Aeroscouts

Charles Holley, a West Texas kid who took his first plane trip to basic training and then flew helicopters during some of the deadliest action in Vietnam, tells a story inspired by his personal narrative of events and people from his time as a Warrant Officer Aviator in this military biography.

Delta Troop 2/1st Cavalry Regiment (Air) and Warrant Officer Charles Holley arrived at Pleiku in 1968 with one mission: locate the enemy. Their method: use scouts as bait.

Flying Light Observation Helicopters called Loaches, skimming the treetops until they drew fire, Holley and his fellow scouts became the point men for Huey transports and Cobra gunships at some of the hottest spots of the Vietnam war.

Driving their loaches to incredible fears, they had what it took to stare down the barrel of a hostile gun at twenty feet, follow trains behind enemy lines, and fly into the middle of a firefight to evacuate infantry troops.

From stateside training to being shot down twice in a single day, Holley has written an unforgettable chronicle of daring aerial exploits and incredible courage—of men and machines pushed to new limits in a war that constantly asked for more.