Author Description

<p><b>Strategy and reality collide in Peter Fey's gripping history of aircraft carrier USS <i>Oriskany</i>'s three deployments to Vietnam with Carrier Air Wing 16 (CVW-16).</b> Its tours coincided with the most dangerous phases of Operation Rolling Thunder, the ill-fated bombing campaign against North Vietnam, and accounted for a quarter of all the naval aircraft lost during Rolling Thunder--the highest loss rate of any carrier air wing during Vietnam.<br> <br> The Johnson administration's policy of gradually applied force meant that <i>Oriskany</i> arrived on station just as previous restrictions were lifted and bombing raids increased. As a result CVW-16 pilots paid a heavy price as they ventured into areas previously designated off-limits by Washington, DC. Named after one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, the <i>Oriskany</i> lived up to its name. After two years of suffering heavy losses, the ship caught fire--a devastating blow given the limited number of carriers deployed. With only three months allotted for repairs, <i>Oriskany</i> deployed a third and final time and ultimately lost more than half of its aircraft and more than a third of its pilots.<br> <br> <b>The valor and battle accomplishments displayed by <i>Oriskany</i>'s aviators are legendary, but the story of their service has been lost in the disastrous fray of the war itself. Fey portrays the <i>Oriskany</i> and its heroes in an indelible memorial to the fallen of CVW-16 in hopes that the lessons learned from such strategic disasters are not forgotten in today's sphere of war-bent politics.</b><br> </p>