Rolling Thunder

Author(s): Mark Berent

Location(s): Vietnam, Washington DC

Genre(s): Fiction, Suspense

Era(s): 1965-1973

In Rolling Thunder, the time is late 1965 and 1966 in war zone places such as Saigon, Hanoi, Bien Hoa, Da Nang, and Tahkli. Back in Washington, LBJ sits over lunch and personally picks bombing targets in an attempt to fight a limited war. In Vietnam the war knows no limits.
There, as the hostilities escalate, the fates of three men intertwine: USAF Captain Court Bannister, overshadowed by a famous movie star father who fought in WWII as a B-17 gunner, is driven to confront missiles, MiGs, and nerve-grinding bombing raids in order to prove his worth to his comrades — and to himself. Air Force First Lieutenant Toby Parker, fresh from a wealthy family in the States, who hooks up with an intelligence unit for a lark, quickly finds his innocence buried away by the lessons of war. Former Maryknoll seminarian, Special Forces Major Wolf Lochert, who ventures deep into the jungle to rescue a downed pilot — only to discover a face of the enemy for which he is unprepared.

Airline stewardesses come under attack when they are forced to spend the night on a fighter base in Vietnam after their airliner develops a problem. Bannister falls in love with stewardess Susan Doyle who later forces herself to withdraw from the relationship.

Through their eyes, and those of many others — pilots, soldiers, lovers, enemy agents, commanders, politicians, profiteers — Rolling Thunder shows us Vietnam as few other books have, or can. Berent captures all the intensity and drama of that searing war, and more, penetrates to the heart and soul of those who fought it. Rolling Thunder rings with authenticity.

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