best mil+aviation writers?

After an exhausting session with Victoria's Secret Police, Guy Alcala
confessed the following:

I'll take "Going Downtown" over "Thud Ridge".

I've read Thud Ridge at least 6 times, but Going Downtown only once. I
was put off with a minor detail, his description of an RF-101
shootdown in Nov 1964. He sorta kinda has the name right, Bert Walls
(IIRC) is actually Burt Waltz (currently residing near Hickam AFB)
and some of the cavalier attitude (IMO) he attributed to BW is not how
Burt remembers it.

Burt does blame his tactics, the target he got shotdown over had a
37mm site which was credited with downing an F-100 (William Martin
KIA) that was escorting an RF-101 three days prior. Just before
starting engines Burt was handed an additional target (this gunsite
road intersection) by his Det Commander George Hall. This target was
very close to Burt's last planned target, so the bad guys were given a
heads up. Instead of leaving the area and coming back in 10-15
minutes, Burt flew a wide arc above an undercast around the north side
to the east for an East-West photo run.

Burt flat out says he (obviously) didn't get far enough away and the
gunners lit him up as soon as he descended through the cloud deck. His
jet was engulfed in flames but ejected unscathed. His parachute
descent ended about 80-100' up in the trees. He damn near killed
himself when then locally modified personal lowering device (just a
long piece of rope) that he had poorly tied to a limb, gave way with
Burt about 75' above the ground.

Happy ending all around, an Air America helo rescued him. He even has
pictures of himself laying on the floor of the helo. It took over a
year to get back on flying status.

Alas I donated "Going Downtown," to my local library. Guy, unlike you
I buy lots of books, parting with them is almost unthinkable, no
qualms with GD.

As would I. Gene Basel's "Pak Six" is okay, but less informative in the areas
of interest to me..

I also like Al Lenski's "Magic 100."

You've left out "Alpha Strike Vietnam," a chronological collection by year of
firsthand accounts. Kind of like "Fast Movers," but unlike most such
collections, this one concentrates on the attack pilots flying
A-1/A-4/A-6/A-7, irather than the fighters.

I enjoyed ASV, couldn't finish FM (and yet I liked Sherwood's Korean
effort "Offiecers in flight Suits."). FM suffered the same fate as GD
and now resides in a local library.

I really enjoyed was George Marrett's "Cheating Death," combined with
Byron Hukee's http://skyraider.org/hook/ and Tilford's "The USAF
Search and Rescue in SEA," they make a good trio.

Linking up with that, Anthony Thornborough's non-fiction book
"Iron Hand: Smashing the Enemy's Air Defenses" is a must read...

Agree.

Juavt