Tailhooker: Pre-Flight to Vietnam

By Willard G. Dellicker

Tailhooker refers to a military pilot who has landed on an aircraft carrier using a tail hook to catch the arresting wire on the flight deck. Tailhookers who wear the US Navy Wings of Gold are renowned as the most skilled pilots in the Aviation community. This book tells the story of a twenty year-old drafted into military service during the Vietnam War, then applying to enter US Navy pilot training. His historically accurate story begins with highlights of his Navy flight training to his assignment as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot in VA-22 The Fighting Redcocks. The book chronicles facts about the frustrating air war in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 through Lt. Dellicker's three tours as an Attack pilot and LSO. Intertwined with the war stories and close calls is a love story of two young people who met, became engaged in two weeks, and endured 18 months of war-time separation. Now, after 45 years of marriage this story was written for their kids and grandkids as an accurate historical account of the Vietnam War, True Love, and Faith in God.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 150894234X
• ISBN13: 9781508942344
• Release Date: May 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"