last flight in Vietnam, er, um Laos. Hand salute to Hornet 33.

I've read literally hundreds of books written by veterans telling of their personal experiences in Vietnam. Whether written by a grunt, a helicopter pilot, a jet pilot, a doctor or a nurse, every story is unique and deserves to be told. I particularly enjoyed Hornet 33. Ed Denny tells his story on a very personal level, with no hype and virtually no political views. His writing exposes the raw gut wrenching emotions he experienced as a combat helicopter pilot. At times the story had me laughing out loud, and at other times, I found myself reading with tears running down my cheeks realizing the inhumanity and horror experienced so often by Hornet 33, a very moral and decent human being. I highly recommend this book!

As a former US Navy member and almost-aviator, I enjoy reading books about military aviation, particularly WW2 and Vietnam. The typical Navy stories involve what I call the brotherhood of war, shared suffering, courage, excitement, near-misses and some losses. When a death or killing occurs it is usually at some distance--a bomb kills some unknown persons; a pilot is never seen again. Ed Denny's stories are quite different. There is nothing glorious about his war. The death he witnesses (and causes) are up close, bloody, terrifying. The deaths of his friends are personal. The war in Vietnam was horrific for many. It's no wonder so many veterans suffer from PTSD. Denny's horrors got only worse as his year in Vietnam progressed, ending in an unimaginable battle for survival at what was supposed to be a routine flight.There is nothing glorious about Denny's war. It was awful, dirty, bloody, wasteful, insane.

Episodic in style with vignettes or longer passages describing events from initial deployment to arriving back in the US. Less technical in nature compared to Robert Mason's Chickenhawk that successfully described a high-level "How to" experience of flying the amazing Bell UH 1 ("Huey") utility helicopter. However, the experience of life under constant fire with a dwindling roll call of experienced pilots is well written and compelling.Completely unprepared for the Author's final revelation of what took place on that hill during the death throes of the Tchepone Operation in 1970. One of many brave, always young, soldiers forced to execute a redundant foreign policy decision based on hubris and political capital.Then left to carry their burdens with little to no support or outright contempt from the very society they were sent to defend,As you can tell by this last part of the review, the author succeeded in creating an emotional resonance with me as the reader. Worth your time.

I can't recommend this account of the war highly enough. The writing style might not be of the highest traditions of high literature, but the content disks for itself.'Action overload' might be s strap line for this book - I really don't know how the author coped with everything he went through. I have to admire his fortitude, and his candour.One is left at the end of this book with an overwhelming feeling of sadness at the waste of life. All those young men with unrealised potential, all those families having to bear this great sadness all their lives.Well done, Ed, you made a fascinating read, without glorifying war.

Wow! I thought I'd read every Vietnam helicopter pilot book out there and then I stumbled across this book. What a story, and what a jaw-dropping climax. I was literally stunned at the end. This is a really good book and I strongly recommend it if you like your military aviation. The author recalls the emotional problems his 1-year​ tour left him with and the stories he recants I can certainly sympathise with what he's seen. I wish him all the best, and thank him for an interesting and honest story.

This book tells the extraordinary tale of a Warrant Office/pilot during the Vietnam war. With the daily routine and the heightened stress of a helicopter pilot dominating life for a while year the man had to live for the moment. That is all he had. Folks back home could never understand. Interesting and well told story.

Utterly readable account of one man's tour as a 'Slick' helicopter pilot in Vietnam - down to earth honest and redolent with the smell of the fear, tensìon and horror that accompanied front line Huey flying in an ultimately pointless war.