A riveting Vietnam War story--and one of the most dramatic in aviation
history--told by a New York Times bestselling author and a prominent
aviation historian
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 seven long 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 and enemy
MiG planes. Many American airmen were shot down, killed, or captured and
taken to the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" POW camp. 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 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, courage, audacity, and
sometimes luck, sometimes tragedy. The "bridge" story of Vietnam is an
epic tale of war against a determined foe.
