Moral Imperative

"This book does an outstanding job in addressing the search and rescue (SAR) efforts of the US Air Force and US Navy during the last year of the war in which US forces were still engaged in combat. This was a period that has not been covered extensively in other histories of the war, and the author puts the SAR story in the larger context of what was happening on the ground, particularly during the 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. Impressively documented, this book is strongly recommended."--James H. Willbanks, professor emeritus, US Army Command and General Staff College, Vietnam veteran, and author of Abandoning Vietnam "American combat pilots live with the possibility of being shot down over enemy territory, but this comes with the understanding that every possible attempt will be made to secure their rescue. In Moral Imperative: 1972, Combat Rescue, and the End of America's War in Vietnam, Darrel Whitcomb deftly demonstrates the ends to which rescue crews were willing to go to save a downed airman or aviator. Whitcomb shows the almost daily struggle of the men who flew the Sandys, Jolly Greens, Big Mothers, and a host of others who were willing to put it all on the line to bring their comrades out of harm's way. Whitcomb has written the definitive work on search and rescue during the Vietnam War. Moral Imperative is comprehensive and well researched but also an amazing tale of gallantry and sacrifice."--Brian Laslie, author of The Air Force Way of War: U.S. Tactics and Training after Vietnam