Two days of Rolling Thunder

Two Days of Rolling Thunder is a compelling non-fiction tale dating back to the Vietnam War. Focused on the first day of the two-day air strike against the Thai Nguyen [tie new-WEN] steel mill, North Vietnam, during Operation ROLLING THUNDER, March 1967.

A United States Air Force F-105 Thunderchief pilot in the midst of his tour of duty in 1967, Deas talks the reader through the first day of strikes - and in particular, the mission that he flew - using a truly unique literary approach.

Deas addresses the reader as though they were a new F-105 pilot. He guides them through the first day, from mission planning to mission execution and subsequent debrief. In doing so, he candidly gives the reader the opportunity to understand the emotions, thoughts and fears that fighter pilots during the Vietnam War grappled with every day.

The text provides a rare insight into the harrowing experience of combat in the skies of North Vietnam, whether that be the unsettling thoughts that enter the mind at breakfast time when the mission lies ahead, or the raw emotion that is felt over the target while flack bursts all around.

The day on which Deas' story is told (10 March, 1967), and the mission that the author so candidly talks the reader through, proved seminal in the history of air combat. It was on this day and this mission that one Congressional Medal of Honor and one Air Force Cross would be won, that two MiGs would fall to the 20-mm cannon of a single F-105, that the famous "Pardo's Push" would take place, and that two F-105 crew members would start their journeys as long-time PoWs.