Moral Imperative

Darrel D. Whitcomb graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1969. He served three tours in Southeast Asia as a cargo pilot and forward air controller, logging combat missions over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a colonel in 1999 and is the author of The Rescue of Bat 21 and three other books on military rescue and aviation.

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"Only one who was there could ever have captured the epic story of rescue operations in Vietnam as Darrel Whitcomb has done. It is a story of technology and organization, but mostly a story of courage and unflinching commitment to duty. In presenting this comprehensive account of rescue operations at the height of Nixon's war, Whitcomb has added immensely to our understanding of the air war, both north and south, and of those who fought it." —Stephen P. Randolph, Rokke-Fox Chair, Center for Character and Leadership Development, US Air Force Academy"Combat rescue is combat! Darrel Whitcomb proves that in describing combat rescue during the final full year of the war in Southeast Asia, arguably the high-water mark of the one hundred years of combat rescue. If you ever wanted to know more about the exhilarations and heartbreaks of combat rescue, this is the read for you. None better." —Thomas Phillips, coauthor of Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue"A meticulously researched and eye-opening account of brothers in arms. Whitcomb unearths fascinating stories of downed airmen and the men who went after them against steep odds. An inspiring read." —Stephan Talty, author of Saving Bravo: The Greatest Rescue Mission in Navy SEAL History