“The Vietnam War was the apex of naval aviation, and Peter Fey tells you why in this magnificent, superbly researched history of Air Wing 16 aboard USS Oriskany. Betrayed by politicians and senior military leadership in a no win war, the men in the cockpits had only courage, valor, professionalism, superb leadership—and each other. This book brought back the whole bloody tragedy. I could again hear the engines whine, smell the jet exhaust, see the faces in the ready rooms, feel the deck jump as the catapults fired, and see the flak and surface-to-air missiles.”

—Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author of Flight of the Intruder

“Peter Fey’s narrative of USS Oriskany and Carrier Air Wing 16 personalizes the Vietnam era with insight into the costs and effects. The political and cultural aspects are well handled, including the efforts of POW-MIA families to buck the Johnson administration’s reluctance to address those concerns. Fey’s description of the atmosphere at the Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, is particularly relevant. Few authors—other than someone who has swum in that pool—would understand it so well.”

—Barrett Tillman, author of On Wave and Wing: The 100 Year Quest to Perfect the Aircraft Carrier