The epic Vietnam War story of the multi-year air campaign to destroy
Ho Chi Minh's "Invincible" bridge--one of the most dramatic actions in
aviation history
Every war has its "bridge"--Old North Bridge at Concord, Burnside's
Bridge at Antietam, the railway bridge over Burma's River Kwai, the
bridge over Germany's Rhine River at Remagen, and the bridges over
Korea's Toko Ri. In Vietnam it was the bridge at Thanh Hoa, called
Dragon's Jaw. For many years hundreds of young US airmen flew sortie
after sortie against North Vietnam's formidable and strategically
important bridge, dodging a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft fire,
surface-to-air missiles and enemy fighters. Many American airmen were
shot down, killed, or captured and taken to the infamous POW prisons in
Hanoi. But after each air attack, when the smoke cleared and the debris
settled, the bridge stubbornly remained standing. For the North
Vietnamese it became a symbol of their invincibility; for US war
planners an obsession; for US airmen a testament to American mettle and
valor. Using after-action reports, official records, and interviews with
surviving pilots, as well as previously untapped Vietnamese sources,
Dragon's Jaw chronicles American efforts to destroy the bridge, strike
by bloody strike, putting readers into the cockpits, under fire. The
story of the Dragon's Jaw is a story rich in bravery, audacity,
sometimes luck and sometimes tragedy. The "bridge" story of Vietnam is
an epic tale of war against a determined foe.
