Lieutenant Ryan "Rye" Enders arrives in Vietnam unassigned and selects a rear support First Cavalry artillery unit. He's dead wrong.
Armchair generals in Washington have devised an experiment, to drop his 6 1/2 ton guns and 127 men on the North Viet Army-a desperate gamble to win the war. Each mission from the sky has less chance of survival as Rye lifts his battery into brutal battles against the NVA, Russian tanks and artillery.
His guns destroy Hue during Tet, and then take-on troops, artillery, and tanks in Khe Sanh. He arrives on the abandoned marine base under fire and saves men left behind becoming the last American standing. Three weeks to departing, he airlifts two guns and twenty-seven men into the "Valley of Death"; a suicide mission. Will they make it out?
He and a triage nurse find love as "damaged goods".
Under Attack from his own air force, exposed to Agent Orange, he must reconcile the killer he's become and the futility of war.
The dialog and actions are real, experienced by the author in Vietnam, September 1967-8.
Hard Chargers from the Sky deals with one of the riskiest-and craziest-airmobile artillery operations in military history.
About the Author: Peter Barr Henry fought in Vietnam, 1967-8, as a battalion fire direction officer and Alpha battery executive officer, 1st/30th Artillery, First Cavalry Division, Airmobile. He led 127 men and 6 1/2 ton 155-mm howitzers into Hue during Tet, airlifted them into Khe Sanh, then the A Shau Valley in a suicide mission.
Henry received two Bronze Star medals for valor, a Bronze Star for meritorious service, and a Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star from the south Vietnamese government. His unit received multiple commendations. Upon departing Vietnam, he suffered from Agent Orange exposure and PTSD.
Henry is a graduate of St. Lawrence University with a BA in English and graduate work in economics and law. He is a member of an advanced writing group and has also has served in executive positions with technology companies. Henry is married with three children and two grandchildren, and resides in Palo Alto, California.
